The (Greek) National Archealogical Museum

Here is a breakdown of our visit to this awesome museum, which we saw the same day as the Acropolis, but in the morning. I love museums, so I was in hog heaven walking around in there. At some point it becomes a little tiring and overwhelming just because there is SO much stuff to look at. By the end of our jaunt around the museum, Steven was beside himself he was so bored. He is not a museum guy, but he was very patient and did a good job of pretending he liked it ;)

Here is a bust of Athena...


















Here is one of the many Classical statues...but one of the few female statues. I don't know how to say this other than, wow, the Greeks really loved their naked men. Almost every statue of a man---and there were a lot---were totally naked, guns'a'blazin'. I told Steven, after we left, that I didn't care if I ever saw another naked man again. I spared all of you readers the horror of having to gaze upon various forms of (uncircumcised) wedding tackle, except for one picture below. I mean, really, who thinks that a man's junk is pretty?


















This is a theater mask. Nice expression, huh? I was trying to figure out what feeling this was supposed to be evoking, but then I got distracted by the fact that is weighs no less then 30 lbs. What poor schlub had to put this on their head? Wow.


















I love, love, love all this old pottery. It is so amazing and intricate, especially considering the tools they had back then to make it. It makes these pieces that much more amazing when you think about that (in my opinion).













Here are some examples of Greek jewelry. This was all made of solid gold. If you click on the pic it should blow it up so you can see the awesome details. So cool!


















Another fully-clothed female statue. Woohoo!


















And here you have it, the glorious and wonderful (and apparently well-endowed) statue of a naked man. Theo, one of Steven's Delhaize co-workers, who was our guide for the day, said, "I take your picture!" and this was the spot he gesticulated towards for us to pose. Um, yeeeeahhh. Maybe it's considered an honor to get your picture taken next to huge genitals in Greece. Or maybe he was making fun of us....hmmmm.













Here are a few examples of Cycladic art. These are prehistoric pieces that come from the Cycladic islands south of the Greek mainland. These are literally thousands of years old. Too cool.


















I took a picture of this vase because I remember seeing pictures of this in history books when I was in grade school. It's truly amazing to see in person things you have seen in pictures when you were a kid.


















Personally, I thought this jewelry was much cooler then most of the other stuff I saw. These were made from stones, glass, etc. I thought it was so amazing how they managed to make this stuff. I can definitely see how jewelry today has been inspired by all the stuff the ancient Greeks wore. Another woman was standing there looking at this with me, and she said, "Things haven't changed in thousands of years---we still love our jewelry!" So true!













One of the many hallways full of Greek antiquities. (I wanted to use that word at least once--ha ha! I love being a dork!!)














That's all I have time for today......I've got laundry and cleaning and I'm making freezer meals, not to mention I've got my girlies. I'll shoot for another Greece post tomorrow!