Visiting the Acropolis

Okay, so on Sunday we headed to the National Archeological Museum and to the Acropolis. I will be posting all the cool pics from our museum trip later. I shall start first with our visit to the Acropolis. Internet connections in Europe are on the verge of infuriating, so this is all I have the patience to do today. So...

We headed up to the Acropolis after we had lunch. It was quite a steep hike (especially with a full tummy). I have to say, it was such an amazing experience to see in person something that I have seen in pictures since I was a child. The scale of it is the most amazing part. Wow. There are no words.













I guess I assumed the Panathenaic Way would be a little more "noticeable," for lack of a better word, but really it was just the pathway up to and around the Acropolis. If not for this sign, I would not have known specifically where and what it was.













This is a view of the Acropolis at the first entrance, slightly higher then street level but right before the really tough part of the hike. As I'm sure you can tell, the Acropolis is under a lot of repairative reconstruction. I told Steven, it just gives us a good excuse to come back again :)













After going in the 2nd entrance, we started the last leg of our uphill journey. About halfway up, over the side of the Acropolis Rock, you could look straight down into the Herodes Atticus Theatre. Apparently it was built later during the Roman rule of Athens in AD 161. It is still regularly used. As you can see in the pic, it was being set up for a concert later that evening.













Okay, so now we got past all the cool things you can see on your way up to the "meat and bones" part of the Acropolis, starting with the Propylaia. It is the grand entrance to all the temples. I know I've said it a hundred times already, but the pics do not do it justice. The Temple of Athena Nike is on the right in this pic, but it was so obliterated by scaffolding, I didn't take a picture of it.













So, here it is, the Parthenon. I have no words. Wow. It is under major construction as well, so you cannot walk in it. Still amazing to see, though. I guess this is what is considered the front...














...and here's the back.


















A brief aside, here is the Temple of Zeus, or I guess you can say, what's left of it. Apparently it was the biggest temple in Ancient Greece. Not much left of it now, only 16 of the original 104 columns remain. This picture was taken behind the Parthenon, overlooking the temple at street level below. We saw this temple on our way in from our hotel, but we were going so fast that we didn't get an opportunity to take a picture down there.













Moving on, below is the Erechtheion. This was a temple for both Poseidon and Athena. If you are facing the front on the Parthenon, the Erectheion is on the left. The coolest part of it in my opinion is the column/statues.













Here is a closer pic of the women statues. Apparently there is some signifigance to the fact that 3 of the women have their right legs bent, and the other 3 their left. I'm not sure why, but my theory is that the Greeks are as obsessed with symmetry as I am ;)


















Once you exit back through the Propylaia, the pathway shunts you a different way to exit as to prevent human traffic jams. This is where exiting the Acropolis sends you, through this doorway. You can look through and see back up to the Propylaia.















Pretty cool, huh? More pics to come...