Hitting Some of the Top Ten

I got several travel books for Athens before we left, and I read through all of them, but I didn't want to go to Greece with some crazy itinerary ruin the spontaneity. However, I brought 2 books with me for reference material. And, boy, am I glad I did. The maps they give in Greece are incomplete and confusing. Also, everything is so, for lack of a better word, claustrophobic, it was super easy to get turned around and not be able to find anything. Thank goodness for my Top Ten Athens book. It was the perfect reference for everything Athens. If not for this book I think we would have missed out on many cool things.

We started out this day doing some shopping in the Plaka, but there are only so many cheap trinkets you can look at before you start to get bored. So, after lunch, with my trusty guide book in hand, we started focusing on some of the "smaller" spots around the Acropolis.

This is the entrance to the Roman Forum, or, the Roman Agora. This is the gate of Athena Archegetis. It was built by Julius Caesar and Augustus in 11 BC. The weirdest thing about these ruins is that they are completely surrounded by houses, businesses, and city streets. If not for a map, you could totally walk right past it an not even notice.













Here is a view down the Roman Forum. The Tower of the Winds is that cylindrical tower slightly off center on the left. All those columns in the middle there are what's left of the Vespasianae--a 68 seat public toilet where Roman dudes used to hang out as well as relieve themselves. Niiiiiice.


















Our next stop was the temple of Zeus, or what's left of it.
The pic below is Hadrian's Arch, which the Athenians built so the Roman emperor wouldn't get jealous that they liked Zeus better. (that's not the official historical story, that's my opinion based on the historical facts) This arch is right outside Zeus temple complex, that's why it's included in these pictures.


















So, here it is, the temple of Zeus. Only 16 of the original 104 columns are left. They are massive! I think it might be taller than the Parthenon, but definitely larger. The floor of this temple is huge! I bet it was quite a site to behold when in it's original state.














I zoomed in from the ground to get a view of the columns. For a sense of scale, this temple had to be 3 to 4 stories tall.














Here we are, in all our tourist glory. I refused to put on makeup and do my hair to wander around Athens all day---I am not a pretty princess. And, of course, Steven wasn't wearing makeup either. He is a natural beauty. We are about 40 ft. away from the base of the temple.













Here is a view of the Acropolis from the temple of Zeus.













And here is a view from the far end of the temple back towards the end with the columns. Notice what looks like artillery guns shots in the side of that one column on the right. Up close, the diameter of those holes was about 6-8 inches.













This is in the Theater of Dionysus complex. There was a cave going into the Acropolis rock right above the theater. The name for it is Panagia Chrysopiliotissa. It was dedicated originally to some god, but later was turned into a church. We could not go up there, it was under construction.


















Here is a view across the Theater of Dionysus. It was....how shall I say....a big mess. The other theater was far more impressive, in my opinion.













And here it is! The far more impressive Herodes Atticus theater, from the outside.














The last pic of today's post is of yet another Byzantine church nestled in the bustling city. I must have seen at least a hundred of these churches during our visit. They are all so beautiful.