I took a few-day trip to Athens and hooked up with some friends who arrived before me. It was a great trip and I finally saw Greece's famous old stuff.
On the way, I had a hefeweizen in the airport. What a horrible surprise when I read the glass ... alkoholfrei! What a waste. I like airplanes and thought the ceiling in this Airbus A320 looked pretty cool.
We stayed at the Fresh Hotel which was pretty nice but the neighborhood was junky. Not really scary, just junky. Economic crisis and all. Above are the marquee and the rooftop restaurant. The rooftop resto, bar and lounging area were very nice. You could even see the Parthenon in the distance.
I had to take a picture of this sitting / waiting room. I thought I was in the Shining. It's a cool room and the furniture is totally retro, but it was a little scary at the same time.
I arrived on the eve of Easter but was pretty late. My friends were able to attend a mass and took this cool picture of a candle. I tried to hustle over there, but by the time I checked in, I missed it. The next day we took a nice long promenade and some metro rides to see the city. Above was a tiny church but certainly looked Greek so I had to snap a pic.
Cat's have a rough life. Here's on in his own window sill. On the right is on of those wide washers often used for large pieces of glass. This one was at the metro just outside the Olympic Stadium (for 2004). The metro stop was probably in the best condition, and the park is surreal. It's only 10 years old and it's abandoned and falling apart. Economic crisis and all, I guess. But it was cool to see and there were maybe 20 people there so I was like your own park.
Above is the entry way which basically points to the metro station.
Everything is white which makes a cool effect.
These two pics are looking right/left just after the passing the entry. It's a lot of work just for aesthetics but it looked cool. You can see there's almost no one there. Amazing.
These are a couple shots of the support structure for the main stadium. I just can't believe all the work that went into building something that doesn't seem to be used anymore. I'm sure it's used occasionally for something.
This was a strange thing. I looked for pics on the web, but I assume it was maybe a screen for the opening ceremonies. The panoramic turned out cool and the pic above is just to show that is isn't as smooth or uniform as it looks from a distance.
Of course we visited the Acropolis of Athens which was cool and the weather was perfect for it. Not too hot, some clouds and a good breeze. Luckily they're trying to restore some of the buildings because they are certainly not getting any younger. The main structure (and most famous), the Parthenon, for example, has a lot of scaffolding on it which I'm sure will be there for awhile.
This is looking over the edge as you climb the hill. It is the Odeon of Herodes Atticus
Here are a couple shots of the Propylaea, which was the main gateway into the Acropolis. If you go, make sure you give a few seconds to look at (appreciate) the seams in the columns. They are amazing. Especially when you remember they're over 2400 years old. Above right shows some of the reconstructive work. It's hard to make stones match in color, but they're doing some great work on the capitals.
Above and below are shots of the Erechtheum which is actually in pretty good condition.
To help hide some people and show the scenery I tried out these low-angle shots.
Above (and below) are different angles of the Parthenon. A couple more from the worm's eye view and below right is the est end of the Parthenon which isn't covered with scaffolding. It was coo to see.
Next we swung by the Temple of Olympian Zeus which is further east of the Acropolis. This was to be the greatest temple in the ancient world and was finished 638 years after it was started. Talk about sticking to a plan.
I was most impressed how sits on it's owned grassy platform and the columns dominate their surroundings (they're 17 m high).
The platform was surrounded by these little yellow flowers which was
relaxing and an interesting contrast to massive stone columns.
Above is the column that collapsed and I think it's amazing how the sections remained in place (for the most part). I already commented on how well the Greek columns fitted together and these were no exception. Below is another low-angle shot. I like how the Cyprus trees mimic the columns.
Next, we swung by the Panathenaic Stadium. We had one ticket for multiple sites, but this one wasn't included - as we were rather quickly told. Unlike the Olympic Stadium, this place is actually used.
This is the ticket you can get at the Acropolis and it has about 6 or 7 tabs on it which can be used for other locations. This was the ticket not accepted at the Panathenaic Stadium. But as you can see, I did my best to maximize my ticket. Only one stub remains but I'm not sure which site I missed.
We stopped for a nice lunch at the Centrale Café and then got a Starbucks coffee. At the café I had the pork gyro (recommended by the lady next to us) which was very good. And at Starbucks I had a double espresso. I do that now when I want the caffeine without all the filling. But the cup is there for a different reason. I like to play the game of how quickly you can think of another name when asked. You can't premeditate it, that's not as fun. But here I used my friend's name, Panos. You think that would work well in Greece, but it's the classic Starbucks interpretation. It came out Ma Jos. Love it.
After lunch we split (some relaxing and sun for the ladies and using more tickets for me). My fist stop was the Ancient Agora of Athens and the Temple of Hephaestus just next to it. The Temple of Hephaestus is in incredible condition and remains mostly as it was built. There are a lot of pictures to follow so I'll minimize the commentary.
Approaching the temple from the south west - you can see it's amazing condition.
Above and below are shots of the western end of the temple.
Below: three panoramic shots of the temple's sides.
Top two are the north and the bottom is the southern side.
A shot of the southeast corner with columns in amazing condition and an artsy shot looking
back as I walked down into the Agora (it sits below and east of the temple).
Four more shots looking back at the temple - trying to work with filters and other effects.
A little tilt shift and focal point work (above left) and a green filter (below right).
As you can see in all the pics, there was some nice vegetation.
I had to stop and take a couple pics of this capital - it's the same one from different angles. Why? Because I'm am always impressed with the amount of work required for these buildings. This is just one capital of the hundreds that must be in Athens. Who knows how long it took to carve this capital. And then there is all the work for the columns themselves and rest of the building. Simply incredible.
Above: a panoramic looking from the church to the northwest (the Agora is hidden)
Above: the rebuilt Stoa of Attalos (facing west) which holds artifacts and has nice public restrooms.
Just one of the cool Cyprus trees (and orange trees) found throughout the city.
My next stop was Hadrian's Library. There wasn't that much to see but there was this nice building (above) and the Tower of the Winds (below). The Tower is pretty cool as it was a sundial, a water clock and a wind vane.
Back to the hotel I passed this store front - which is slightly bizarre to me.
The next day, we visited the Acropolis Museum. This museum really tries to showcase the sculptures of classical Greece and essentially displays how the Parthenon and other buildings in the Acropolis would have looked in their prime.
My ticket (separate from the ticket mentioned above).
A couple nice models; the Propylaea (left) and the Erechtheum
The building itself was also impressive. I love concrete work and above is a panoramic of the main hallway. Below left is a cool glass floor on the upper level and on the right the same perspective as the panoramic.
This is the glass floor leading into the museum. I set the camera on it and thought the
shot turned out cool. This is looking from the entrance (the building isn't the museum).
After lunch, we again split and this time I took the hotel's bicycle which was a great ride (sorry no picture) but I think it was a Globe, a Globe Daily 1, to be more precise. They are nice bikes. Expensive but nice. I took it to the National Archeological Museum. This place was a nice surprise and turned out to be much larger than I expected - took me right up to suppertime.
I didn't get info on the statue on the left, but I thought its simplicity was great and it's very old. Above right in an incredibly well-preserved head of a bronze statue known as "The Antikythera Philosopher" from about 230 BC. Interestingly, the hands and feet were also preserved and in the same case.
Above left is a statue of Hermes whose face and hair are really well preserved since they were actually buried in the sea bed. The sea took it's toll on the rest as you can see. It is Parian marble from the early 1st century BC. On the right is a cool face which I thought had great detail.
Above, a bronze statue of a horse and young jockey from about 140 BC. Known as the "Artemision Jockey" and the boy probably held the reigns in his left hand and a whip in the right. It was retrieved in pieces from a shipwreck off Cape Artemision in Euboea.
I always think birds are cool and these little wooden birds had some cool color. I didn't get their age, but they are certainly old - like ancient Egypt old
Above left is just a marble portrait of a man, but it was found in the Stoa of the Ancient Agora (mentioned above) and I thought it had impressive detail and reality for a 2nd century BC statue. They think it's a portrait of a poet of New Comedy or Attalos II, the rule of Pergamon (159-139 BC). Above right is a Parian marble statue of a fighting Gaul (a region region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era). The warrior, wounded in the thigh, has fallen to the ground on his right knee and is attempting to defend himself with his left arm. On the ground rests a Galatian helmet. It's thought to be made by sculptor Agasias about 100 BC.
Above left is one of several Kouros (or Kore - female version) found in the beginning of the museum. Dating Kouros statues is tricky but they are old - roughly between 615 and 485 BC. On the right is a Pentelic marble statue of Asklepios from the 2nd century BC. I thought it had an incredible face and liked how it just had cavities for eyes.
Above left is a bronze statue of Poseidon actually found in the sea. He would have held his trident (of course) in his right hand and possibly a dolphin under his right hand (not too easy to imagine). His eyes were inlaid being made of a different material which is why they are just cavities now. On the right is a bronze statue known as "The Antikythera Youth" from about 340-330 BC. I like how they Greeks were never hesitant to present themselves as quite the human specimen.
Finally, we had a nice supper at the Collage Café. It was a good supper and a relatively early night since I had to get up at 04:00 for my flight. Yikes. It was a great trip and I had great company!
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