Visiting Athens was by far the most amazing day of our cruise. I love history and this was the highlight of our trip for me, and the reason we chose this particular cruise. There were other cruises that visited Greece, but only this one stopped in Athens. We ported in Piraeus which has been inhabited since the 26th century B.C. Piraeus roughly means "the place over the passage." With three ports existing in Piraeus, it was the home of the Athenian fleet.
The first stop of our excursion was to The
Panathinaiko or
Panathenaic Stadium. This stadium was originally built of wood and in 329 B.C was remade of marble. In 1895 the remains of the stadium were refurbished for the 1896 Olympic games. This site was the home of the first international Olympic games. It seemed only fitting to host it here since this was the origins of the Olympic games. This venue is now used for concerts.
Our next stop was the Acropolis Museum. What you see here is an excavation taking place directly under the museum. We are standing on the ramp you walk up to get into the museum. Once in the museum there are glass floors you can look through and see the excavation taking place. Once inside the museum we were not allowed to take photos, but we did see some amazing artifacts from all over ancient Greece and the Acropolis.
We made a pit stop in the museum cafe and got lattes. This would have been such a good picture had that plate not been in the way.
Next stop the Acropolis. It was a very long and uphill walk. What you see to the right is the temple of Athena Nike. Nike means "victory" in Greek.
The Odeon of Herodes Atticus is a theatre structure made of stone which can be found on the south slope of the Acropolis of Athens. Herodes Atticus built it in 161 AD in memory of his wife, Aspasia Annia Regilla.
The Propylaea is the entrance to the Acropolis.
The Parthenon. You can see scaffolding and construction going on all around. The Restoration Project began in 1975. The aim of the restoration was to reverse the decay of centuries of attrition, pollution, destruction by acts of war, and misguided past restorations. The work they have done is amazing and I would love to see the Parthenon rebuilt, using original materials (they are off to the side and labeled) to its original state.
Here is a view of Athens.
The Dionysus Amphitheatre. I wrote a paper on this theater for a class I took this spring. It was amazing to see it in person.
Temple of Olympian Zeus.
Back of the Parthenon.
The side of the Parthenon.
The Erechtheum. Built between 421 and 406 B.C.
They have some reconstruction going on. The man standing on scaffolding has a sort of sander he is using to clean the marble. You can see the difference in the areas that have been cleaned and those that have not.
Here is a better picture of the difference the cleaning makes. I'd loved to go back once the "remodeling" is complete and see how different it looks.
The Erechtheum. The Porch of the Caryatids or "Porch of the Maidens."
How was I to know I wasn't supposed to touch it?
Micah and I sitting in the Dionysus Amphitheatre.
The first stop of our excursion was to The Panathinaiko or Panathenaic Stadium. This stadium was originally built of wood and in 329 B.C was remade of marble. In 1895 the remains of the stadium were refurbished for the 1896 Olympic games. This site was the home of the first international Olympic games. It seemed only fitting to host it here since this was the origins of the Olympic games. This venue is now used for concerts.
Our next stop was the Acropolis Museum. What you see here is an excavation taking place directly under the museum. We are standing on the ramp you walk up to get into the museum. Once in the museum there are glass floors you can look through and see the excavation taking place. Once inside the museum we were not allowed to take photos, but we did see some amazing artifacts from all over ancient Greece and the Acropolis.
We made a pit stop in the museum cafe and got lattes. This would have been such a good picture had that plate not been in the way.
Next stop the Acropolis. It was a very long and uphill walk. What you see to the right is the temple of Athena Nike. Nike means "victory" in Greek.
The Odeon of Herodes Atticus is a theatre structure made of stone which can be found on the south slope of the Acropolis of Athens. Herodes Atticus built it in 161 AD in memory of his wife, Aspasia Annia Regilla. 
The Propylaea is the entrance to the Acropolis.
The Parthenon. You can see scaffolding and construction going on all around. The Restoration Project began in 1975. The aim of the restoration was to reverse the decay of centuries of attrition, pollution, destruction by acts of war, and misguided past restorations. The work they have done is amazing and I would love to see the Parthenon rebuilt, using original materials (they are off to the side and labeled) to its original state.
Here is a view of Athens.
The Dionysus Amphitheatre. I wrote a paper on this theater for a class I took this spring. It was amazing to see it in person.
Temple of Olympian Zeus.
Back of the Parthenon.
The side of the Parthenon.
The Erechtheum. Built between 421 and 406 B.C.
They have some reconstruction going on. The man standing on scaffolding has a sort of sander he is using to clean the marble. You can see the difference in the areas that have been cleaned and those that have not.
Here is a better picture of the difference the cleaning makes. I'd loved to go back once the "remodeling" is complete and see how different it looks.
The Erechtheum. The Porch of the Caryatids or "Porch of the Maidens."
How was I to know I wasn't supposed to touch it?
Micah and I sitting in the Dionysus Amphitheatre.
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