We spent a short three nights in Athens, which gave us two full days to get a brief idea of what the city is like and whether we would like to go back. We would.
1 A beautiful resident of the Plaka
2 The Plaka area, up against the north side of the Acopolis was built by emigrants from the islands, so the architeture gave us a foretaste of what we would see later. The paths and walls are molded to fit the topography of the hillside.
3 The Acropolis looms up behind the Plaka.
4 Looking out across Athens from the Plaka.
5 Some of the numerous feline residents of the area come running up.
6 This one looks like our Benny and, like Benny, called out to have his tummy rubbed.
7 Our hotel's terrace has a good view of the Acropolis.
8 More zoomed view of the Parthenon and the Erechtheion
9 Horse carriage and southern slope of the Acropolis
10 Part of the Parthenon is visible above the southern slope of the Acropolis.
11 Theater lover digging the atmosphere where the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes were first played.
12 The Theater of Dionysos, originally built in wood in the 6th c. BCE, was rebuilt in marble between 342 and 326 BCE.
13 Back of the stage of the Dionysos Theater
14 Ruins await an eventual restoration.
15 The Stoa of Eumenes, built around 160 BCE
16 The Odeon of Herodes Atticus, built in AD 161 by a wealthy Roman
17 Nice old Mercedes in the Plaka at the foot of the Acropolis.
18 The National Archaeological Museum contains many wonders, especially this so-called mask of Agamemnon, 16th c. BCE(!), a funeral mask found by Schliemann at Mycenae in 1876.
19 Gold jewelry from Mycenai
20 Ritual vase in the form of a cow's head
21 Gorgeous two-handled cup
22 Espresso, anyone?
23 Wall painting of MInoan bull-leaping (someone leaping over the bull, not the bull leaping...)
24 Example of Linear B writing from Crete. This syllabic writing was used as early as 1450 BCE.
25 Harp player, Cycladic sculpture, from around 2500 BCE
26 Female figurines, early Cycladic, 2800-2300 BCE
27 Cycladic female figurine and ceramic beak-spouted jug
28 Cycladic ceramic "frying pan" with incised pattern of a ship and spirals (waves?)
29 A kore, a female figure, c. 550 BCE; male figure; and a sphynx, c. 579 BCE
30 Bronze statue of Zeus or Poseidon, 460 BCE, found in the sea.
31 Spring, Mionoan frescos from Thira, with lilies and kissing swallows
32 Rather extensively restored frescos of horses and boxing boys from Thira
33 The view is really nice at night with the lumière (but no son).
34 Closer view of the Parhenon and the Erechtheion
35 Many steps lead up to the monumental Propylaea, the entrance to the top of the Acropolis.
36 What funny-looking pants this tourist is wearing.
37 Acropolis hilltop viewed from the eastern edge; from left to right, the Parthenon, the top of the Propylaea and the Erechtheion.
38 From the Acropolis, one can see out over the old Agora and the Theseion, the Temple of Hephaestus.
39 From the eastern edge, a view of the Temple of Olympian Zeus.
40 The facade of the Erechtheion with its ionic columns. The right-hand side is built on lower ground.
41 Ionic capitals on the Erechtheion
42 The Porch of the Caryatids on the south side of the Erechtheion, a series of pillars in the form of women.
43 The Theseion, the Temple of Hephaestus, in the old Agora.
44 There are ancient ruins all over this area.
45 The Stoa of Atalos in the Ancient Agora, just beyond the metro, which surfaces here.
46 Statues, including at least one Merman
47 North side of the Acropolis, viewed from the Ancient Agora
48 North side of the Acropolis, viewed from the Ancient Agora
49 Temple of Hephaestus, the best-perserved Doric temple in Greece, 449 BCE
50 PIllars on the north side of the Temple of Hephaestus
51 Stoa of Attilos viewed from Temple of Hephaestus
52 Columns of the Stoa of Attilos. Socrates probably strolled here, but it has been much restored since.
53 Stoa of Attilos
54 Stoa statue
55 Exterior columns, Stoa of Attilos
56 Temple of Hepaestus
57 Plateia Syntagmatos (Syntagma Square) and the Greek Parliament
