The Parthenon and Delphi

Greetings everyone! Welcome to my new blog! For the record I had about 850 views on thr previous one...this one is starting from scratch view-wise, but oh well. Now back to Athens!

And this my friends, is THE PARTHENON! It was possibly one of the coolest places I have ever been. The complex of ancient buildings on top of the Acropolis were amazing. These structures are all thousands of years old and still fairly in tact. The Parthenon is the main building you see here and it and several other structures sit on top of the Acropolis (which is the name of the hill itself). I mentioned in the last post that the Parthenon was for Athena. The story goes that Athena and Poseidon were competing for modern-day Athens. Poseidon gave the people a beautiful fountain, but the people all ready had water. Then Athena gave the people an olive tree, the first in the land. The people decided the olive tree had more benefit than the fountain, so chose Athena to be their guardian. To honor her, they built the Parthenon and so that she could always be watching over the city. If Poseidon had one, Athens would have been "Poseidian" today.

No wonder they built their guardians throne up here! You can literally see all of Athens from up here! In fact, I could see all the way to Piareas Port (and past that) which is about 30 mins away. We could even see the closest islands off in the distance-and it was an overcast day!

 The Parthenon today is being restored (clearly) to its former glory. However, I think it is an impressive building on its own as ruins. It shows what mankind is caoable of and gives us hope and pride in the accomplishments of the world. As a species we have been developing, advancing, and creating since our existence. Look at this building, it was built over 3,000 years ago by the ancient Greeks and is still standing today, it has withstood earthquakes, war, fires, and recklessness. I felt so inspired and uplifted in the presence of this temple.

This is another building in the complex on the Acropolis, but I do not remember who it was dedicated to.

This may look like just an adorable picture in front of an ancient temple, BUT to make it even better: an old British rock band took it for us! There was this group of maybe 5 British guys in their 50's maybe and offered to take our picture. Mark thought it was kind of weird, so looked them up and they are an old rock band on tour in Athens! And someone from our group went and saw their concert! Unfortunately, I'm not sure what the name of the band was, but it was still pretty cool. 

I don't even know where to start with this place. Remember the jewelry store guy? Well, these women were in the same category, but even better. We just stumbled upon their store, looking for some fun things to get and they ended up being my favorite encounter. I'm not going to describe everything because we were there for hours over the course of the times we went there, but they were just so friendly. They also had really high-quality stuff, some things were typical tourist items made in China probably, but they also had a lot of things made in Athens or in Greece at least. Mark got an amazing chess set (it was originally 500E! and was on sale for 150E) that they had record of it being made in Athens by their staff! Every glass piece, gilded mirror, bronze and pweter armored figures all had a tale and many had the initals of the artist who made them. Meanwhile, we really got to know them. The great grandmother (not in the picture) started the store with her husband 50 years ago (and is 90 today), then her niece came to work for her, and the youngest one is the great great niece! They were all so cute and just so welcoming, telling us their whole life stories. The second day we visited them, they made us Greek coffee (the cups are on the table in the picture); told us to stop by anytime-and not to buy things, just to say hi; and when we left the last time, the elderly woman took my hands and kissed my cheeks wishing us good luck and health and that we are welcome for coffee anytime. It was one of life's precious moments that happen so fast, but stay with you forever.

The thing to get in Athens are Athenian sandals! So, of course I got a pair or two =) This guy's family owned this store and several others and all the shoes were handmade by family members and overseen by the family for generations! Oh and we are friends on facebook now =p 

This is a very traditional Greek tavern, it was quaint and lovely. First, we had bread with olive spread, then I had mousakka, Mark had the best chicken ever with veggies and chips (french fries), and we shared a house wine (Which was deliscious!).

We were in Athens for several days and the third day we had to ourselves, so we decided to go to Delphi. After a 3 hour bus ride through weird weather of snow, fog, and rain, we arrived in Delphi-the land of the Oracle. It was a good walk to the sites, but I have found that walking is a major part of study abroad-we walk everywhere! We probably walked a good 5 miles a day whenever we weren't travelling by bus or plane. Anyway, we first went to the museum at Delphi which had artifacts all found within the temple complex. My camera was dying, so I saved the few pictures I could take for the big sites and the rest I let the other people I was with take. 

 This is a treasury for Apollo, it was spectacluar and being able to see all the relics at the museum before hand made it a lot more impressive and finished in a way.

The temple of Apollo was amazing. The whole area was really. It was up on top of these treacherous cliffs, amongst raggedy intense mountains and valleys, and the fog rolling in added to the serene, refreshing, Godly feel. Apollo of course was the sun god, but he was more than that. Since he left the sky at night, it was assumed he went to the underworld and was a sort of in between of the afterlife and earth. So, he was seen as a significant God and often mini temples of his are found in graveyards since they believed he could communicate with the dead.

This is the Oracle at Delphi, where kings, heros, and generals came to seek guidance. Wars were started and ended, people were married, and enemies were killed thanks to the woman who once sat where I am sitting in this picture. Pretty darn cool! Just imagine all the historical characters who made their way to the very spot I am right there! It made me feel so humbled and inspired.

 This was a temple to Athena, but I do not remember what it was called! 0_0