I'm coming home tomorrow!
We've been in Athens for 2 days, and I think we've hit all the major sites that we're going to hit. The Acropolis was crowded and not nearly as fun as the Temple of Olympian Zeus, which the LP annoyingly puts down despite its hugeness and awesomeness. We spent 6 hours at the National Museum of Archaeology today, which comes out to about 1 euro and hour for the ticket price -- the cheapest entertainment we've had all trip!
Before Athens, we spent 4 days on an organized tour of the main archaeological/historical sites of the Greek mainland: Epidarous, Olympia, Dephi, and Meteora. We were going to try doing it on our own, but it turns out that Greece is very strict with regards to licensing tour guides, and the cost of the packaged tour was a lot less. So, we got to share a bus with retirees and families for a few days. Main spots:
Corinth Canal. Not sure why we stopped there, but seeing a cruise ship pulled through a canal by a tugboat is kind of amusing (even though it was the French that completed the canal in the 19th century).
Mycenae and the Tomb of Atreus. The Atredies family is supposed to be well-known through Homer and myth, but I must have missed that memo. Mycenae was the intermediate civilization between the Minoan and the Classical Greek city-state era, placing it pretty close to when the Trojan War should have happened (i.e. the age of Greek myth). Mycenae was supposed to be the city of Agammemnon. The ruins were excavated by Heinrich Schliemann, and there are circular royal tombs with jewelery and death-masks now on display at the National Museum. The site itself was fun to romp through, because it's an entire excavated city -- you can progress from the city walls up to the palace, and to the rear where the artisans' workshops were.
Olympia. Pretty much what you would expect for the site of the Olympic Games -- temples, gymnasiums, baths and a stadium. Pretty columns and olive trees. Emperor Nero amusingly built a house for himself there that he only used for a single visit.
Delphi. Absolutely beautiful. It's in a mountain range, so it's constantly buffeted by winds, and the town is small (but not too small). The sanctuary has been partially reconstructed, and you drive through the biggest olive grove in Greece to get there. There's also a temple to Artemis and cold springs. You can see the grove wrap around the mountain and extend down the valley if you look down from Delphi.
Meteora. Not a Classical site, but possibly the most stunning one -- Meteora's cliffs house 26 monasteries built about 600 years ago, and 6 of them are still active. To get to the monasteries (or convents), you have to climb hundreds of steps or get hauled up by net and rope (like their supplies).
Athens itself is quiet right now, because everyone is on vacation. It's still very big city though, and reminds me of fast-growing cities in Asia -- things are a little grubby, pretty crowded, and no one subscribes to standardized operating hours. Our travel agent pulled through for us and got us a hotel in the middle of almost everything, though, so it's been a good stay. I'd recommend that anyone interested in visiting Athens go see the archaeological sites later in the day; the Acropolis is swarming with tour groups in the morning. The Acropolis isn't the best site anyway -- Ancient Agora and the Temple of Olympian Zeus are far more interesting to poke around.
Anyway, I'm ready to go home -- it'll be nice to give my clothes a full washing, instead of a half-washing in a hotel sink!
We've been in Athens for 2 days, and I think we've hit all the major sites that we're going to hit. The Acropolis was crowded and not nearly as fun as the Temple of Olympian Zeus, which the LP annoyingly puts down despite its hugeness and awesomeness. We spent 6 hours at the National Museum of Archaeology today, which comes out to about 1 euro and hour for the ticket price -- the cheapest entertainment we've had all trip!
Before Athens, we spent 4 days on an organized tour of the main archaeological/historical sites of the Greek mainland: Epidarous, Olympia, Dephi, and Meteora. We were going to try doing it on our own, but it turns out that Greece is very strict with regards to licensing tour guides, and the cost of the packaged tour was a lot less. So, we got to share a bus with retirees and families for a few days. Main spots:
Corinth Canal. Not sure why we stopped there, but seeing a cruise ship pulled through a canal by a tugboat is kind of amusing (even though it was the French that completed the canal in the 19th century).
Mycenae and the Tomb of Atreus. The Atredies family is supposed to be well-known through Homer and myth, but I must have missed that memo. Mycenae was the intermediate civilization between the Minoan and the Classical Greek city-state era, placing it pretty close to when the Trojan War should have happened (i.e. the age of Greek myth). Mycenae was supposed to be the city of Agammemnon. The ruins were excavated by Heinrich Schliemann, and there are circular royal tombs with jewelery and death-masks now on display at the National Museum. The site itself was fun to romp through, because it's an entire excavated city -- you can progress from the city walls up to the palace, and to the rear where the artisans' workshops were.
Olympia. Pretty much what you would expect for the site of the Olympic Games -- temples, gymnasiums, baths and a stadium. Pretty columns and olive trees. Emperor Nero amusingly built a house for himself there that he only used for a single visit.
Delphi. Absolutely beautiful. It's in a mountain range, so it's constantly buffeted by winds, and the town is small (but not too small). The sanctuary has been partially reconstructed, and you drive through the biggest olive grove in Greece to get there. There's also a temple to Artemis and cold springs. You can see the grove wrap around the mountain and extend down the valley if you look down from Delphi.
Meteora. Not a Classical site, but possibly the most stunning one -- Meteora's cliffs house 26 monasteries built about 600 years ago, and 6 of them are still active. To get to the monasteries (or convents), you have to climb hundreds of steps or get hauled up by net and rope (like their supplies).
Athens itself is quiet right now, because everyone is on vacation. It's still very big city though, and reminds me of fast-growing cities in Asia -- things are a little grubby, pretty crowded, and no one subscribes to standardized operating hours. Our travel agent pulled through for us and got us a hotel in the middle of almost everything, though, so it's been a good stay. I'd recommend that anyone interested in visiting Athens go see the archaeological sites later in the day; the Acropolis is swarming with tour groups in the morning. The Acropolis isn't the best site anyway -- Ancient Agora and the Temple of Olympian Zeus are far more interesting to poke around.
Anyway, I'm ready to go home -- it'll be nice to give my clothes a full washing, instead of a half-washing in a hotel sink!
