It’s the full Acropolis Experience today, concluding with a trip to the airport at 2 a.m. We docked this morning in Piraeus, the port of Athens, although I saw it spelled entirely too many different ways. I ran the promenade deck of the Viking Star as the sun came up and avoided a near collision with a member of the deck cleaning crew. We were both surprised to see each other. I was also fighting a bad head cold, so my nose was running faster than I was. 

 

It will be another 16,000+ step day, despite the fact that I jogged only 6 laps for a distance of a little more than a mile-and-a- half, plus the clumsy hurdle over the cleaning equipment.  Today’s tour was a lot of stop-and-go bus riding slowed by the heavy morning commute. I sometimes have to remember that not everyone is retired like I am. In fact, my wife goes back to work tomorrow after we return. We saw the new Olympic stadium, but it far from made up for missing the original ancient site. The weather was at least cooperative today and despite the traffic the crowds were relatively easy to deal with. This was the first day of the tourist season that will pick up considerably next week once the Easter holiday has passed.

 

The Parthenon is indeed an awesome sight and was in much better condition than I expected. There is of course modern construction equipment and scaffolding that form a sharp contrast between old and new. Pieces are scattered everywhere…a head here an arm there… like the Gods dumped them from a giant puzzle box. The museum tour put everything in perspective, and I was surprised to find out that about half of the original sculptural decorations were moved from Greece between 1801 and 1805  by Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, and were eventually housed at the British Museum. It’s created a lot of controversy between the two countries. The intent was supposedly preservation rather than theft, but the Greeks don’t see it that way.

 

The Parthenon was built nearly 2,500 years ago as a temple dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena, and for a thousand years the church of the Virgin Mary of the Athenians. It then became a mosque and remains an architectural ruin. Its history of explosion, fire, earthquake damage, and reconstruction is far too complex for me to discuss. I was just satisfied to marvel at its history and selfishly cross it off my bucket list. Besides, I’m not feeling that great today. Its presence made me very curious, and I will be interested in watching some documentaries and doing some reading about Greek Mythology in the next few weeks. It was a fascinating day, and the beginning of a learning experience! I’m just not sure whether it’s better to see something first and read about it later, or have it be the culmination of study? I can only say that curiosity is the key to learning and I now have the motivation.