Epic Summer Part I: The Greek Mainland--Athens and Delphi

Our first adventure for this summer of epic travel was to Greece. Aaron and I spent a couple of days here last year with his students from Sandy, but this was our opportunity to really see the sites we had rushed through before and to give Greece the time it deserves.

Aaron’s parents joined us on this trip. They were to meet us in Athens and the kids were excited to see them. E and S were definitely more eager to get off of the plane and see Grandma and Grandpa then they were to see Athens. When we arrived we found out that M & M had one leg of their trip delayed, which caused them to miss their connecting flight to Athens. After being rerouted through London, they would arrive at 3am. The kids were disappointed until E declared, “It’s okay. It will be like Christmas. When we wake up they’ll be here!”

We chose to spend that first evening just wandering around the city. We originally intended to go see the Agora, but found that they weren’t keeping summer hours and had closed 5 hours early. Apparently Greece and Italy have some things in common! So we walked around the Plaka (pedestrian neighborhood near the ancient center of the city). Then we took the kids to our favorite discovery from the previous year—a seriously great gyros stand. The very friendly host took a liking to S and complimented her on her Greek name. Then he proceeded to quiz both kids on their Italian skills after learning that we’re living in Rome.

He likes it!

When we came back the next day the host recognized S. It was "Ciao, bella Sophia!"

We enjoyed dinner while walking up to Syntagma Square, where we sat with a view of the Parliament building. We visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and watched the Evzone Guards do their crossing.

On our way back to the apartment we stopped by the Panathenaic Stadium. This is an ancient stadium that was renovated to host the first modern Olympics in 1896. The most recent Olympic games in Athens had the marathon finish here and used the stadium for the archery competitions as well. I couldn’t get over how new the place looks. Definitely doesn’t seem to me that this current version is over 100 years old.

The kids received their midsummer Christmas wish and Grandma and Grandpa were there when they woke. After arriving very early in the morning, they managed to catch a couple hours sleep and then we set off to tackle ancient Athens.

We started the morning in the ancient Agora, or marketplace. There aren’t many buildings left, most of the place is truly in ruins. But after teaching about ancient Greece for the year, it was pretty awesome to walk through this place. It was fun to point things out to S as well, since she’ll be learning about it all this coming year (Yes, S and me in third grade together—should be interesting…).

In the reconstructed Stoa, or market building.

Inside the Stoa was a mini museum with neat things like this  voting machine.

S with a bronze Spartan shield. 

Voting Ballots 

Drachma. One drachma was a day's wages. I think this one is worth 4 drachma.

Red Figure Pottery 

Black Figure Pottery. If you are in my third grade class you know all about these two kinds of pottery.

             

Corinthian Capital

The Temple of Hephaestus

It was getting really hot, so we headed to the museum and air conditioning.  The National Archaeological Museum is very well done. Everything is placed chronologically, so in the beginning you really see the how the Greeks were influenced by Egyptian art. Then you get to watch as the statuary becomes more realistic, and in the end they’re all dressed in Roman garb. Here were the highlights (for us):

Gold Mask of Agamemnon (Mycenaean)

Gold Vapheio Cups--around 2600 years old.

Dipylon Vase--A great example of Geometric Pottery (We learn about this style too!)

Bronze Statue of Zeus or Poseidon. If he had his lightning bolt or trident we'd know who he was. But he does a good warrior pose!

Relief from a Grave. 

? I just like this guy. 

Bronze Statue of a Youth 

Minoan fresco found in Santorini.

Then it was off to the Acropolis to see the Parthenon. Let me just say that it is truly hard to describe this place in words. The nearly 2500-year-old temple is massive. You’re struck by the simple beauty of the place, and then you read about the weight of the materials (over 100,000 tons of marble) and the math involved in the design and you begin to truly appreciate how advanced the Greek people were.

           

The Parthenon was both a temple to the city’s patron goddess, Athena, and the treasury. Inside was a 40-foot tall statue of Athena covered in ivory and gold which supposedly cost more to create than the Parthenon itself.

A small copy of the statue from the museum.

Other buildings on the Acropolis:

Odeon of Herodes Atticus (music venue) 

Steps up to the Propylaea, or entrance to the Acropolis.

Temple of Athena Nike 

The Erechtheion with their amazing maiden columns.

The view of Athens from the Acropolis is spectacular. The colors white and blue symbolize Greece, and the white city of Athens against the blue of the Aegean Sea brings this to life.

The next morning we decided to add a detour into our trip and see Delphi. Delphi is way up in the mountains and the site of the famous oracle of Apollo. The ancient Greeks made pilgrimages here to seek the advice of the oracle in an attempt to determine their future fates. So the first question that begs to be asked is why would such an important place be located in a place to difficult to access? On our previous trip Aaron and I learned that thousands of years ago there was a fissure in the earth that let methane gas escape. The shepherds noticed that their goats were acting funny coming down the mountain, so they went up to check it out. After getting a whiff themselves, the visions they saw convinced them that Apollo, the god of prophecy, was speaking to them, and a sacred place was born. They built a temple to Apollo over the crack. The oracle would sit above the fumes, and answer your question, which was then interpreted by priests. At one point it seems all the important Greek political decisions were made after consulting this lady on a trip.

In the mountains at Delphi. 

Temple of Apollo.

As the importance of Delphi grew so did the Sanctuary. City-States built treasury buildings (each trying to outdo the other). The held games (similar to the Olympics) every four years. They had song contests to honor Apollo, who was also the god of music.

Treasury of the Athenians 

Theater 

Stadium

Omphalos. The Greeks believed Delphi was the center of the world,
so they marked it with a  belly-button. Omphalos means navel.

After Delphi I had the best Greek salad I’ve ever eaten. The feta was super creamy, the onions were sweet, and the olives were huge. I also have noticed that in Greece, Greek salads always come with green peppers. I’ve never had green peppers in a Greek salad at home. I wonder why?

Seriously delicious.

Then it was back in the car and driving on to Olympia. Stay tuned...