Athens, Greece (Our Last Day!)

Athens is full of marble

We arrived in Athens (the Port of Piraeus) early in the morning. We did two visits from our ship to Athens on this day. Our first visit was a ‘panoramic’ tour of Athens by bus, and then a stop at the National Archeological Museum.

 

Athens is a modern looking city.

With the occasional surprise of ancient history popping up (the Acropolis).

We saw the Changing of the Guard at the Monument for the Unknown Soldier, in Syntagma Square.

We passed the Panathenaic stadium used in the 2004 Olympic games. It dates back to the 4^th century B.C., and was last rebuilt in 1896. It is solid marble.

On to the Archaeological Museum.

This burial mask was one of the oldest things in the museum. It dates from the Mycenaean culture, 1600-1100 BC, listed as the gold mask of Agamemnon.

This stone sculpture is from the Archaic period, around 575 BC. The facial expression is known as the “archaic smile.” It is a very stylized depiction of the human body.

We saw this beautiful bronze statue of Poseidon (or Zeus - it’s debated), 460 BC. He is bigger than life sized, and full of energy, ready to hurl a thunder bolt at his enemy. It is an example of Early Classical Greek art, still somewhat idealized, but very life-like. It was found at the bottom of the sea off cape Artemision, in north Euboea,  because some conquerer had pilfered it to bring home, and the boat sunk on the journey. A number of the statues in the museum owe their existence to that ship wreck.

 

This marble Aphrodite was made about 300 BC and is an example of the Classical Style, completely life-like.

This bronze statue of a young jockey on his horse date about 140 BC. There is nothing idealized about him, just an ordinary person doing his job. (Sami here - my year of studying art history made me need to put everything in the order of date and style.)

There was much, much more, and we saw it at a fast pace.  We re-boarded the bus for a little more exploring of down town Athens.

Hadrian's Gate, 130 A.D.

 

Here’s the Acropolis topped by the Parthanon (not the best viewpoint, and we didn’t have time to go to the top)...

We returned to our ship for a rest, and then came back in to Athens for our evening activity, the final tour for our cruise. First we went to the seventh floor of the Royal Olympic Hotel for a night-time vista of Athens, and a glass of champagne. Then we went on a walk in the old-town Plaka district, and had dinner, complete with traditional dancing and music at the Geleneksel Yunam Tevernas restaurant.

 

This was one of a long series of "CHEERS!" for our trip.

Temple of Olympian Zeus.

We passed this shop along the way. They must have seen us coming.

In Greece we learned the word "Opa!" - a Greek expression of enthusiasm.

Good night Athens...