Day two started out on the same vein as the trip here, everything just seems to be going smoothly. The apartment/room in the hostel is great and although I requested a dorm room to save money I have been the only person here. So basically I’ve got a furnished one-bedroom apartment in Athens, Greece for about $20 a night. Not bad, I get free breakfast in the morning and as much coffee as I can drink all day long. About the only thing that makes it difficult is that there isn’t anyone else staying in the room. I know, that last statement conflicts with the one above, but the benefit of not sharing the apartment also means that there’s no one to talk to.
The first thing on my agenda this morning was to see the Acropolis, it is after all, the reason that I considered Athens a “must see” location. So right after breakfast I headed up the mountain to get a look at the “must see” item on my list. Because of the time difference between Greece and Dubai I’m getting up about 2 hours earlier here, about 5am. This is kind of nice in that it gives me a lot of time in the morning to get prepared for the days events, such as going to the Acropolis. I was probably the tenth person to go through the gates this morning, and although it was quite chilly on the top of the mountain, it was very nice to not fight with the crowds that would eventually arrive.
From the Acropolis you can see most of Athens, the blurred building lapping against the sides of the distant hills. If you squint the city looks very much like Amman, Jordan. Most of the buildings on the Acropolis are in pretty bad shape and those areas that seem to be in fair to okay shape are being restored, so although it was great seeing for myself what most people only see in textbooks, it lacked the grandeur that I expected. Not that it wasn’t great to see the Parthenon, it just wasn’t quite as awesome as I thought it would be.
After thoroughly exploring the acropolis, a job that took about 2 hours, I headed for what I think was the old part of Athens know as the Ancient Agora. I spent probably two hours just wandering around, sometimes retracing the same route that I took earlier. All in all, it was nice to see what remained of the old city. There were plaques set up to give you some detail as to what was there originally, for example knowing what a building was used for or what lined a street. I even was occasionally yelled at by some of the guards for being in places that I wasn’t supposed to be in. The Greeks really take the security thing seriously. There must have been as many guards as tourists at this place. Now when I say guards, they’re not armed or even uniformed guards, they’re just people that have a lawn chair strategically staked out within the walls of this ruined city.
After my trek through the Ancient Agora, I headed in the direction of my hostel, wandering the narrow streets that are lined with souvenir shops. My objective was to get something to eat, take a break and then head out later for a trip to the Acropolis Museum.
The Acropolis Museum was created just for the Acropolis, which pretty much makes sense, but if you consider all the other historical sights in Athens and you realize how specialized this museum actually is. It’s a new building and you really get a good sense of what the acropolis must have been like “back in the day.” Unfortunately though they don’t allow photos to be taken so no photos here. It was very informative and I thoroughly enjoyed learning more. I can’t help think about Galina Mcguire, my art history professor from undergrad, when I think about the Acropolis.
I ended the day back in the apartment with a bag of chips, two beers, and the computer, in preparation for telling you what I did today.
