The Acropolis
The Acropolis sits proudly above the city of Athens and there are 1001 fables about its history.
Originally built by the Romans, it was supposed to represent the 'high city' of the elites. The gods of the Greeks were up in Mount Olympus some distance away. Everyday, thousands of tourists flock to see the ruins and the Parthenon which was the seat of the first known democracy. The Acropolis is declared a UNESCO Heritage site. There are 4 main items to check out :
a) The entrance or Propylea
b) The Temple of Athena Nike
c) The Temple of Erechtheon
d) The Parthenon temple.
The Greek country is a relatively new concept. 'Greece' by itself was effectively a collection of city states and were perpetually warring within themselves and the neighbouring Persians (now called Turkey). They came together to fend off the Persians time and again and were conquered by the Romans for about 500 years ( I need to fact check this).
Hence you will time and again here like Athenians, the Spartans, the Florentines, the Persians and Venetians because in those days the city state was the way for commerce (trade) and wars only increased their GDP exponentially by claiming victory over the neighbour and taking over their lands, peoples, agricultural produce, products and whatever they owned.
Our tour guide, Aleksandro Politis (see below) is a certified tour guide and he proudly tells us that less than 2% of the 1500 entrants (25) each year make it to the licensed (certified) tour guide. He is supremely knowledgeable about his work and has a Masters in Geography. The impression I get from our meetups with the guides is that the Greek people are warm and friendly. They carry no airs about them and are willing to help at every turn. He is fluent in 3 languages, English, Greek and Portuguese and can be contacted at
alex.politis@icloud.com
Do contact him, if you want a really thorough guide to show you Acropolis and the neighbouring towns. I highly recommend him.
We were blessed by Beautiful Weather.
The temples are made by marble, and each piece weighs 10 tons (10,000 kg). The columns of the temple are designed to withstand earthquakes, and the columns give the appearance of leaning in towards the centre as well as the centre columns appear bigger at the centre. All these give the illusion that the columns are totally straight !
Transporting the marble blocks 17km away from a quarry in Mount Pentelikon to the acropolis is no mean feat. The marble is glittering white and it gleams in the sun.
Built in the 5th century BC, I believe by the emperor Hadrian. It cost a lot of money at that time. The Propylea is the grand entrance and the temple of Erechthian, which has the famous Porch of the 6 Maidens.
Every line of the Parthenon is curved, and the ramparts appear to sag downwards and upwards to give it a rather eccentric look. Above the entrance, there are reliefs of all the processions of Greek life.
The long queues of people climbing up the Propylea at 10 am
There are a lot of carvings showing the wars and battles between the Greek gods and one can imagine how grand it was when it was new. The Parthenon started as a temple to the Greek gods, then became the home of the rulers, followed by a Church, to the Mosque and subsequently an ammunition storage, got struck by lighting and bombed by Venetians, stolen of its treasures by the British (Lord Elgin) and subsequently reinstated to partially its former glory.
It is now a UNESCO heritage site and definately a pride piece for all Greek people.
The Temple of Erechtheon
The temple of Erechtheon is another visible piece of architecture and has withstood the millenia, partly because it was restored piece by piece by subsequent Greek Governments since the 80s with newer pieces of marble and other stone strutures. There is a famous Hallway of the Maidens, which is world famous.
An open air theatre.
The Greeks were also the first to create open air theatre to entertain, teach and subsequently discipline their subjects. There were brilliant orators, who spoke about the teachings of Homer and many other portrayals of ordinary Greek life.
The phrase 'Greek Tragedy' is so infused into our lexicon of word use that nobody gives it second thought. In addition, the use of the word Greek gods are also very prevalent in international lingo.
Greece, in particular Athens has much to offer the world in the concept of democracy, though it is not clear if the ancient Greeks could actually vote, but the Senate (made of of wealthy Athenians of lineage) would discuss issues of the day on behalf of ordinary Athenians, hence the concept of Government "for the people, by the people" was born.
The tourists in Athens were mainly made up of Europeans and Americans (almost 90%). The Asians are very much a minority, as I guess the costs (still expensive ; for example a return trip to Athens on Qatar Airways if you book 1 month before the trip in Sept would easily costs USD 2,500). Our landed costs were in total USD 6,100 before meals. So its roughly USD 3,050 for 8 days in Greece.
The tourists from Asia are mainly from Japan, Korea, Singapore and some Chinese who are based in Europe of US and have never gone back to China. Most Chinese have not returned to overseas travel, owing to COVID restrictions so their absence is felt on many tourist restaurants, establishments and places of interest.
We used this great landed travel agency called Kim Kim. The arranged every thing for the 8 days (7 nights) we were there. These include :
a) Pickup at Athens airport
b) 3 nights hotel stay in Athens (3* hotel but felt like 4*) w breakfast
c) 2 full days guided tour in Athens, include 2 fabulous lunches
d) Transport to Port for ferry to Mikonos
e) Ferry to Mikonos
f) Pickup at Mikonos
g) 2 nights in Mikonos (4* hotel really nice) w breakfast
h) Transport to Port and Ferry to Santorini
i) 2 nights in Santorini (3* hotel but central) w breakfast
j) Half day tour of special waterless farm with full home made vege dinner.
i) Transfer and flight from Santorini to Athens (Business class superb).
I would highly recommend Kim Kim tour agency, who made our first 8 days so seamless and fun. They customise your trip according to your budget. You can easily check them out on Google.
team@kimkim.com
Tel : +1 888 982 9496
alex.politis@icloud.com
