Breakfast first and then a shuttle from the hotel to the bottom of the Acropolis. Time to begin the ascent! (Carol elected to stay back today. She saw it from a distance yesterday, and decided the climb was not for her.)
It is a hard climb for younger people but for those with grey hair, it is a beast. However, as the saying goes, we aren’t getting any younger. There are plenty of places to stop and rest, which we utilized.
What a scene! The Acropolis is the hill and the temple built to the goddess Athenia is The Parthenon. Acropolis means “top of a rocky hill.” This one is 512 feet high. It has a gently slopping path upward. Those are the worst kind. Then as you get closer to the top, there are steps. Today there was a nice breeze and overcast. Our pictures came out great and we did not suffer from scorching heat. There are other ruins on the Acropolis, not just the Parthenon.
The Parthenon is amazing. It only took about 10 years to build at a cost of (2010 cost of silver) $9,765,966.08. That is 469 silver talents. One talent is about 85 pounds and each talent is valued at $20,822.9554. It has a limestone foundation and the columns are made from marble. Just a bit of trivia for you.
Below is Hadrian’s Wall. He said you have not learned until you have studied in Athens. ( or something like that.)
The Parthenon was a fortress, a temple, and a place for retreat when the Greeks came under attack. It was also built to hold a large statue of the patroness god of the city, Athenia. After the Ottoman conquest, it was turned into a mosque in the early 1460’s. On September 26, 1687, an Ottoman ammunition dump inside the building was ignited by Venetian bombardment. The resulting explosion severely damaged the Parthenon and its sculptures. Below. My friends are really studying the information on the boards. How is this Derrick?
Today there was quite a bit of scaffolding as they are in constant restoration. Actually, we were remarking about how much money this destination makes in a day. If The Taj Mahal gets 40,000 visitors a day, The Acropolis surely gets 50 or 60 thousand a day, and adults pay 20€ . It seems like this one destination could support the government, which has had financial problems for years. Below. We could not pass up taking pictures of these tiny dandelions.
One more Athens detail, and that is, Athens boasts of the birthplace of democracy.
Let me tell you about this 4 star hotel. See the picture? The mirror is too tall for short people unless you stand 6 feet away. See the hair dryer’s short cord? You can’t look in the mirror and dry your hair. There is no box of Kleenex in the room. No wash clothes, which is normal. . . But they have a system that allows you to call the USA for free and you can even take the phone with you while you’re out and about the hotel and use it as a GPS. Go figure!
We closed up early today about 4:30 pm. I think everyone was tired from the long day yesterday. Tomorrow we move to the beach area, putting us closer to the airport for our Sunday morning early departure. Isn’t Greece known for its beaches? We try to include everything.
Thanks for joining us today.