The Glory that was Greece--Oct. 15

The are hundreds of  miles of beautiful shore line in Greece, full of boats of all kinds.  We docked at Piraeus and were bussed into Athens. Piraeus has been the port of Athens for 2500 years.  We found out about 3 days before arriving that the Bells would not be at the mission home that day, but in Cyprus for a youth conference, so we ended up buying the tour after all.  Good thing I have a "rich" husband.  We saw everyone at the mission home, except them!

Note:  In the print version of this Blog, the captions are grouped together and don't travel with the photos, so you'll have to find the ID for each photo, if you want to learn something about the picture.

Olympic stadium built of white marble for the 1898 Olympics
Street vendors selling caps and postcards were much nicer than the Egyptians

The Panathenaic stadium hosted the first International Olympics

Our guide for the day

The changing of the guard at the Legislature

Athens is a beautiful city full of great architecture, statues, and columns

The non-descript entrance to the LDS Mission Home

Hiking to the Acropolis--our goal for the morning.

The Dionysus theater seated 14,000 people.  It is being reconstructed.  

Though it wasn't a strenuous hike it was all up hill.  There were lots of wonderful things to look at. We wore headphones and our guide kept us informed of what we were seeing.

We weren't sure we'd be able to even go up to the Acropolis, as the day before there were protesters and they closed the gates; however, we went to the south gate, instead of the main gate and we were able to enter.

 The smaller Odeon of Herodes Atticus built in 161 in honor of his wife. This is where Yanni had his big concert in 1998.

The famous Mars Hill where the Apostle Paul gave his sermon in 54 AD and accused the Athenians of worshiping false Gods. "Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious."

The entrance or Propylaea  to the Acropolis.  Notice the stacked columns.  This was the method used in building the Parthenon as well.

It was hard to get a good shot of the Parthenon from this side, 
as there were so many people out on this beautiful day.

Construction is going on in the center and south side of Parthenon

An important sign to recognize = Water Closet or bathroom!

 Most sacred site on the Acropolis the Erechtheion, and Caryatid Porch, or porch of the Maidens.  Originally there were six maidens.  One of the Caryatids was removed by Lord Elgin in order to decorate his Scottish mansion and was later sold to the British Museum (along with the pedimental and frieze sculpture plundered from the Parthenon.  Nowadays the five original Caryatids are displayed in helium-filled glass cases in the Acropolis Museum and are replaced in situ by exact replicas. 

 "Ancient Ruins"  from San Juan visiting Ancient Ruins of Greece.  The Parthenon in the background was build as a temple housing Athena, the patron goddess of Athens.  She was selected after defeating Poseidon in a contest.  The colums are Ionic.

 The mesa or mount of the Acropolis measures 500 ft. wide and 1,150 feet long.  At one time there was a little city there, with homes adjacent to the temples.

  Getting ready to go down the main trail.  This entrance is quite steep and made entirely of white marble from Mt. Pentelicus.  Notice Mars Hill in the background, named after the Roman God of War.

Mt. Pentelicus, 10 miles north of the city. The first great work on the Acropolis was the Parthenon, begun in 447 bc and finished, except for some details, in 438 bc.

The Nelsons became friends on this trip.  They have served 3 missions for the church.

 By the time we descended through the main entrance, police were stationed there, perhaps anticipating further protesters.

 Front view of the Odeon of Herodes...reminding of the many doors that have been opened to us on this trip.

 There are healthy well fed and tired dogs throughout the city

 Steve buys his Greek sailors cap.

 Hadian's Arch built by the great Roman builder.  Taken from the LDS mission home.  What a view!

 Steve, KC and Ethel across the street from the Arch

 The pedestrian plaza was where the bus let us off and picked us up.  It is directly in front of the LDS mission home.  Great location.

 Steve, the Langagers and Nelsons waiting for the bus

The Acropolis at night...what a sight, and to think we hiked up there!  Can't believe all we saw today!