Greece has seen better days; the bank is pretty humble, too.
We did not sign on for an excursion for our stop in Athens. Reading the descriptions of the offerings there seemed to be no complete tour that would satisfy. We decided, we’ll go it on our own — the cruise equivalent of roughing it.
So we leave the ship. You take a little shuttle to leave the port. You turn left and walk for about 20 minutes to the train.It gives you a sense of downtown Athens, which feels like it has been covered with a sheen of dust and everyone forgot to clean it 30 years ago. Rome, Athens and Istanbul all give off this vibe, at least in parts. They all feel like places that could have used a facelift in the Nixon era.
Greece is having financial troubles that are shaking the very flimsy foundations of the European Union, but in Athens you’ll find the nicest subway terminals you’ve ever seen. At the other end of our little train ride we exited into a little neighborhood beneath our goal.
After a (long) hike up the hill, and a wrong turn based on some bad advice, we made our way to the front gates of the Acropolis.
We were in a very long line.
There were a lot of people there. It seems our good fortune of missing the crowds had finally caught up with us. But the line moved quickly enough. Within a few minutes were out of the line, in the Acropolis and free to move about as we pleased. Of course everyone starts in the same place, the building that dominates the hill and our imaginations.
The Parthenon, Athens, Greece.
It is a curious thing. You read and study about these people and this place and time in history for forever in school. If you pay even a little attention in your regular comings and goings of life you’ll find references or allusions to the Greek influence on our contemporary world. You’ve tried to imagine what it was like, how they lived and struggled and excelled and loved. And now, suddenly, you’re here.
I’m not especially good at visualizing those things. I’d like to be, but my mind’s eye can only conjure up the ruins, or some anonymous artists’ representation of the ancients. There are many questions and, for me, just as many distressed columns. You can see the great scale and hints of the grandeur. The setting is beautiful in it’s aged austerity, but it is hard to conceive what these buildings were like in their prime.
Instead I wonder how the ancient Greeks could build the thing in nine years, but with all of our technology the current restorations have been ongoing for almost two decades — and repair programs have been carried out here several times over the last two centuries. This could be the problem:
Slow progress, there's only one guy working today.
Across from the Parthenon there is the lesser known Erechtheum, which was built between 421 and 407 BC, as a shrine to the Greek hero Erichthonius.
The Erechtheum is the temple on the northern end of the Acropolis.
We also visited the Roman Agora, which was located where the Greek markets had previously stood. We visited the Temple of Hephaistos, which is perhaps the best preserved Greek temple. We walked through a little museum, bought souvenirs for family, enjoyed a gelato and saw the massive Temple of Zeus.
The Temple of Olympian Zeus, with The Yankee offering perspective.
That’s just a massive place. There were originally 104 columns, 16 of which survived into the 19th Century. A storm knocked one over then and it has been resting in pieces as it fell ever since, which is just a blip for a site where construction started 2,500 years ago.
Notice the entasis design in the columns, there’s a place where you can stand within arm’s reach of one of the fallen columns. If you put your next to the column, stretching your fingers wide, your hand will fit within the convex curve.
There are a few areas where it is obvious that excavation is still being conducted. (When the money is available that is, meaning, perhaps, not for some time in Athens’ future.) Given the size and the history — the Greeks, the Romans, the Turks, all right here — you can only wonder at what else is waiting to be discovered.
We caught the train back, including a terminal switch, which is always an adventure when you can’t read the maps.
We’d watched, with a wary eye, the news about the unrest in Athens this spring. In our daily newsletter on the ship there was a note from the captain about this stop. There were no demonstrations planned, it said, but you never know. He urged caution in crowded spaces, noting that even peaceful crowds can grow agitated. I’ve covered a few strikes and protests, including a crowd or two that have been gassed, but that was when I was younger and more single.
These days, now that I’m more married, I’ve no desire to steer us into any thing that could be a problem. Fortunately the city was calm and restive today. We were typically surrounded by tourists, but the locals all seemed to be in fair spirits. What we saw of Athens — and everything we’ve seen in Greece after three stops — have been worth bragging about. The people generally keep to themselves, but when you meet them they all prove to be very warm.
With all that’s going on here it isn’t unreasonable to think that by your next visit the country may be drastically different, but perhaps not. Any place with this much history is capable of adapting and overcoming the current difficulties. You want things to work out for the Greeks. The changes that will come, economically and perhaps politically, will be tough, but their going to be a bellwether for a lot of countries in the near future.
Tourism will always be a big key here, for obvious and picturesque reasons. So, if you’re planning a trip, this is a nice one to take. And until you make it here yourself, I’ve got pictures and, coming soon, video of the things we’ve seen in Greece. Though I can say this: the better part of three days we’ve enjoyed here aren’t enough.
Tomorrow: We spend the day on the water.
