Athens Greece continued

Continuation of Day One:

From the City of Acropolis we could view more sites (Roman Agora, The Ancient Agora of Athens, the Temple of Hephaestus, the Stoa of Attalos and the Agii Apostoli Church) below us.  So off we went with our map.

The view from the Acropolis

We clearly saw more sites to visit

Roman Agora;  Built in 11BC as a donation by Julius Caesar and Augustus.  It was a typical Agora containing; shops, markets, fountains and even public toilets.  This market had an octagonal marble time clock, Tower of the Winds, in the center of its courtyard area.

Not much left, but still pretty interesting relics

The Tower of the Winds is visible in this photo

The second entrance into the Roman Agora

Ancient Agora of Athens;  This area was the center of their political and public life.  The buildings were used for a variety of functions; public forums, commercial use, courts, and political or religious activities.  It is a very large area (almost like a city) with many different buildings; The Stoa of Attalos, Agii Apostoli, and the temple of Hephaestus.

The Stoa of Attalos;  This two story building was made of marble and limestone as a gift from King Attalos.  It was used as a commercial building, what we call a shopping center, accommodating about 42 shops.  Today, this restored building is used as a museum.

Beautiful picture obtained online

Seeking shade in the Stoa of Attalos

Agii Apostoli Church; This church is significant because it is the only other monument, other than the Temple of Hephaestus, to have survived all the battles in the Ancient Agora Athens area.  This church was built in the Byzantine period when Christianity was the rule.

The Agii Apostoli Church

The Temple of Hephaestus;  On the Agoraios Kolonos hill sits the Temple of Hephaestus.  The temple was the first temple made of marble, made before the Parthenon, in approximately 449BC.  Hephaestus was the patron God of metalworking and craftsmanship.  This temple was dedicated to him, but as with most temples there were statues and sculptural decorations to honor their other Greek Gods. 

Were going up to the Temple of Hephaestus

The temple

Just about to enter the temple..  Just kidding

Actually people are not allowed in the temple

The view from the temple

Notice Acropolis in the background

Whew!  A long day of walking and site seeing.  We have a long walk back to the hotel, so we stopped to cool off, get an early dinner, and most importantly a drink!

Nothing like an ICE cold beer after a hot day of site seeing

Walking back to the hotel

Typical side streets with vendors of all sorts

It was a great long day of site seeing and we were hot.  So we finished our day at the pool.

Nate and Connor cooling off

AND Sam

Day one was a hit.  Everyone loved the sites.  We're fed and ready for bed.  I wonder what day two will bring for us?  -Stay Tuned!

Athens Greece

Athens Greece was the last stop on our summer vacation prior to heading back to Turkey.   AND why not;  Athens is the largest city of Greece, it is one of the World's oldest cities, and is home to some of the most fabulous sites.

We got to our hotel, unpacked our bags and here is how all the site seeing unfolded;

Day one:     We headed for the biggest tourist destination;  The City of Acropolis, which endured many historical events.  An interesting website broke down the history of the City of Acropolis as such;

499 B.C. -  Pericle was the ruler of Athens, Greece (defeating the Spartans).  He wanted to make changes to Athens to reflect the power and beauty of the city.  He lavished Acropolis with most of the temples and structures that stand to this day.  Athens flourished into a large city with Acropolis being a monumental significance and center to the city.

146 B.C. - Romans invaded Greece.  Greece was converted to Christianity and pagan rituals and learning ended.

529 A.D. -Byzantine rule governed Athens.  Temples (Parthenon and Erechtheion) were turned into churches.  The ruler Constantinople took many works of art during this time period.

1456 A.D -The Ottoman Empire captured Athens.  The Parthenon became a mosque and the Erechtheion was where the Commander had his harem.  When the Ottoman Empire was declining, they began storing their gunpowder and explosives in the Athena Nike and Parthenon.  During the war with the Venetians, the Turks dismantled the Athena Nike to fortify the Parthenon.  A shot fired during the war ignited the stored gunpowder in the Parthenon, which caused an explosion.  The Parthenon received severe structural damage.  The British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire arranged for the removal of many sculptures from the Parthenon.

1822 - The Greeks captured their city, but later lost it back to the Ottomans.  BUT in 1833 the Ottomans withdrew from Athens, which was now a small city.

Through the following years people have worked to rebuild the City of Acropolis and with that Athens has flourished in population.

Getting to the Acropolis;

While walking to the Acropolis, we passed our first site; the Theatre of Dionysus.  This structure dates back to the 4th century BC and held up to 17,000 spectators.  The theatre was dedicated to Dionysus, who was the God of wine and drama.   It is said that the Theatre of Dionysus is where most of the works by Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes were performed.  I am not sure all what was performed at this theatre, but this beautifully adorned theatre was an amazing site to view.

At the base of Acropolis- the Theatre of Dionysus

Watching the performance at the Theatre

The beautiful statues carved into the wall/ entrance of the Theatre

We continued on and found the Odeon of Herodes Atticus.  This site is also a theatre.  The structure was built around 161 AD by Herodes Atticus in memory of his wife.  The structure had a capacity to hold 5,000 spectators and prior to its destruction had a roof.   In 1952 the structure was restored and has been the host of many musical performances.  

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus

The Acropolis of Athens; 

From there we climbed up and up to the rock where the city of Acropolis was built.  Acropolis, when translated (Akro- High and polis -city) means; high city.  Back then, in ancient Greece, most cities built their inhabitants around a rocky mound or hill.  AND on that rocky mound or hill they built their most important temples and retreat locations.  The City of Acropolis sits on a rock platform that is about 490 feet high in elevation from the surrounding landforms.  That higher elevation provided them the needed protection against invasions.  The surviving monuments demonstrate how well this tactical positioning worked.  

Online photo of how it's believed the City of Acropolis appeared

The city contains the following buildings/ monuments; The propylaea, the Temple of Athena Nike, the Erechtheion and the Parthenon;

The Propylaea: the entrance into the city.  This was built specifically to restrict and control the entrance into the city.  It kept out the miscreants from seeking sanctuary and protection from the gods in the temples, unclean people were denied access, and the state's treasury was on site (Parthenon). Overall, this entrance provided the necessary security in general.  

Online image of how it's thought the Propylaea appeared

Propylaea today

The Temple of Athena Nike:  right next to the Propylaea, on the right.  This temple was a place of worship to Athena Nike, the goddess of victory.  It is said that the statue of Athena in the temple was a wooden statue of a wingless Athena with a pomegranate in one hand and a helmet in the other.   The temple was in classic fashion with an open pit style area so people could pour their libations and deposit their primitive figurines to their god.   Unfortunately, we were not able to get pictures of this temple, due to construction.

The Parthenon:  This massive structure had a foundation made of limestone and the columns were of marble.  The columns were of the "Doric" order with eight columns at the facade and seventeen columns at the flanks, forming a 9:4 ratio.  Not really sure what this all means but apparently the relationship of the columns and overall structure was very advance for their time.  

The Parthenon was built to be the focus of the city.  The function of the Parthenon temple was to shelter the statue of Athena made out of gold and ivory and to house the treasury of the city.  This incredible temple is one of the world's greatest historic sites.  

Nate holding up the roof on the Parthenon

While Connor and Sam are the adorned statues

Side profile of the Parthenon

A beautiful view of the City of Acropolis from afar 

and you can see the Parthenon

The Erechtheion:  This temple was built as a replacement for the "Old Temple" which was destroyed by the Persians.  The remains of the "Old Temple" are still visible near the Erechtheion.  The Temple of Erechtheion was a house of many shrines to many different Gods.  This temple was dedicated to Athena Polias (protector of the earth and fertility), Poseidon (the God of Sea), Hephaestus (Son of Zeus and God of Fire and Forge), and an Athenian legendary hero named Boutos.  A plethora of pagan Gods and idols with intricate detailing and statues were inside and outside of this temple.  Today, most of those idols and statues are on display in museums.

Erechtheion Temple with the remains of the "Old Temple" still visible

The Caryatids Maidens who house the grave of Kekrops below them

Kekrops is a legendary King of Athens

So now we have completed the City of Acropolis.  It was incredible and we loved it.  We loved seeing the structures and learning about its history.  AND this was only the beginning.

Santorini Excursions

Our Excursions;

We wanted to relax in Oia and just enjoy the sun, but also take on a few excursions to see the landforms of this great island.  SO, on our first day we set out to find one of the swimming locations that we read about in a book.  The hotel manager warned us that the location near the port would entail walking a steep 250 steps down and a walk around the side of the island to the swimming location in the bay.

So, 250 steps- were not scared, off we went.  We walked down to the steps AND wow they were very steep.  So as we descended not only did we have to watch our step to avoid falling, but Donkeys travel that path as well and we needed to avoid the bombs left by them.  We safely made it down to the port without falling in donkey poo.  YEAH!  We could not see the swimming location so we asked a local man about where to swim.  He pointed to a dirt path and told us to follow it.  So we walked off to that area and noticed a very large sign stating that the path could have falling rocks from the cliff above.  OK?!?!  Should we proceed?  Did the person send us to the wrong location?  Some of these questions were running through my head until we saw a couple of people far ahead on that path.  So we took our lives into our own hands, according to the sign, and ventured off to find the swimming bay.  Boy, it was quite the hike?!?!   In the end, we found the swimming bay and the boys swam for several hours looking for fish, climbing the rocks and checking out the church that was built into the rock.

The stairs leading down to the port

AND yes we started at the top where the farthest building is located

Our view of the stairs heading down to the Amoudi port

We were only a third of the way down when we took this picture

The path to the swimming bay

The swimming bay where people jumped off some of the cliffs

NOTE: those buoys are to catch fish and are not swimming markers

View of the church (on the left) and the swimming bay (on the right) from the top of the island

So we finished swimming and hiked back to the port.  Whew!  It was hot with the sun beaming on us and we were tired from swimming.  We looked up to the 250 stairs and we thought about climbing up those steps at that moment...  Uh...  NO!  We decided to stop at one of the restaurants in the port to enjoy a drink, have some fresh fruit, and catch our breath while sitting in front of a fan- instead.

Our view at the restaurant in the shade in front of a fan..  nice!

After the short stop we were refreshed and ready to tackle the stairs.  BUT is anyone really ready to tackle steep 250 steps?!?!  Some are not and hire a donkey ride up to the top.  But we are the McPeaks and we can do it.  SO in the bright sun and heat (being in the 90s) we made a game of count the steps as we climbed.  We made a joke that we really wanted to know if there were truly 250 steps in total.  During our adventurous walk up the steps we had to take a few stops to catch our breath / enjoy the view, but we did it.  We beat those stairs.  We were sweating profusely through our shirts and out of breath, but we made it nonetheless.  By the way, I lost count on the steps and just stopped counting so that I could focus on making it to the top and the kids lost track of counting in general.  So we don't know the answer.

Our next adventure was a day trip on a catamaran to see the Hot Springs from volcano island and the red and white beach.  So we packed our little bag with our snorkeling gear and off we went.  This time there was a bus that picked us up and took us to the Port (Whew...we did not have to climb the 250 stairs).  

The catamaran

The hot springs was located by one of the two volcanic islands in the middle of the caldera.  The hot springs is water that is heated by an underwater volcano and it contains sulfur so it is brownish in color.   The boys jumped off of the catamaran and swam to the area.  Sam and I did not venture off the boat, but watched them as they swam off.  They came back saying that the water was warm and smelled a little weird, but the landscape was cool. 

Swimming to the Hot Springs

The Red Beach is red from an iron rich sedimentary that turns the whole area red.  The beach area is mostly gravelly stone, because of the volcanic rock.  But it was fantastic to see this unique landscape.  The catamaran stopped near the beach so people could swim and enjoy the view.   The boys immediately jumped off the boat and were off snorkeling.  Sam did not like the depth of the ocean and would not swim.  We discussed him wearing a life vest, but no way.  So we hung out on the boat while the older boys swam with their dad.

The Red Beach

Next we were off to the White beach.  The White beach is very close to the Red Beach, but is only obtainable by boat.  This was our longest stop.  The staff made lunch for all guests on the boat while the guests were swimming and snorkeling.  This area was the most beautiful body of water; the water being crystal clear with huge white cliffs as a backdrop, made it amazing.  

The White Beach

There were several boats in this area where people were scuba diving, snorkeling, swimming, and kayaking.  Again, this water was crystal clear which made it easy to see all the interesting marine life and the ocean floor.  The boys agreed that the White Beach was the best.

After lunch and a head count, the staff raised the sails and we were heading back to port.  The ride back to port was pretty bumpy, but the boys loved the fact that we were using natural wind power to move the catamaran.  We had great food, great sites and great snorkeling.  The catamaran excursion was a hit.

FINAL and last excursion- to find the other swimming hole near our hotel.  We were told that the swimming location was also near a port, but a smaller one called Armeni Bay.  This climb included 280 steps and most people don't frequent that area to swim, because the other swimming location has the rock church.  But we had to check it out.

We enjoyed the view as we descended down the steps into the Armeni Bay.  When we got to the port, the kids ventured off to check out the marine life, skip rocks, collect shells and swim.  I noticed that this area had what appeared to be abandoned property.  When speaking with a local about the area and the property, he explained why it appeared more desolate.  He told us that in 2011 there was a rockslide from the cliff that killed a tourist who was riding a donkey up the path/ steps.  Because of the death and the uncertainty of the rock's stability in the cliff, the steps were shut down.  The abandoned property was restaurants and shops that thrived when the port was more accessible.    When the path closed the establishments were not able to access the top of the island for supplies or their tourists and they had to shut down.  People were using the Armoudi port and this port became obsolete.  He finished by saying that the government secured the boulders on the cliff through netting, bolts, and other means to ensure the path/ steps is safe.  The steps just recently opened and he is hoping that the Armeni Bay will come back to life.

The steps descending into Armeni Bay- obtained from online

Very big beautiful boats were docked at the port

The boys venturing off

Sam collecting rocks and shells

Armeni Bay was great.  This location was very shallow and Sam ventured off to explore more than any other excursion.  There was a lot of marine sea life and everyone enjoyed that aspect of this bay.  BUT now we needed to head back to the hotel.  Remember what goes down must come up (or Visa versa) and we had quite a hike ahead of us.  We did not ride the donkeys, but took our time to climb each and every 280 steps back to the top.  Again, we were sweating profusely through our shirts and out of breath, but we made it.  We didn't need no stinking donkeys.  Ha!  

Santorini's excursions were adventurous.  We did and saw many things.  This Greek Island and caldera had such beautiful landforms and marine life.  We were glad that we went.