More Athens and a few Greek islands

After Delphi and Meteora, we spent a few more days in Athens, including a day trip to a few Greek islands.  I had planned a day trip to Delphi, not realizing that it was already included in the Meteora trip.  Make sure to read the full itinerary when you book a tour, lesson learned!  The company was able to offer us a boat ride day trip to Hydra, Aegina, and Patra.  This day trip ended up being somewhat underwhelming, because as it turns out, the islands are not that exciting in the winter.  Plus it was kind of a cloudy rainy day, plus we couldn't go to Patra because of a shipwreck.  The boat ride was pretty cheesy.  It included a dance show featuring "traditional" Greek dances.  They invited all of the tourists to join (Nate and I were amongst the few non-Asians on this tour, so we really stood out and didn't join in.  We're boring).  It was pretty entertaining to watch Greek guys twirl tiny little Asian girls around in circles--over their heads even.  It still makes me laugh, actually.  But we did enjoy ourselves, nonetheless.  Here's a few pictures from the boat trip:

Little port of Hydra

Hydra is so small, no motorized vehicles are allowed.  Donkeys are one way to get around!

Temple of Aphasia on Aegina, a goddess later associated with Athena.  This is one of the temples of the holy triangle, the others being the Parthenon and Temple of Poseidon

Sunset at the Temple

Monastery of St. Nectarios, now the seat of the Greek Orthodox Church

A tiny little Greek Orthodox church right on the harbor

Nate and I also visited the National Archaeological museum, with another handy audio guide from our travel buddy Rick Steves.  The Greeks are very proud of their Classical history, and the museum had many artifacts and sculptures arranged in chronological order.  It was interesting to see some of the statues housed here that once were at the temples we visited or would visit while in Greece.  

The oldest little Kori statues in the exhibit.  They were used as little offerings when the Greeks visited the temples

Mycenean gold burial coverings for an infant.  We got to see a Mycenean ancient site later in the trip.

Bronze statue of Zeus or Poseidon...no one is sure if he was throwing a lightning bolt or a trident.  But if you try to pose and take a picture, you will get scolded (I know this because of a sign, not because I actually posed like Zeuseidon).

Small scale replica of Athena the warrior holding victory in her hand.  The actual statue doesn't exist anymore and was originally at the Acropolis.

We also went to the new Acropolis museum on the same day.  The new museum is really interesting because on the top floor there is a full scale replica of the Parthenon, with some original pieces and some replicas.  Some of the pieces were not-so-nicely stolen from a British guy in the 1800s, and the Greeks won't let any visitor to their museum forget that.  For years, the Brits said that Athens didn't have the proper space to store those pieces, so they built a brand new, state of the art museum to house those pieces once they are returned.

On another day, we visited the ancient Agora and Temple of Poseidon.  The Agora was the city center of ancient Athens, where the philosophers, thinkers, and government workers all hung out.  Here people came to vote and established one of the earliest democracies. Thanks again, Rick Steves, for the handy free guide! 

The ruins of the city center, settled beneath the Acropolis

Temple of Hephaestus at the Agora

View of the agora from a hill that the apostle Paul preached from in Athens...that guy made it everywhere!

In the afternoon, we went on a little tour to the Temple of Poseidon just outside of Athens.  I had read amazing reviews of the Poseidon temple, with people saying it was one of the most beautiful places in Greece and the sunsets are to die for.  Unfortunately, it was a cloudy (and freezing cold!) afternoon, so we didn't get to catch this amazing sunset.  But it was still a beautiful temple right on the sea, where people made sacrifices to Poseidon for safe maritime travels.

Bundled up at Temple of Poseidon

The temple facing the Aegean Sea

There's a little of that famous sunset...pretty cool anyway!

That evening, we enjoyed a nice dinner at a taverna on the Acropolis stairs.  Part of what enticed us to try this place was the nice Greek man promising music and dancing.  Nate and I were the only ones in the restaurant and beginning to think this guy pulled one over on us, when suddenly about forty lively Greeks came in.  Then the music started as well as Athenians dancing and letting loose on a Friday night.  It was a great little dose of local flavor :)

Love how into it the singer is!

For our final day in Athens, Nate and I saved the big sight for last...the Acropolis.  We had more help from our pal Rick to orient us around the big Acropolis rock that is steeped with history.

Greek theater carved into the side of the rock

The entrance to the top.  The nice thing about going in the off-season is way fewer tourists.  The bad thing is scaffolding and a rainy day now and then.

The famous Parthenon Temple dedicated to Athena, patron goddess of Athens.  Besides a temple, this place has also been a sight of an Orthodox church during Byzantine rule and a mosque during Ottoman rule.  Now Greece is painstakingly renovating their beloved temple.

The elegant Caryatid columns of the Erechthion temple 

What remains of the ancient Acropolis citadel.  *Right after I took this picture, I took a HUGE tumble on the Acropolis that will forever go down as The Great Acropolis Tumble.  Always graceful :)

The Acropolis was the final place we saw in Athens before taking the bus to Nafplio.  I really enjoyed our first week in Athens and beyond.  It's very clear that the Greeks are proud of their ancient ancestors and the contributions they made to democracy, medicine, architecture, philosophy....pretty much everything, really!