The next morning was a very early start as we had a lot of ground to cover. We hurriedly checked out and handed over our luggage for safe keeping. We grabbed brekker quickly and then set off for the Acropolis.
We decided to walk up through the Anafiotika neighborhood that nestles on the foot of the hill. At that time of the morning, other than a few cats, there was no one around.
At some point we stopped climbing and started moving sideways and even downwards which was confusing. We finally came out just opposite the New Acropolis museum. Which basically meant that we could have had a flat walk to that point without having to climb at all, but at least we got to see a pretty and authentic part of Athens in the bargain.
We started the climb up, stopping at first at the Theatre of Dionysos. It was interesting to see how the nobility had marble seats as compared to regular stone seats for the plebs.
Onwards to the ruins of the Temple of Asklepsion. The statuary, or what remains of them are in the National Archaelogical Museum.
Higher up we come to the Theatre of Herodes Atticus, which is still in use today for performances, something we definitely would have liked to attend.
Finally we were at the Propylaia, built in the 4th century BC to form a new entrance to the Acropolis. There is a sense of awe at the history of this place, the events it has witnessed, the magnificent luminaries that have graced these steps.
The first glimpse of the Parthenon literally takes the breath away, perched as it is in all its glory at a height. It is so much larger than expected.
With the eye inevitably being drawn to the Parthenon, most of the crowd, and there is a small crowd even at this early hour, heads towards it. Which means its a great time to focus instead on the Porch of the Caryatids.
Finally, its time for the main attraction. Constant restoration implies having to keep your distance, but such is the magnitude of the structure, that crowds notwithstanding, with a little patience, you can find an angle to get that perfect picture with no one else in sight.
We walk over to the edge of the hill and look down upon the city. The height offers a birds eye view of the Temple of Zeus as well as the vast sprawl of the city.
Another vantage point highlights the Hephaestion
And yet another viewing point allows for an overhead view of the Theatre of Herodes Atticus.
We spend some more time in the atmospheric place, before growing crowds begin to kill the mood.
We exit the Acropolis and walk down the hill, towards the Ancient and Roman Agoras. Its a lovely walk, all downhill, and before you know it, you're amongst the ruins in the Ancient Agora, such as this church.
We spend some time in the incredible Stoa of Attalus, which is used today as a museum for the finds in the Agora.
We decide not to climb upto the Hephaestion, enjoying its tranquillity from down below.
We exit the Agora right at the same cafe that we had visited on our first afternoon in Athens, and given all that we had accomplished, we treated ourselves to the sinful chocolate souffle.
We walked back to the Monastiraki metro station, only to find out that trains were suspended for the day. This meant that we would have to take a taxi to the National Archaeological Museum. Finding a cab took a little while but we managed one eventually.
We had just about enough time to devote to this mother of all museums, and with an eye firmly set on the clock, we began our visit.
We started on the ground floor. All galleries are chronologically marked, and we started with the 8th Century BC finds, such as this amazing vase.
Next was the section relating with kouroi, or statues of people.
We moved onto the section covering the 6th century BC.
Moving backwards in time, we entered the section covering the Early Classical Period using the Severe Style, manifest in the famous statue of Poseidon below.
Next came a large section on Attic Funerary Monuments, which were incredibly beautiful.
We moved into the galleries dealing with the remnants of the Asklepsion, with detailed diagrams on what it was supposed to look like as compared to what actually survives.
The next section dealt with funerary monuments of the 3rd Century BC.
A side gallery had interesting Documentary Reliefs which adorned stelae and other monuments used for information.
We moved on to the section dealing with the 4th century BC.
Next was the period of Hellenistic Sculpture.
Followed by the Roman sculpture period like this bust of Emperor Augustus.
We then moved into the Mycenae collection which was stunning, to say the least. One of my favourites were the gold cups from the Vaphaio Tolos tombs in Lakonia dating from the 15th century BC.
Another thing of note is the wall relief called the "Mycenaean Lady".
The piece de resistance is undoubtedly the gold death mask of Agamemnon.
There are also sections devoted to Cycladic artefacts.
A small collection has these finds from Thermopylae. These arrow heads were recovered from the site and were used during the epic Battle of Thermopylae between the Spartans and the Persians.
We headed to the second floor, which was filled with pottery, but it was all very overwhelming. All we could do was stare and be amazed. Below is a chart describing all the different shapes the pots were made in.
We exited the museum about 3 hours later, having scratched the surface, but we felt we had done it fair justice given the time constraint.
We took a taxi back to the Plaka area and grabbed a quick lunch at a trendy cafe restaurant very close to the hotel. We got back to the hotel, collected our bags, got into a cab, and just like that, it was time to end our Greek holiday.
On the whole, Greece not only lived up to, but in some respects, surpassed our expectations completely. 5000 years of history sitting cheek by jowl with a contemporary sense of local architecture, a charming laid back attitude, ever present warmth and hospitality, and great food, is a heady mix. We are by no means done with this Hellenic paradise, as we still have to unravel the mysteries of some of its greatest sites. Our trip has only served to ensure that we will return in the future
