We left for the airport at 5 AM and after checking in, davened at the lounge before boarding our flight. We arrived in Athens at 9 AM after a short 2 hour flight on Aegean Airlines.
We cleared immigration and customs, collected our luggage and checked into our hotel (Sofitel) immediately across the roadway from the airport. We unpacked and then met up with Irving and Ruchama and caught a cab to the centre of Athens.
On the way, we had a long conversation with the cab driver who briefed us on the terrible financial situation that is being faced by many Greeks; he said that we will be shocked by the number of closed stores; tourism is down; and families are having trouble making ends meet.
We had him drop us off at the Jewish Museum. It is a small museum with much of it devoted to the decimation of the community during the Shoah and the role that the resistance played in battling the Nazis. There was a group tour of Greek non Jews taking place while we were there.
As we left the Museum there was a dance troupe in native dress that allowed us to pose for pictures.
When we left the museum, we headed to the Greek Parliament where there was a memorial service taking place in memory of the genocide of Greeks by the Turks on May 19, 1919. It was in Syntagma Square and there were some bench seats around, so we found some shade and had our lunch.
Syntagma Square is the main town square in Athens directly across the road from the Parliament Buildings.
Ruchama had found this free walking tour of Historic Athens online, (you take a guided tour for three hours and then you pay the guide whatever you think it was worth) and we had arranged to meet the guide at 4 PM so we had a few hours to fill. We decided to fill it up inside, with some much needed air conditioning (it was 33 C today in Athens; unseasonably hot), so we headed towards the Museum of the Acropolis). On the way to the Museum via a walk thru the lush shaded National Gardens, we passed Hadrian's Arch; looking thru the arch you could see the Acropolis.
The Arch of Hadrian is a monumental gateway built in 131 CE that spanned an ancient road from the center of Athens to the complex of structures on the eastern side of the city that included the temple of Zeus. The arch was built to celebrate the arrival of the roman emperor Hadrian and to honor him for his many contributions to the city.
Two inscriptions are carved on the arch’s lower level, one centered over the arched opening on either side. On the northwest side (towards the Acropolis), the inscription was:
- ΑΙΔ' ΕIΣΙΝ ΑΘΗΝΑΙ ΘΗΣΕΩΣ Η ΠΡΙΝ ΠΟΛΙΣ (this is Athens, the ancient city of Theseus)
The inscription on the southeast side (facing the Olympeion) read:
- ΑΙΔ' ΕIΣΙΝ ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟΥ ΚΟΥΧI ΘΗΣΕΩΣ ΠΟΛΙΣ (this is the city of Hadrian, and not of Theseus).
We soon came to a lovely pedestrian street that leads up to the Museum.
The museum is relatively new and a very modern beautiful building. it was opened in 2009. It was built to house the many artifacts that were found on the Acropolis Hill.
We spent about an hour looking at some of the many relics and archaeological finds that were on or around the Hill. As well, there are parts of the building that are built directly on top of ancient streets and ruins. In these instances, the architects of the Museum built the building with glass floors so that you can see the original 2000 year old street below from this very modern building above it.
In one of the exhibits we saw scale models of aspects of the architecture of the Acropolis that we would see later when ascending to the top of the hill.
From the patio on top of the Museum, you can see the amazing views of the Acropolis towering high above you and to the left, the highest hill in Athens, Mount Lycabettus. At 277 meters (908 feet) above sea level, the hill is the highest point in the city that surrounds it.
The hill is a popular tourist destination and can be ascended by the Lycabettus funicular which climbs the hill from a lower terminus.The hill also has a large open-air theater at the top, which has housed many Greek and international concerts.
It was now time to proceed to our walking tour which would take a total of three hours....
All the best
Fran and David
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