Day 8 (March 15) is one of those days that blends in with the days before and after it. Did I really see all these places in one day or was it actually two?
The Acropolis; a beautiful archaeological site that sits on a hill overlooking the city of Athens. Looking down on the city reminds me of Toronto except for the skyscrapers and modern edifices.
The Acropolis is an ancient citadel (main fortified center of the city). The word acropolis itself comes from the Greek meaning "highest point, city" and is actually a generic term, however this particular acropolis in Athens has been deemed The Acropolis of Athens with no other need for qualification. Man, how cool would it be to have a generic name but still be the one that everyone associates that name to. It's like my name. There are plenty of Sophia's in my school but it would be cool the be deemed The Sophia. I digress...
One of the more significant of ancient buildings is the Parthenon (as shown above). It is a former temple dedicated to the goddess Athena (goddess of wisdom and regarded as a protectress across Greece).
Above is the Erechtheion. It is another temple and dedicated to both Athena and Poseidon (god of the sea).
After our gyros lunch in the city, we had time to roam the streets. There were lots of tourist shops, jewelry shops, and gelato. My friends bought me a blue opal ring (15 euros) and a crown (4 euros) as an early birthday present. Compared to my Swarovski crystal ring, my ring from Athens is so much better in quality. It hasn't changed colours, there are very minimal scratches to the band, and none of the crystals have fallen out (unlike said Swarovski). I have a picture of the ring in this post.
Since then, I have decided that I only want to wear rings of quality and that have meaning. I want to be able to look back on past memories when I look at my rings.
Night fall came and we as a group hiked our way up Mount Lycabettus. According to Greek Mythology, Lycabettus was created accidentally by Athena when she dropped a limestone mountain she had been carrying and planning on using on the construction of The Acropolis after the box holding Erichtonius (a Greek hero raised by Athena) was opened.
It was a strenuous climb with tons of steps and a hot sticky weather to pair with it, but the view and breeze at the top was well worth it. What a good way to tire us all out and make us go to sleep so we could wake up for our early ferry to Mykonos the next morning.
The Sophia
No comments:
Post a Comment