Visiting the Olymp

Some days were passing by until we could continue our journey, because we had to take care of some business in Hamburg. Good thing there was that we could take a tour on a boat along the river to the centre of the city.
Our journey lead us to Athens, were we met with Katia again, she was the girl we met in Cork and she invited us to visit her. After leaving the airport we went together with her to her university and being there for the introduction for the next semester. It felt like some special days at school, sitting in a class room and not understanding what the teacher is talking about. Later at the evening we got to the harbour and walked along the pear and Katia was explaining us a lot of things about the city.

The next day we all went to the Acropolis. From the city the Acropolis already looks very impressive, it's not like a castle just built on top of a hill, the Greeks built a platform and on there they built the Acropolis and some more buildings and temples.

When we entered the area around the Acropolis we got to see several ruins of old building and the biggest ancient theatre in Greek, the Theatre of Dionysus (-> wonna know more ?)

On the way up we passed by at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus (-> wonna know more ?), a theatre which is still in a very good condition and what makes it even better they still use it as a theatre. But you should only get there when the weather is fine, cause there is no roof, well there is no real need for it. Also in winter there is not much rain in Athens.

We got up the path and reached the entrance to the Acropolis (-> wonna know more ?) , passing through kind of a gate, only existing of big walls and columns. I could imagine how it must have been in the ancient times getting up the hill and entering this area. This place was not built for defence or war, it was built for praying to the gods and worshipping. That's a lot better than only seeing protective walls and canons or other weapons around. And also we got a great view from up there.

For sure we took a long look at the most impressive building at the Acropolis, the Parthenon (-> wonna know more ?  ) with its high columns ruling above the city, it feels like you can see the place from every place in the city. Unbelievable how the Greeks managed to built this temple in the past.

After spending a lot of time we went down the hill on the other side to get to the Temple of Hephaestus and the old Agora with the Museum of Ancient Agora. Almost all lies down in ruins, but you're still able to see were the streets lead through and imagine how the houses looked like.

Kerameikos, ruins of some buildings and a cemetery. After Edinburgh and the stories about ghosts Bernd was scared of entering the cemetery, I whispered to him that he should not show that he is so scared during we are walking around with a girl, which helped him to overcome his fear and get in. The ruins are lying below the today's ground level and we started wondering what else would be hidden below the streets and the buildings.

From Kerameikos we walked around the hill with the Acropolis to get to the Philopappos Monument. On the way up the hill we stopped at Crito, also called Socrates Prison (-> wonna know more ?), so much history in this city and some things we find without expecting it.

A while later we arrived at the top of the hill, we had to make several breaks because Bernd got exhausted and could not walk anymore, but at the end we got up there. And it was absolutely worth getting there, on top of the Acropolis we already had great view but from he it felt even better. Especially cause we got a great view to the Acropolis and no houses or walls blocking the view. Well and also the Philopappos Monument.

Up on the hill came for the sunset, it did not look as exciting as it is on the picture, but worth waiting for.

After all this walking we were thinking to get a break but on the way back there was the Acropolis museum and we wanted to get in there, Bernd did not want to join us and no words could make him change his mind. So he stayed outside during we were looking at the exhibitions. It's a museum so it was showing a lot of ancient pieces found at the Acropolis and around there. The museum building was quite interesting, on the way in you pass by at some ruins and at the ground floor you could see through the floor also offering a view on some ruins.

Long day of walking around, we were happy when we got back home and relax. The next day we spent relaxing and having lunch and dinner with some of Katias friends, better getting to know the Greeks and get back some energy for the next day of exploration.
Our first stop lead us to the Parliament and the square in front of it, the place we could see on TV when there would be some demonstrations going on, luckily not the day we got there.

Next to the Parliament is the National Garden, a beautiful park letting you forget that you are in the centre of a town. Having a little zoo and ponds with old columns lying around.

We also took a short look at the Temple of Olympian Zeus, looking more like some columns left over and the Hadrian's Arch, because we wanted to see more of the city centre we did not stay long at the ruins and kept on walking.

From the Hadrian's Arch we went back to the Parliament and passed by to get to the University of Athens and some other nice public buildings. Also we went through the pedestrian area to get a feeling of the way it is to live in the city today, so not only ruins. There were also some old ruins between the buildings.

At Monastiraki we ended our tour for the day and went back home, it was again a lot of walking through this beautiful city and good having a great guide with us.
Thank you Katia for all the time you spent with us and the great hospitality.