Written by Charles June 30, 2014
The day we got to Athens we took a tour of the old Agora,
and we also walked around the Plaka. The
entire time it felt like the temperature was competing with the Sahara Desert
for the most deaths by heatstroke. We
saw all the ruins of the old Agora, which were mainly low walls with some
pillars that fell over. We saw a
reconstructed Roman temple, which had a museum inside it. There was mainly pottery in the museum, but
there was also a very battered Spartan shield inside it. We next saw some more old stuff, while we walked
to the most intact temple in the world.
It was a temple to Hephaestus, which was 90% complete. It was intact because the Byzantines and the
Ottomans used it as a church for their different religions. After the temple to Hephaestus, we walked to
the Plaka. The Plaka is Athens’s Old Town, and we saw a lot of shops. I was
bored out of my mind because it was basically the same as the old part of San Juan
(the capital of Puerto Rico). There were
lots of tourist traps and bad sit down restaurants.
The next day we did nothing in the morning and
afternoon. In the evening we took a tour
to the temple of Poseidon, which was an hour van ride away. Even though there were only a few columns
left, it was cool because it was on top of a hill at the southernmost point
near Athens. It looked out over the
ocean. It was near sunset, so that made
the lighting really cool. Our tour guide
told us that there used to be a castle surrounding the temple. You could sort of see the walls if you looked
close enough. It was extremely windy up
there, so no one died of heatstroke.
The next day we saw what everyone goes to Athens to see: the
Parthenon! We first had to walk up the
Acropolis, which is the steep, nearly vertical hill that the Athenians built
the Parthenon on. Again I was on
crutches, and the polished marble steps nearly killed me. Halfway up there was a theater that people
rebuilt. Near the top of the hill we saw
a destroyed temple. It was destroyed
because the Ottomans used it as gunpowder storage, and a lightning bolt
decided that it looked like a good target.
After the ruined temple, we saw the Parthenon. I was expecting it to have been left alone,
but people are trying, hopelessly, to put it back together with the original
pieces. In World War II the Germans
didn’t help the construction workers because they bombed it. To get back at the Germans, two teenagers
snuck up to the Acropolis, took down the Nazi flag, and ran off with it. The Germans were perplexed at where their
flag went, so they had to buy another. I
thought that the Parthenon was cool just as it was (ruined), so I can't imagine
it in its original state. After a few
minutes we escaped from the heat and went to the air-conditioned museum next
door. There were lots of statues and
blocks of marble that were interesting for about five seconds, while you took
in the sculpture, then your brain tells you “Get A Move On!” The next day we left Athens at 5:30 in the
morning to head back home. Overall, I
liked Santorini and Athens the best of all the places we went to, even though
Mykonos came a close second.
Written by William June 29, 2014
3 days ago we arrived in Athens, Greece from the cruise
ship; that first afternoon we went and saw two temples, Roman and Greek agoras,
and the plaka. Before we saw all of that, we got the longest history lesson I
ever had and probably will ever have. Then we started walking to the agoras
(agoras are basically a shopping mall for the ancient Greeks and Romans), and
they were huge. We saw a repaired temple, which would have been absolutely
gorgeous if it didn’t have a museum inside, but it paid off because it had A.C,
which was absolutely needed. After that we saw the Temple to Hephaestus, the
god of fire. I thought the coolest part wasn’t the ancient temple; I thought it
was the turtle, and we called it the ancient turtle. Then we walked around the
agora, and it was very boring.
Two days ago we saw the Temple to Poseidon. It had a big difference
that made it vary from all the others because the middle didn’t have a room
inside; it was all outdoors. It was a pretty drive because it was along the
coastline. Once we got to the temple we took a few pictures and left, then
headed back to the hotel. We saw the changing of the guards at the Parliament, and
it wasn’t that cool because all they did was kick high in the air and make horrible
screeching noises with their shoes.
Yesterday we went to the Parthenon, which was really cool; it
was built for Athena, goddess of wisdom. We walked around it for a little bit,
and then we went to go to the Acropolis museum. We had a little ice cream in a
café and went into the museum. Like half of the items were missing because the
darn English people took the pieces and won’t give them back. Instead of giving the real ones back, they
gave the plasters back. We had a really cool view of the Parthenon at night
when we were having dinner with our friends. I liked Greece and will want to
come back some time, and our next adventures will start wherever we are next,
which is a mystery for everyone.
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