Acropolis

When I was in sixth grade, the guidance counselor at our school went on a trip to Greece and Italy. She returned with slides - I guess we were learning about Greek mythology at the time.

I remember how sad I felt that those empires had collapsed. It was a real sense of loss that has stayed with me for all these years, even though I know far more about these things than I could have ever imagined. It probably also put the idea in my mind that I, too, could visit these places.

I went to Rome once, nearly two decades ago when I didn't know anything and just saw it as a city with a bunch of old rocks where U2 had recently played. I didn't appreciate it. I'll go back. I'll go like I went to Greece, am in Greece, loving it. I have always been interested in ancient history from my days of reading about Greek mythology in primary school, but I can’t remember when I became educated or when I started to understand that everything that happened during that time affects us today.  But I did, and now I know, and you have to know, otherwise you're just another one of those annoying tourists who doesn't give a care about what he's looking at.

Here are some pics from the Acropolis.

Temple of Athena Nike

Entrance that was never finished thanks to the Pelopennesian War

Entrance

I'm too tired right now to look up the E word that is the name of this place, but the Catyarids are there holding it up.

Of course it's under scaffolding. I haven't wanted to see it my whole life or anything!

The Parthenon, temple to the goddess Athena, virgin, warrior, keeper of horses, and, among the Greek gods, probably the one who won. It's called Athens, of course.

The Parthenon

Parthenon

This "selfie" shows the size of the columns.

Horse and man getting squished by some rock. Ha.

Tops of Ionic columns of a temple added during the Roman period.

In need of some spring cleaning

The olive tree, to remember the olive tree given by Athena to win the battle for the supreme god over Poseidon.

The Caryatids seem to be holding up all of Greece

Long lenses rock

The whole Acropolis is such that I felt like I should offer tribute to the goddess Athena.

I am, unfortunately, suffering from jet lag and the time zone difference and can't seem to shake it, so I will write more about this later.