Greece - A trip to the past

The Acropolis, or Sacred Hill, is the most important site in Greece. We could see it from our room and were very excited to step foot on it. The Parthenon, the Erechtheion, and the Temple of Nike, were dedicated to Athena Parthenos, Athena Polias, and Athena-Apteros Nike, respectively and were built between 450-330 B.C.

You enter The Acropolis through The Propylaea. The Parthenon, the Erechtheion, everything was covered in scaffolding, probably in preparation for the traffic when the Olympics comes later in 2004. The structures were obstructed by them, making the sites seemed cluttered.

We went into the museum on the hill and found broken statues and indiscernible pieces found centuries before. It was hard to get into what we were seeing because nothing looked like anything. As we were leaving the museum, we saw the original statues of the Erechtheion – the only problem is that we didn’t know that the ones on the structure weren’t real and wouldn’t have known then if an English speaking group hadn’t come by and asked the question.

We took a day trip to the Saronic Islands of Poros, Hydra, and Aegina. The Greek isles are vacation spots for Athenians – the closest island, Aegina, is only 35 minutes away from Pireaus by boat. The ferry more closely resembled a cruise ship with its different rooms and levels. The crowded boat set sail at 9:00 a.m. and didn’t return to Pireaus until after 6pm., but didn’t stay at any port for longer than two hours. The islands themselves started to look the same – beautiful, but very similar. The only real place for tourists to see is the waterfront and that, of course, is lined with stores and restaurants. You could take a donkey ride into the hills where people lived, but that was all you would see – houses. It was an experience and the view was like beautiful, but it reminded me of the waterfront in Marigot, except there is more to do on St. Martin! The day was relaxing though, and the islands were something to remember.

Hydra
Our first stop was Hydra. It is a very small island -- the only way to get around is on foot, on a donkey, or in a water taxi. The harbor is lined with restaurants and shops and overlooks cerulean blue water and 17th and 18th century mansions stacked on the rocky hillsides.

Poros
Poros was a little bigger than Hydra and allowed us more sightseeing. An area was section off for swimming – not the beach we were looking for, but a slab of concrete with a rusted ladder descending into the Mediterranean. Though I wanted to swim, I couldn’t make myself get on the rusty ladder – not to brave cold water. Mike wasn’t thinking about swimming at all! The water was beautiful looking, though, and the view was refreshing.

Aegina
Aegina's proximity to Piraeus makes it one of the most visited of all the Greek islands. We walked to a beach and again decided not to get in the water. It just isn’t the Caribbean – in fact, though the water was clearer, this beach wasn’t as nice as Virginia Beach. So, we got some ice cream at a harbor side restaurant and watched the world go by.