Athens - Acropolis

Today, we took a 2-hour VoiceMap tour of Athens jewel - Acropolis. Again, it made such a difference from last time to not be frying under the open Greek summer sun, and not fighting the hoards of people. The beauty of the off season traveling in full force. The tour was really interesting, covering a rich history of one of the world most iconic hills. On the slopes of the hill is one of the world’s first theaters, built specifically for plays and performances, unlike the ones for gladiator fights in Ancient Rome. The theater is actively used during the summer months now, and many celebrities performed there - from Luciano Pavarotti to Elton John. Most of the temples and structures on the Acropolis were built as a dedication to goddess Athena, after whom Athens is named. There were then multiple wars that destroyed or partially destroyed the temples - Persian and Trojan wars, then crusaders and later the Ottoman Turks. It’s a miracle that we can still see so much of its former glory. We learned about the marvelous building methods and skills of the ancient Greeks - enormous structure of the Parthenon was built in only 9 years! After the tour, we walked back to the hotel and had dinner again at the same restaurant Bandiera, ordering the same Greek salad and sea bass. Don’t fix what ain’t broken :)Read more