Athens: Acropolis, Ancient Greek, Earplugs I used my earplugs last night, and I slept so well. I could still hear the trains and screaming party-goers, but it was kind of like white noise. I got a luxurious eight hours of sleep (hey I’m on vacation!) I did hand washed some clothes while listening to the Iliad on audiobook (a weird semi-western cowboy translation, but at least unabridged) then I read 50 lines of the Iliad in Ancient Greek. You knowing, getting my brain warmed up for a day of awesome ancient history! I went to the Acropolis today. It’s so nice to be traveling at the leisurely stroll of one site a day. I went up the south entrance, since I exited it last year. It was nice to be going the opposite way of all the tourists. No lines and precarious tourists slipping on marble. The first stop was the theatre of dionysos - the performance site of some of the greatest drama of the ancient world. I sat there for a while pondering everything I’ve learned in the last year. I can actually read those dramas now (slowly, but I’ll take it). Even when I was here last year, all I could really do was read the letters and tell you if the word was a noun or a verb. Now give me a dictionary and some time, and the Greek actually has meaning. I couldn’t ponder too long, because I forgot my hat and alas no shade in the theatre. Also I was really nervous about sweating off all my sunscreen and getting fried. I stuck to the bits of shade! About halfway I also tied my handkerchief/sweat rag around my neck and chest like a spoiled dog/cowboy to protect my neck and chest from the sun. I didn’t get burnt, so I guess it worked well enough (noted for the dig!). I then hiked up the acropolis to the Parthenon. It was not at all a bad hike (the weird side entrance I went up last time was treacherous, this was quite gradual and shaded). The top of the acropolis wasn’t as crowded as last time, which is weird because it was November last time. Actually all of Athens seems a bit scarce in the tourist department. This makes me sad for Greece, but it’s quite nice for me. Most of the tourists were from cruise ships (really the worst kind of tourists, I think the boats make brains mushy). There were lots of private tours happening, and even though all the guides were prominently displaying official badges, I can’t imagine who approves then. I listened in to a lot of these tours - not only were they were quite boring, there was a lot of inaccuracy. Just like in Rome. How can they get away with this. After listening to the Rick steves’s free podcast guide, good but nothing too interesting or special, and mulling around a bit. I found a shady spot and pulled out my Iliad and read 50 more lines. Whenever I got to a tough spot, I just looked up and there was the Parthenon - it’s good motivation! I also saw these horrible young Northern European tourists hop the barrier of the Parthenon and hopscotch the marble ruins and start climbing the structure, I guess for a fun picture (as if the gradual destruction of a world heritage site is cute or spontaneous). The good part about the acropolis is that there are guards everywhere (I know because I could not find one place to sneak eat my lunch!). Two guards from opposite sides starting blowing their whistles and running towards them. I took a seat and watched the action. One guard held snatched the guilty party’s camera, the other her wrist. They deleted the pictures and then just started screaming at her for like two full minutes. The girl looked scared. I was hoping they would arrest her. I would have been a witness. That kind of cultural and historical disrespect should get at least 6 months in a basement prison with only flour and water biscuit tack biscuits to eat. At least they weren’t American. After a few hours I strolled down. Almost everyone also leaving went on to the Roman agora, but my ticket is good for seven days, and it was only open for thirty more minutes, so I decided to go back later (though thirty minutes is probably plenty, it’s very small). Instead I strolled through plaka - and found a brand new and nice museum. It was a private collection, but the guy died, so now it’s a public, free museum. I couldn’t go into a few of the galleries, because the guards were drinking coffee and wouldn’t guard it (Greeks!), too bad it was the prehistoric/ancient part. No convincing would get them away from that coffee. Did I mention that there were ten employees, and I was the only person in the museum? In the two galleries that I could go into (in the eyesight of the coffee drinkers), there was some neat stuff. Mostly it was icons and Byzantine era jewelry. But there was a small 1st century papyrus page of the New Testament. There were also three Egyptian fayum mummy portraits, two mummy masks, and some beautiful Coptic textiles. I have never seen Coptic textiles before, so that was neat. The museum was a nice surprise. I then walked through some tourist things but didn’t like the harassment, so I went back to my apartment (still no clean sheets FYI!) and read some (I’m reading a book about classics student in Vermont, which is quite pertinent). I’ve been nursing one frappe at this cafe for nearly three hours ( it’s okay, it’s the Greek way), but I should probably get out of here soon! At some point it turns into a club, but that probably doesn’t happen until 2 AM! Good day all in all! Also, I didn’t mention - the ticket to the acropolis includes entrance to 6 different archaeological sites in Athens, and I could actually get a student ticket, which only costed 6 euros - and lasts a week. This is city is much more in my budget!
Posted on: Tue, 11 Jun 2013 17:32:10 +0000
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