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| I bag a big one for my Bucket List! |
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Inspired by a pre-Christmas 1-week cruise to the Western Caribbean with my cousin Norm Mundhenk and his family, I decided to book a 10-day cruise for myself and my wife Tricia-Rose to the Eastern Mediterranean this March. We soon recruited my sister Janice and her husband Ron and my hiking buddy from California State Parks John and his wife Marg.
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| Over the snowy Sierra Nevadas |
Tricia-Rose, John, Marg and I took off from Sacramento and soon found ourselves scrambling for an alternative route to Rome as our flight from Phoenix to Philadelphia was cancelled. We ended up flying to JFK and catching an Alitalia flight to Rome (never have I had a more cramped and uncomfortable flight!). We arrived three hours late and missed our ItalyLimo shuttle tour of Ostia Antica. But at least we made it to the cruise ship port of Civitavecchia and our Norwegian Cruise Line ship "Jade" a few hours before she sailed. As we approached the ship the crashing surf against the shore and the wind-driven rain promised heavy seas for our embarkation dinner in the grand Pacific Room.
Family, friends, fine food and wine and the beginning of an Adventure
Our table with the picture window view of the dark swells and the powerful wake of the ship was truly impressive. We knew we were headed for a big adventure!
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| Marg picked a fine Australian wine for our toast to our shared adventure |
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| Your hosts Bob & Tricia-Rose... |
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| Marg & John... |
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| and Janice & Ron |
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| Passage through the Straits of Messina (looking toward Sicily) |
Olympia
Our first in-port was Katakalon, Greece where we had arranged a van and driver to take us to Olympia to tour the ancient and sacred site of the pan-Hellenic Games. Unfortunately, a student strike closed down the site so we walked along the road and peeked down into Olympia. Not being able to enter it did accentuate the feeling that it was a sacred space. I could hear the morning birdsong drifting up to us from the aromatic trees of Olympia.
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| Banned from the Games! |
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| Sacred olives and oaks |
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| Tricia-Rose at the Olympic Stadium |
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| Athena Nike declared us victors of the day! |
Athens
Our second in-port was Piraeus, Greece, the ancient port of Athens. Here we met our (oversized) reserved Mercedes van to take us to the most-important historical sites of Classical Athens.
The Acropolis
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| We headed straight to our highest priority: the Acropolis |
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| Moving through the Propylaea onto the Acropolis |
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| Detail of the Temple of Athena Nike |
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| The exquisite little Temple of Athena Nike |
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| Incredible history lying all about |
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| Southeast pediment |
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| Northeast pediment |
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| The main (east) entrance to the Parthenon |
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| It's Greek to me |
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| Theater of Dionysus seen from the Acropolis |
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| Doric columns, metopes and triglyphs and the pediment |
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| Columns honoring successful theater productions |
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| Corner of the Erechtheion |
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| The lower (north) Neptune Porch |
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| Looking close you can see that the ancient Greeks invented Legos! |
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| Sometimes the most memorable and moving things are small |
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| I loved this hanging garden of the gods |
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Areopagus-Mars Hill
From Wikipedia:
The
Areopagus or
Areios Pagos (Greek:
Ἄρειος Πάγος) is the "Rock of Ares", north-west of the Acropolis, which in classical times functioned as the high Court of Appeal for criminal and civil cases in Athens. Ares was supposed to have been tried here by the gods for the murder of Poseidon's son Alirrothios.
In pre-classical times (before the 5th century BC), the Areopagus was the council of elders of the city, similar to the Roman Senate. Like the Senate, its membership was restricted to those who had held high public office, in this case that of Archon.
...In
The Eumenides of Aeschylus (458 BC), the Areopagus is the site of the trial of Orestes for killing his mother (Clytemnestra) and her lover (Aegisthus).
Phryne, the hetaera from 4th century BC Greece and famed for her beauty, appeared before the Areopagus accused of profaning the Eleusinian mysteries.
Legend has it that she let her cloak drop, so impressing the judges
with her almost divine form that she was summarily acquitted.
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| This sandal-polished rock was where the Apostle Paul preached to the Athenians |
The Areopagus, like most city-state institutions, continued to function in Roman times, and it was from this location, drawing from the potential significance of the Athenian altar to the Unknown God, that the Apostle Paul
is said to have delivered the famous speech, "Now what you worship as
something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. The God who made the
world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not
live in temples built by hands." ( Acts 17:24)
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| View from Mars Hill on to the Agora and its Temple of Hephaestos |
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The Pynx
From Wikipedia:
The Pnyx is a small, rocky hill surrounded by parkland, with a large
flat platform of eroded stone set into its side, and by steps carved on
its slope. It was the meeting place of one of the world's earliest known
democratic legislatures, the Athenian
ekklesia (assembly), and the flat stone platform was the
bema, the "stepping stone" or speakers' platform. As such, the Pnyx is the material embodiment of the principle of
isēgoría (Greek:
ἰσηγορία),
"equal speech", i.e. the equal right of every citizen to debate matters
of policy. The other two principles of democracy were
isonomía (Greek:
ἰσονομία), equality under the law, and
isopoliteía (Greek:
ἰσοπολιτεία), equality of vote and equal opportunity to assume political office. The right of
isēgoría was expressed by the presiding officer of the Pnyx assembly, who formally opened each debate with the open invitation "
Tís agoreúein boúletai?" (Greek: "
Τίς ἀγορεύειν βούλεται;", "Who wishes to speak?").
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| This is where democracy was born |
The Pnyx was used for popular assemblies in Athens as early as 507 BC, when the reforms of Cleisthenes
transferred political power to the citizenry. It was then outside the
city proper, but close enough to be convenient. It looks down on the ancient Agora, which was the commercial and social centre of the city.
At this site all the great political struggles of Athens of the "Golden Age" were fought out. Pericles, Aristides and Alcibiades spoke here, within sight of the Parthenon, temple of Athena. Here Demosthenes delivered his vilifications of Philip of Macedon, the famous Philippics.
The Ancient Agora
From Wikipedia:
The agora was the center of political and public life in Athens. It was a
large open area surrounded by buildings of various functions. The agora
was utilized for commerce, political, religious and military activity.
Meetings were held four times per month to enact legislation, to hear embassies, and deal with defense of the city-state.
In addition, some public forums to discuss ostracism
were held in the agora. The law courts were located there, and anyone
who happened to be in the agora when a case was being heard would
probably have been able to view the spectacle, though only those adult
male citizens appointed by lot would have been able to serve as jurors. ...The agora was probably laid out in the center of the city as a public space in the 6th century BC.
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| Temple of Hepahestos |
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| The Acropolis from the Agora |
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| Janice glassing the Acropolis in the pristine air of the ancients |
Our rooftop Greek lunch near the Roman Forum
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| Doesn't get any better...but we're running out of time. The Jade sails too soon! |
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| Our lunch view of Hadrian's Library |
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| The fantastic Temple of the Winds. We had to settle for a view from the fence. |
Our friendly driver and guide drove us past the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Arch of Hadrian, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, and the Panathenaic Stadium on our way out of Athens. We left much unexplored in our whirlwind introduction to Athens. I will be back for a more in-depth discovery of Athens and the classical sites, towns, and countryside of greater Greece!
May all Beings be well, happy, free & awake!
Enjoy Peace, Bob
