The Acropolis and the Temple of Athena

 

Finally, the oldest history of Europe, near 200-300 B.C. Enough with the Renaissance and endless paintings.

The Acropolis stands atop the city. It has nothing to prove.

And yet there’s this mixed feeling.. of unrest. Where temples stand for centuries, marble lasting longer than the societies and governments. One can’t help but wonder how can all this remain? It’s bound to be a target for unrest.

 

We learned that the Acropolis has been destroyed several times. By the Persians, and as recently as the 1600s. The Ottoman Turks literally blew up the pantheon in favor of a mosque. Even in Italy, so many Roman centers were reformed in the 1400-1500s because of the Renaissance. The Colosseum, forced to be a part of Mussolini’s regime before the American WW2 emancipation.  The Taliban blew up Monk carved in mountains in the 1900s. Historic pieces so beautiful, standing for centuries, gone overnight by ‘barbarians’ as the Roman would say, or the ‘Cretans’ in Greece. But I can still walk these places. I’m grateful, yet at unease. 

 

Today of all days, the Acropolis and Ancient Agora were FREE (when they shouldn’t have been in my humble opinion). I get this feeling that Greece is a country relying heavily on tourism. Things are CHEAP here, 4EU for a meal when in Italy things were 16EU for. I’ve read too many Reuters headlines saying inflation in Greece is spiraling out of control, that’s its empty of CoVid restrictions being so lenient because it’s dependent on us visiting. And again, things are so fairly priced compared to Italy.

Me overthinking the underlying conditions of Greece.

Where the Acropolis stood as a place for thinkers, the Agora was the central marketplace for Athenians. It was the center of their daily lives.

I’m carrying a juice oz for all this walking through the ancient city center

These pillars and styles were copied for Roman architecture, Cathedrals all across the world, and the US Capitol. These are true Ruins. And I’m happy to finally get to the center of where all this Greek appreciation began.

Modern Greek markets - where everything is fairly priced!

We stumbled upon a familiar face

This place is packed and food is phenomenal. Mixed Grill with Kebab, pork, chicken and taziki sauce.

Greek yogurt for good measure

Falafel at Falafellas for good meaure

More Gyro plates for good measure

And popping boba measure for good delight.

Now for a walk to the modern Capitol

I hope Greece bounces back stronger than ever. Their identity as the heart of western civilization, copied by the Romans, enemies of the Persians and generations later the Ottomans, and now fighting modern inflation I can only hope brings them strength in the next millennia. 

Enough with the Greek Stoicism, is it wrong to overthink this?

The Taziki is out of this world!

The cityscapes are out of this world!

We got lost to the Acropolis… so we ended up in some Athenians yard. Still cool!