Greek Goddess for a Day

Today was an exciting day for me (April) because we toured the Acropolis and learned so much about Greek mythology. I really enjoy reading about Greek mythology and today I got the opportunity to see where it all came from. We woke up early for our 8:00 am tour after learning from our guide to go early so that you beat the crowd (and the heat).

The first thing we saw there was the theater of Dionysus (the Greek god of wine). There they had theatrical competitions that lasted for four days every year. I found it really amazing that we were sitting in the same seats that people sat in in 500 BCE (~2500 years ago).

Then we saw another theater for musical performances, Odeon of Herod Atticus, that was smaller (seated 5,000 instead of 17,000 people). This beautiful ancient theatre still hosts concerts to this day. Even some very famous singers have performed there (Frank Sinatra, Elton John, Luciano Pavarotti and Sting). Mom has added seeing a concert here to her bucket list.

Then we saw the three main temples in the Acropolis. First, "Athena Nike" for Athena, goddess of wisdom, and Nike, goddess of victory. As the story goes, the people of Athens cut off Nike's wings so that she couldn't fly away and leave them. We saw the most famous statue of Nike at the Louvre a few years ago. Nike's roman name is Victoria and that is where the word "victory" came from. The shoe company Nike is named after her for that reason, and the logo is inspired by her wings.

The second temple was the Erechtheion, a temple for Poseidon, god of the sea, and Athena. They had a competition to determine who would be the patron of Athens. Poseidon offered the city either horses or salt water and Athena offered them the first olive tree. Athena won, however the Greeks didn't want to make Poseidon angry so they built a temple to honour both gods.

The third temple of course is the Parthenon, a temple to Athena, the main structure at the Acropolis. The Parthenon took only nine years to build, completed by 250 people. It was once home to a 12 meter statue of Athena called "Athena Parthenos", but no one knows for sure what happened to it. No one was allowed in the temple except for the priest but Athenians would bring up marble statues (metal or vases if they couldn't afford marble) and animals to sacrifice to the goddess.

We all really enjoyed touring the Acropolis (especially me) but we were ready to take a break from the heat so we went to the museum. (Sidenote: the Acropolis closed early today due to a heat wave). In the museum were lots of statues and artifacts found in the Acropolis but were brought down to the museum to preserve them. We saw statues of Greek men, women, gods, goddess', heroes and monsters. We also saw some vases which held olive oil, learned about the every day lives of different people in ancient Athens and we saw the coolest model of the Acropolis made out of Lego.

Our tour ended in a room with a glass wall overlooking the Acropolis. I can't think of a better view! After the tour mom asked us what struck us the most at the Acropolis. Mom and Dad said the amphitheaters, I said the fact that they could build all this with the materials and tools they had, and Fiona said the female statues used as columns on the Erechtheion (temple for Poseidon and Athena).

After the tour was over we sat on a patio in the neighbourhood Plaka and had lunch. We have grown to love the local sea bream, but it comes as a whole fish. Fiona is quite comfortable with that, but I need dad to fillet it for me.

After lunch we explored Plaka and all of the cute shops in this little neighbourhood. I got an Athens shirt and a gold "goddess crown" with my remaining spending money. Fiona and I also celebrated our last day in Greece with some traditional frozen Greek yogurt (soft serve).

Then Mom and Dad had their treat at Brettos, the oldest distillery in Athens, originally of just Ouzo. Apparently today they distill lots of yummy liqueurs in addition to Ouzo. Dad had Ouzo on ice, and Mom had a cocktail with Masticha, made from the mastic tree found on the Greek island of Chios .

One of the things I love about walking around in Athens is that you never know when you might stumble upon an ancient ruin. Today we looked down a street on our way back to our apartment and there was Hadrian's Arch at the end of it!

Last night Mom asked each of us what our biggest wish is for today, our last day on our trip. Mine was a frozen lemonade, which I enjoyed at the end of a very hot day.

Tonight we had a delicious dinner at a restaurant near our apartment, the perfect end to our day and our trip. This trip has been an amazing experience and I have enjoyed every minute of it.

Only Love,

April 👑