Athens at last
06 June 2012 | Athens
Sarah had never, to her own dismay, visited Athens. This despite a childhood obsession with the classics and a lifelong interest in the practice of democracy. On the way back from Skyros, we had ten hours in Athens. Thanks to Aegean again checking our luggage through we scarpered for the Acropolis.
Even in June heat and cruise liner crowds, it was a fantastic feeling to walk on the marble of the processional way, to see the curving columns that fool the eye into perceiving straight symmetry, to admire the splendid views and imagine Theseus sailing home to hear his own black sails had betrayed his father to a suicidal leap.
This is the front of the Parthenon as it is today, still in the huge project of conservation and restoration. We then visited the splendid Acropolis Museum, where there are reconstructions of the friezes that would have graced the higher pediments. This end would have shown the great context between Poseidon and Athene for the patronage of the emerging city, flanked by assorted gods and heroes.
The museum is definitely worth a visit. It has lovely views of the temples, and an excellent cafe too.