Bright and early we were all packed up in front of the hotel, ready to start our tour. We boarded the bus and headed on a tour around Athens.

It was almost surreal to see buildings that have been around since before Canada was ever explored. It was really cool to think back to the History of Technologies course that I took and to look at where some of these fundamental pieces of history took place.

 

 

They let us off the bus at the first Athen’s Olympic stadium to take pictures before we got back in the bus to head to the Parthenon.

Having had seen the Parthenon from the bottom of the hill the night before, I was looking forward to getting up closer to see just how big everything is/was. Luckily we got there early so there was not much for a crowd. We had no line to wait in.

The climb up to the top had a lot to see.

When you get up to the top and see the grand entrance into the acropolis you start to get a sense of how important this place was. The marble that you are walking on is worth more than all my possessions put together. The craftsmanship to build this place and for so much of it to still be there after all of this time is incredible.

The Acropolis was the center of the community back in it’s day. This is where they built the temple for their patron god Athena.

The largest structure in the Acropolis is the Parthenon. It, like the other structures, were dedicated to Athena.

Off to the north side is the third temple, is Erechtheion, dedicated to both Athena and Poseidon. Unfortunately I cannot get a computer that will upload that picture from my iPod to show you 😦

Walking around that structure and seeing the details that remain on this temple blew my mind.

 

After the Acropolis, we hit the road towards Olympia.

A few hours into our drive we made a short stop at the Corinth Canal. This canal connects the east and the west, saving ships from traveling an extra 700km to the other side. I have a photo of this too which won’t upload 😦

We then made our way to the archeological site of Mycenae. It was a beautiful location, perched up on a mountain. There was a lot of walking to do at this site as well but it was well worth it to get some of the photos that I did.

After a couple of hours here we got back in the bus and made our way to the hotel in Olympia. It was late by the time we got there but we did visit the pool and ate a mighty fine meal.

We called it a night and looked forward to getting to see the Olympic grounds in the morning.