Athens

We spent the first two and a half days of our trip in Athens, exploring the geology and history of the city. We had about a half day by the time we got to the hostel, and most of us were exhausted, so not too much happened that afternoon. The first full day we visited the Acropolis and it’s museum, which were completely overrun with tourists like myself. Also, none of the artifacts in the museum were in cases, which made it beyond tempting to touch them and feel the history. The security guards were fairly intimidating though, so I managed to refrain from touching the art.  We also went to a rooftop bar that had an absolutely amazing view of the Acropolis at night, when it’s all lit up, and it was absolutely breathtaking.

On the second day, a group of us went out to explore the area a bit more. We grabbed some gyros for lunch and headed out to the Roman Agora. This one wasn’t as large, but still had a couple of entryways standing, almost perfectly intact. There was also an old observatory there which of course I loved, even though it was a small, empty room tucked away in the corner of the agora.

After the Roman Agora, we walked down the road to the Ancient Agora and it was entirely incomparable to the previous one we had seen. It was massive and included everything from what is believed to be a prison, a road where all the marble workers worked, to temples for Athena and Zeus. It was absolutely amazing. The group ended up leaving a little bit before me, but I stayed to walk around more to soak it in. On the walk back there was another ruin I stopped in, an old library this time though. It was amazing, and I felt a connection and appreciation that I haven’t really felt before, but I’m pretty sure is coming with age. 

I’ve already decided that I want to come back to Athens and explore it to the extent it deserves. But for now, I have almost a month to study the geology of Santorini!