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Saturday November 2, 2019

ATHENS, Greece – So, it has come to an end. We completed our sixth trip to Europe and seventh overseas. That includes a three-month trip to southeast Asia in 2014.

After every journey and visiting numerous sites, Waynette asks, “well, what was your favorite?”

And, I answer the same every time.

“I have no one favorite,” is the same refrain. “I appreciate each site and each experience. Cannot chose between any one.”

The sites we visited all have “the WOW factor,” and the fact we have nothing to compare in the United States, makes each site that much more worthy.

As I slept in on Saturday, Waynette made a supermarket run and returned with salmon, lettuce and tomato on a sesame seed roll. She also picked up cream cheese, a baguette and, along with a few bananas, that constituted a wonderful breakfast. Then, we cleaned up a few issues regarding our flight on Sunday, showered and left around 1 p.m.

Outside our apartment, we caught the 22 bus and that dropped us off in central Athens. We’re still trying to figure what section of the city the apartment is located but, in the end, guess that doesn’t matter all that much.

After exiting the bus, we made our way to the Acropolis and wanted to get pictures during the day. On Saturday, there was blue sky and bright sun which created a dramatic light. The area is on a hill overlooking the city and gives a visitors breathtaking views of Athens from many angles.

Entering the site, a visitor can traverse up the North Slope or South Slope, but whatever route, you end up at the Parthenon. That’s the iconic structure which seems to appear on front cover of every Western Civ book. The structure dates to 432 B. C., and sadly, has crumbled over the centuries.

Scaffolding remains facing the west side and the frieze, where British diplomat Thomas Bruce, early in the 19th century absconded with these sculptures. He presented them to the British Museum, so they are dramatically absent from the site. Remaining in British hands, the frieze continues to be a source of contention between the U. K. and Greece.

Next to the Acropolis is the temple, the Erechtheion, dedicated to the goddess Athena. That’s the old temple, and the new temple of Athena greets visitors atop the South Slope. The area remains under constant renovation and excavation, but represents some of the most important structures associated with western civilization.

While the site closed at 5 pm. and security personnel were busy making sure the area was secured right at 5, the sun was setting on the front facade and steps leading through the Acropolis. The opportunity to take a few a lasting, dramatic pictures did not go without notice. The last five minutes there and snapping away was the most productive all day.

Walking from the site, you have to turn for one lasting image, and then another. In addition to the neighboring ruins of the Roman Agora, the Greek Agora, Hadrian’s Gate and the theater of Dionysus, make this area one of the most compelling we visited.

Take nothing from Ephesus or Petra, but what strikes a visitor on that hill above Athens is most striking.

After dinner and the usual ice cream stop, we returned to pack. We arranged for a taxi at 7 a.m. Sunday and have a 10:10 flight to Miami. There is a 2 hour, 45 minute layover in Istanbul and we are scheduled to land in Miami around 8:15 Sunday night, local time. Lindsay is meeting us in Miami and we’ll spend a few days there before heading back to her house in Lakeland on Tuesday night.

STEPS – Walking about Athens and around the Acropolis, we walked 11,800 steps or about five and one-half miles.