The BIG Hike
The Acropolis. The picture above was taken through a window from the Acropolis museum. Good timing for today since it rained yesterday. We took a bus to the area where the hike begins. Otherwise we would have had to walk from ground level which would have added a lot of additional steps. We had our tickets on a phone which were scanned once we found the entrance. It was about 64 degrees but because of the sun and walking uphill, we soon took off our jackets. It's a fairly steep climb but there's places to stop and take pictures of the scenic views which are mostly of the city sprawled out below.
Some of the path is paved or has steps but most of it is made of rocks which can be slippery. We did a lot of watching our own feet.
The first major building we saw at the top is the Erectheion, an Ionic temple primarily dedicated to Athena.
And, of course, the Parthenon or "temple of the virgin goddess." It was built to celebrate the Hellenic Victory over the Persian Empire invaders. At least that's what Wikipedia told me.
As the morning went on, it got more and more crowded but the biggest crowds were coming in when we were on the way down. At the hottest part of the day.
It's crowded at the top probably all the time so you have to walk around people, especially those taking pictures of themselves. We would never be so rude.
When we decided to leave, we saw an exit sign pointing to the way we came in. Another sign pointed to the south slope which we knew about but didn't know if it went all the way to the bottom and we certainly didn't want to walk it and have to walk back up. We found a guide and asked her but her English wasn't great and our Greek is nonexistent. At first we thought she said both ways were closed and that we were stuck on the mountain indefinitely. We're not sure what she meant but after much discussion, she told us the south slope way was more fun. I don't think the walk was more difficult than the other way but downhill is difficult and by then our legs were achy. When we had walked a lot we started listening for English speakers walking up to ask if we could get all the way down. There weren't any so we kept walking and finally a man who intuited we were confused, told us we'd come out in front of the museum. We did. But we went to the museum after we had lunch since we was hungry and weak.
There's a great view of the Odeon of Herodus Atticus on the way down.
Originally odeons were built for musical contests and for the last 60 years, this one has hosted famous performers, such as Frank Sinatra and Luciano Pavarotti.
We went back to the condo after seeing the museum which houses collections from the Acropolis and its surrounding temples. It's amazing. We're attempting to rest our legs since tomorrow we're taking a private tour of Delphi. We were told to wear hiking shoes.
Very jealous. Opa!
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