As I walked with the warm Mediterranean sun kissing my cheeks, I tried to imagine some of the familiar ancient Greeks walking along the same steps I was such as Euripides or Socrates. There was the scent of oranges mixed with baklava floating up in the warm breeze. I decided to spend about five days in Greece for my vacation. I booked my hotel through Octopus.com and bought my weekly metro pass for about 10 euro.
Athens
I began my trip dropping by the entrance to the Athens Acropolis to buy a weekly pass to some of the main sites. I started with the Temple of Zeus. Much of it has disappeared with time, but you could still see the colossal Corinthian columns lying or standing. Then I made my way to the formidable Athens Acropolis. Acropolis is the renown ancient citadel with Athena as its patron goddess whose earliest artifacts dates back to the Neolithic era. It currently houses historic monuments such as the Parthenon and Erechtheum.
Parthenon is considered the most important surviving building of classical Greece. It was originally dedicated to the goddess Athena and had beautiful sculptures considered the high point of Greek Art. At first, it served as a treasury for the Athenians. Throughout time, the building also served as a Christian church and a mosque. The building suffered a nearly catastrophic damage following an explosion from the Venetian bombardment in 1687.
Temple of Hephaestus
Located on the Agoraios Kolonos hill, it is the best preserved temple of ancient Greece. It is built in the conservative Doric style once housing the bronze statues of Athena and Hephaestus. The temple was built as a testament of Greek power and culture by Pericles in 415 B.C.
Delphi
I took a bus to Delphi, located in the southwestern ridge of Mount Parnassus. Delphi was once the home of the most important oracle in Greece, the Sanctuary of Apollo, and the precursor to the Olympic games.
The Oracle at Delphi was dedicated to Apollo and is said the god spoke through the priestess, Pythia in the form of riddles. According to Plato, the Oracle at Delphi once told Socrates he was the wisest man in Greece. Socrates took this to mean he was the only man who truly understood he knew nothing.
Some of the monuments I visited in Delphi include the Tholos of Delphi, Temple of Apollo, and the mountain-top stadium.
In conclusion, it was a wonderful trip. There were so many opportunities for sightseeing that I sometimes forgot to eat (actually that's impossible for me). In addition to the monuments, there was the Archeological Museum of Athens, Acropolis Museum, as well as the many surprising artifacts housed at the metro stations themselves. Something interesting that I almost forgot to mention: the waste management crew were on strike in Athens at the time of my visit. So the scent of baklava and oranges were tainted.
