Monday, July 4, 2011

Honeymoon in Athens


Vacationing in Egypt for four days was definitely an adventure, but our time in Greece actually felt like a honeymoon. Our first stop was Athens, which was followed by two fabulous Greek islands, Mykonos and Santorini. The Greek islands have a sleepier, more relaxed pace, but Athens kept us busy, busy with incredible sightseeing, delicious food-eating, and lots of picture-taking.



The Athens Academy



Such beautiful details!



Kapnikarea, an 11th century Byzantine orthodox church in Monastiraki





A view of the Acropolis



The Roman Agora





An old random door to nowhere



The Annunciation Cathedral, the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens







Pagan symbols on another Byzantine church



The streets of the trendy Plaka



Emperor Hadrian's Arch



The Roman built The Temple of Olympian Zeus





We saw these crawling, blossoming vines everywhere





An adorable old couple we saw on our way up to the Acropolis



LOVED this bright little cottage



The neighborhood we passed on the way up to the Acropolis was so picturesque



Another view of the Roman Agora





The Tower of the Winds, a horologion (timepiece) marble clocktower, part of the Roman Agora





The stunning Herodes Atticus Theatre, on the south slope of the Acropolis





The Temple of Athena Nike, part of the Propylaea, one of the first things you see as you climb the Acropolis



More of the Propylaea



Mars Hill, where the Apostle Paul preached to the Athenians





Posing in front of the Propylaea





The Erechtheum, which was built between 421 and 406 BC. Note the beautiful maiden statues, The Porch of the Caryatids





Details of the Erechtheum



The front of the Erechtheum





At last, the Parthenon!



The impressive Parthenon





Details of the east pediment



If you've seen a photo of the Parthenon crane and scaffolding free, it's an old one. The site has been under re-construction for about thirty years





Gorgeous!



The Greek flag, flying proudly near the Parthenon



The spectacular view from the Acropolis





The Theatre of Dionysus



My handsome husband and traveling companion



Our delicious lunch, authentic gyros



Posing by one of the stoic national guards



Being statuesque at the National Gardens



KC strikes a pose



The peacock at the National Gardens. It took a lot of smack-talking on my part to get him to flash his stuff



Once he did, he was pretty magnificent



Baby peacock!



More antiquities...



More amazing food



Back at The Theatre of Dionysus



KC gets his own throne





Following an ancient road to the Greek Agora





Another Byzantine church in the Greek Agora





The Greek Agora is sprawling. Sadly, we didn't get to see it all before the admission nazis kicked us out at 2:00 pm



A saucy Aphrodite statue



Some manly, headless soldier statues



A statue of Triton





The Temple of Hephaestus


Athens was amazing. How can you not be blown away by the historical, architectural, and artistic significance of the antiquities there? We had a fantastic time there, before being blown away by the beauty of the islands. Stay tuned for those photos!

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