Birthday in Athens

Make sure to keep scrolling. This blog is long with lots of pictures but it was a dream for 12 years so I had to take pictures!

For years I have said that I wanted to go to the Acropolis on my birthday. When I was about 2 my parents were reading me one of my favorite books, a book of Greek Myths. On the cover of the book is a drawing of the Acropolis and I said I wanted to go there for my birthday. I have stuck to that dream and so we did it! We woke up early and got up there before all the tour groups. Most times it takes a long time to get in but for us, We just walked in the front gate! We were some of the only people there. We got pictures of all the temples without having any people in them. It amazed me how much rubble there was from the temples. There was stuff from when the temples have been changed or converted into different things. There was rubble from when there was an explosion in the 1500s. Pillars, columns, facades and sculpted pieces are on the ground all around the remains of the building. There are construction and renovation going on but it was not a distraction. The crane is inside the building so you can see it but since we were there so early they were not working yet and so you could see the crane but it was not bad. You could just go sit on it. We walked all around the temples for over two hours before starting to wear out. My favorite part was seeing the Parthenon up close and in real life. I saw it from all angles for the first time and it was even better than I had hoped. We left just as the tour buses full of people were arriving.

We went back to our apartment for some food before our next surprise!

After some lunch, we went to the Segway office where we were supposed to go for our tour. We were taught to lean a little forward when you wanted to go faster and lean back when you wanted to go back. You just angle the handle to turn on the spot. We started by driving along the Acropolis at the base and then we went up to the hill where they did all the government matters. At first, the ancient speaker had his back to the acropolis But they found too many people got distracted by the view and didn’t pay attention so the had to turn the whole place so that people would focus. This is where the Greeks say Democracy was born. The national observatory is also on this hill but doesn’t operate anymore because the light pollution is so bad.

Next, we went down to where the Greek and Roman Agoras are. These were the center of most life in Athens because it was where the main markets, shops and political activities were held. Important people had their houses there. At points, there are fenced off holes with some ruined walls set in the ground. There is more archaeology beneath but it has not all been uncovered.

We saw an old church that is the main meeting place for the locals currently. It is in the middle of a busy square with street vendors, restaurants and shops. We stopped for a minute and tried to go into the church but it was closed for the day. So, back on the Segways we climbed.

We started to circle back and went to the Acropolis gate on the way back, We parked out Segways and climbed the hill of Mars, where it is said the Gods held a trial for Ares, killing Posidens son. After the supposed trial, the rock became the Supreme Court of Athens.

On the way down the hill, we leaned forward and went as fast as we possibly could down the hill! It was fun. We went back to the office and thanked the tour guide.

For dinner, we had some good traditional Greek food including Gyros and Falafel. The waiter brought me greek yougert with honey as a birthday dessert. YUM! It was a GREAT birthday!