The Best of Greece

The view from above the theater in Delphi. The ruins below the theater (including the pillars) are the remains of the Temple of Apollo where the oracle actually did her thing. Apparently, she was high all the time and the priests interpreted her crazy-talk for the masses.

Meteora is a series of monasteries built on these amazing cliff tops. There are still 6 monasteries in operation. You can see one on top of the rock to the right.

Monastery on Meteora. The monasteries have chapels decorated floor to ceiling in Byzantine-style paintings. I like the cherubim.

Ruin from the museum at Olympia (?). Sometimes centaurs bite.

Love these guys. Also griffins. When I become a supervillain, I'm going to decorate my evil lair with them.

Snake sarcophagus.

Gyros with french fries as a topping. These people are geniuses.

Ezvones. Pretty sure that's the right spelling. These are the guards that stand vigil at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. On Sunday there's a big ceremony with a band that parades down the street in front of parliament for the changing of the guard. My grandparents lived in Greece and they had dolls of the guards. I liked the guards then. I like the guards now.

Periodically the guards march across the square.

Our hotel is just around the corner from the Acropolis. If I stand on the balcony, I can see the wall.

Delphi

We're in Delphi, having wended our way around the Peloponnese yesterday. Greece requires a great deal of imagination to appreciate. This is how it goes:

1. We visit an archaeological site.
2. We view 2,500-year-old ruins.
3. A guide explains how the site was used and what the buildings were.
4. I think to myself, "Lots of rocks."

It IS impressive and some places, like Olympia, still have pillars and arches and Agamemnon's Tomb is VERY well-preserved and striking. It's hard for me to envision the civilization that was, though.

First Cemetery of Athens

I am a great lover of cemeteries, so AJ and I tracked down (with some difficulty) First Cemetery of Athens.

I thought the carvings of individuals and couples were fantastic, especially the men with their giant mustaches.

This section of the cemetery was reserved for the burial of Catholic bishops.

Check out the knives tucked into this guy's sash.

Two of these angels flank the entrance to the cemetery. They're entirely made from metal, not glass. You can only see that they're angels when you look at the right angle with the light backing them correctly.

Athens

Edinburgh=17 degrees
Athens=34 degrees
MBC=glad she brought her water bottle to Europe

The Coordinatrix is back in North Carolina and I am in Athens with AJ. And my face is melting off. The food in Athens is an improvement over British fare. Yesterday we ate at a place where we sampled five different main dishes. A drink was included and we seriously distressed the waiter by requesting water for our drink. He came back to explain that we could have any drink at all more than once.

Because yesterday was a national holiday, our entrance to the Acropolis was free. The Greek gods smile on us.