Sabbatical Day 11

June 30, 2004--Day 11
Woke up about 4 a.m. and wasn't able to get back to sleep, so I read, organized, and went to breakfast earlier than I'd planned. (Bacon, eggs, orange bread, watermelon, cheese and a chocolate cookie, with grapefruit and orange juices). We were told to meet in the lobby by 8:15, though our bus didn't come until about 8:30. There were other Americans on the tour from my hotel and we also picked up others from another hotel. It was one of those double-decker buses. We sat on the top level. (Everyone in Athens, including our driver, drives insanely through the narrow streets crowded with buses, cars, scooters and pedestrians). Our first stop was the Panathenaic Olympic Stadium, which was built for the 1896 Olympics. The stop was a 10-minute photo op, though there really wasn't much to see. There were some men working on getting the site ready for the Olympics. The stadium will be the terminus for the marathon, which will begin in... Marathon. It will also be the venue for the archery event(s). Our next stop was the Temple of the Olympian Zeus, or the remains of it rather. This time we were given about 30 minutes. All that remains are a few columns of the Corinthian order. But they are impressive! They are very tall. Also on site is Hadrian's Arch, but it was so obscured by scaffolding, there wasn't much point in looking at it. The view of the Acropolis, our next stop, was nice... The bus parked in the Acropolis parking lot and we walked up toward the Acropolis. I had to check my backpack before we entered the Acropolis proper, so I quickly lost the rest of my tour group. The entrance to the Acropolis is through the Propylaea, which was under renovation. Next came the Parthenon, also under renovation. Walking around the Parthenon counter-clockwise, one can see the Theater of Dionysus below. Next came the Acropolis Museum, which was a welcome respite from the mid-morning sun. Most notable in the museum are the caryatids, woman-shaped columns from the Erecthion, which were moved to the museum for the sake of preservation. I continued my way around the Acropolis, coming to the Erecthion. From the Acropolis, you can see people on a hill nearby. I descended, again through the Propylaea, and inspected the hill. There was a large bronze marker, with an inscription in Greek--no English translation. But I was very confident that this was the Aeropagus (sometimes called Mars' Hill) and the inscription was from Acts 17, where Paul meets with the members of the Aeropagus. (There is debate whether Paul actually met with the members of the Aeropagus at the Aeropagus or at another site). I climbed the hill eagerly--it was number 2 on my list of things to do. The steps were very slippery and then they ended, leaving me to crawl up the rocky surface to the top. I took a 360 degree shot with my digital camera from where I stood. I went back down the hill an easier way. The Areopagus figures prominently in the prologue to my novel, and now I will be able to refine the story with first-hand experience. One of the converts after Paul's speech at the Aeropagus was Dionyssion, or Dionysus, a member of the Aeropagus. There is a road near the site called "Dionyssion Areopagitou Promenade" and there is also a Roman Catholic church in Athens (one of the few non-Greek Orthodox churches) named after him as well. Damaris, a female convert mentioned in Acts 17, does not receive as much recognition. Unlike most of the rest of the people in the group, I returned on the bus to the hotel. (Most of the others continued sightseeing and made their own way back). I wanted to try to get to the National Archaeological Museum before it closed at 3 p.m. It was one of those Disney World moments when you realize that you can’t do everything and you have to make some tough choices. Except with Disney World, it’s foreseeable that I’ll be back again in my lifetime. What happened next is one of those things you don’t tell your mother about until way after the fact. I set off by myself on foot to the museum. It’s not too far from the hotel. It was the middle of the afternoon. My passport and funds were in my money belt. My only valuable was my camera. It took me about an hour to walk there… it probably should have taken 20 to 30 minutes. I walked through a street market-type thing, with fresh fruit and vegetables for sale, as well as raw fish with the heads still on. I walked through some not-so-nice looking parts of town, but I don’t think I encountered any gypsies. I was trying not to pull my map out too often for fear of looking too “touristy,” which probably led to my demise. Street names are posted on buildings rather than on sign posts. Most of the signs are in both Greek and English letters, but they are also small, and some were too dirty to read. I eventually did make it to the museum—we were told it had just reopened on Monday, but they were still doing a lot of landscaping and noisy construction outside. The museum was great, though I felt rushed, as I did at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York several years ago, but it was worth the €6. The gift shop had full-size reproductions of things like the bronze Poseidon, so I couldn’t afford to buy anything. Imagine trying to get that thing through airport security! A highlight was a copy of the Farnese Hercules, which is a sculpture I wrote a paper about in one of my art history classes. You might see a copy of it at your local Caesars casino or resort. More modern Greek art is displayed at an art museum (El Greco, etc.). I made it back safely to the hotel, though the walk took longer than it should have, because I made a giant circle. For lunch I had a giant bottle of water, chips and a Snickers, then I took a very long afternoon nap. After waking, I read by the rooftop pool and got in the water briefly. I ate dinner again at Virtus—fried zucchini, with chicken and bacon shish kebab and fries. My feet hurt badly from my adventure, so it was nice to put shoes and socks on for dinner.
Walking in the Footsteps of St. Paul: 13652 steps