still in Athens

Yesterday I made my way to the Acropolis, the most important ancient architecture in the western world.  Acropolis is really the name of one of eight hills within Athens, and is dominated by the Parthenon, a massive structure made of marble hauled from great distances.  Below it are ruins of a city from 300 years BC (the designation BC has changed recently to not reflect the birth of Christ but Im not sure what the new name is).  The Parthenon in particular is impressive only for its size and placing on high, many of the carvings and statues from it have been placed in the nearby Acropolis Museum.  I also wandered through some of the market streets, busy with cruise ship passengers.  Athens is the only European capital with a port, this is unfortunate since the cruise ship passengers probably drive up the prices while they are in town.

Greece is recovering from dire economic straits, a couple of years ago the country was bailed out of debt by the European Union, and tourists stopped coming after demonstrations in the cities and the burning of a bank in Athens.  But tourists are coming back and the people are in a happier mood.

I met with my group in the evening, mostly Canadians, my roommate is a Polish Canadian.  A few of us went out for dinner in an open air restaurant (as most of them are), then went to a rooftop for a view of the city, and the Acropolis lit up at night.

Today we went for a walk around the base of Acropolis, then to the Parliament building for the Sunday changing of the guard which was quite elaborate.  Two soldiers guard a tomb to the Unknown Soldier, then are joined by dozens more who arrive with a band.  The soldiers are all very tall, dressed in white and kickstep in unison.

After that was the National Archaeological Museum, one of the most important museums in the world.  It was overwhelming, filled with sculptures and relics from Greece and Egypt, including some stunning frescoes or cave paintings from a site on Santorini, the island where we will end our tour.  

Tomorrow we will take a train to Meteora, going north inland, where we will see monasteries built in the sky.