Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Athens Day 3:

We went to the National Archeological Museum today. Many of the vases and jewelry had bovine and octopus motifs. It was somewhat dark in the museum, and flash photography was prohibited, so I only got a few good shots.

Neolithic vases

Helmet found in Mycenaean grave site
Mycenaean vases
Greek traditional sculpture generally protrayed the male naked, standing stiffly and smiling. The female was generally clothed to portray feminine grace and modesty. You can actually see the evolution of sculptural style as you progress through the museum - the sculptures become more realistically posed, with a more natural expression.

Earlier sculptures

Later sculptures
Some carvings - if I remember correctly, this was the base of a Kourous

There were also some fantastic bronze figurines. My favorite was a figurine of Artemis.

Artemis
We also ended up taking a very long walk through Athens. Here are some photos:










Of course, Athens is not all graffitti'd. But some graffiti can be quite beautiful, like fungal bloom on a fallen tree.

After walking through the delightfully tourist-y area near the Agora, we ended up in the Monastiraki Square.



We took the tram home, which was an adventure in and of itself (turns out you have to validate your ticket before you get on the train)

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Athens Day 2:

Today is the first day we ventured into Athens. We took the bus route down, about an hour from our hotel. We then visited the Acropolis in the center of Athens.

Theater of Dionysus (front)
Theater of Dionysus (back)
The view from the Acropolis is absolutely gorgeous. It is an island in the middle of Athens. The heat on our visit was pretty crazy.

Dogs sleeping
View of Athens form the Acropolis
Moar Athens
The Parthenon and the temples at the Acropolis had a large amount of scaffolding etc. on them, so it was difficult to get a good shot without all of the construction stuff (and all of the tourists)

Parthenon (front)
Temple of Athena Nike
Parthenon (Back)
Parthenon sculpture
We had a light lunch nearby.

Lunch food
Fishies
While walking through Athens, there was a significant amount of graffitti. Here are a few specimens.




Monday, June 18, 2012

Athens Day 1:

Most of the past 1(.5?) days were spent in transit from Madison, Wisconsin. We flew from Madison to Detroit to Rome to Athens.
  
Rome’s Airport looks a little like the regional rail section of Philly’s 30th Street Station, if Philly were plastered with glossy Armani adverts. Slightly lower density of advertisements (unlike in America, there were some visible surfaces not utilized for product promotion), but most of the brands were local. Airport is more worn down than most American airports.

The people look mostly the same, and occasionally sound slightly different. There are more skinny people, and fewer Ed Hardy shirts. There were significantly fewer sitting areas in the airport (perhaps linked to the greater number of skinny people?)

My iced tea was 500mL, a size I had previously encountered only in the lab. It brings to my mind graduated cylinders.

Europe seems to have a grittier edge than most of the American cities I’ve been. Perhaps it is merely my limited experience with Europe- - several years ago, I visited London, and now I am in Athens.We are staying in a hotel in Voulagmeni, Greece. Tomorrow, I'm headed to the Acropolis and Agora in ancient Athens.

View from our hotel balcony
Another view
Dinner
Fancy Greek bottled water
View from dinner