Day 2 | Visiting Acropolis

Ah.... This is the joke that I have been telling my friend when he said "what's up there to see in Acropolis, I said " Atas tuh ada HQ polis Greece, kalau you nak tau - dah dok kat situ sejak few thousand years ago". Basically I told him that there's a Greece police HQ since few thousand years ago, Hhahahha...... Kid you not buddy! :P

Anyway, with abit of help from Mr. Google, we found out that the tix cost us EU$12/=, ahhhh....... the good thing about Greece is that..... it's EU$2/= per site, meaning...... meaning..... meaning... (sure dah bengang with my suspense by now, MUAHHAHHA.... *evil laugh nih*).... it's only EU$2 for Acropolis site, get it? NOOOOO??? Ahh.... let me explain furrrrtheerrrr..... (sebab initially I pun kureeeng paham).

Acropolis site cost me ONLY EU$2/=, but as you know there are few ancient ruin sites in Athens itself; THUUUUUUUS, per site cost ONLY EU$2/=, making a total of 6 sites visit ie EU$12/= tix(s) cost. GILER MURAH! CHEAP to the MAX! Shh..... I shouldn't be shouting about this, they might increase the price once the know they under charge us *wink wink*. Reason being, I remembered that I paid a bomb for Taj Mahal (orang yang baru balik tuh, please vouch for me here!), the Al-Hambra in Andalucia, Great Wall of China etc etc... Ini sudah baguuus....

The other thing that I find amazing is - post office located everywhere (kat ruin kat kaki bukit pun ada?!??! Ish! Bior benor), and this one is JUST next to the tix counter (boy! They sure love letter writing huh! Oldskol nye); and no worries, brochures are given there too (FREE). Just an advice, do read before going to Greece as the history goes a very loooong way; you get "blurred" half way when one trying to comprehend.

OK! Word of caution, please PLEASE wear you BESTEST walking shoe, do not and I repeat DO NOT buy a new shoe and attempt to wear for the first time in Greece! Get it?! Why? Because it’s a walking country, the best way to discover Athens is walk, walk and walk, by the way, did I say walk just now? Well…. W.A.L.K!! Comprende?

Am sure you have seen some pics that Acropolis is situated on top of a hill, hence, CLIMB you must (or crawl, whichever suits one better). Siap ko!

*Chawana, Travel Todd you memang akin menghadapi cabaran disini ler. As I go on, I will share other places’ road/walkway as well yek, so that you can gauge*

This one is Theatre or Odeon of Herodes Atticus (I’ve hyper link Mr. Wikipedia as well for your reading pleasure), what happen is that there was a concert going the same night, apparently the open this site for shows…. But obviously we are too late to book any lar, it was a soprano singer or something kot. With the ambience & acoustic, I foresee it’ll be great! This theatre is still being use till todate, it can fit 5,000pax those days, now? Don’t know, lesser kua as some “sits” might not be able to be sat.

I bet everyone knows this, or at least heard of this name before. Temple of Athena Nike. HAAAA!!!! Nike shoe factory is here if you want to, kalau korang nak tau…. AHHAHAHHAH….. Nike meant Victory, so; I guess that’s how the brand gotten it’s name. Not sure whether the designer/owner was Greek though. Anyway, those days the citizens worshiped the goddess in hope of a prosperous outcome in the long war fought on land and sea against the Spartans and their allies.

The semut (ants) of human, listening to their respective tour guides, we all do eves drop here and there :)

Behind this pillars, are the same - Temple of Athena Nike.

And now, hidden behind the columns, let me introduce to you.... The Parthenon!

The Theatre of Dionysus pulak is a huge open-air theatre in early Athens - not so well preserved (must be the war & earth quakes that collapse some part of it). Stated that It was used for festivals in honor of the god Dionysus ie the god of wine and the patron of drama. Konon nye able to hold up to 25,000 pax, AND ALL of them able to hear clearly what was being said on stage WITH speakers and amplifier. Woo yoooo…. Gempak dari MPO kite tuh…

FAMOUS, ICONIC, UNESCO = Parthenon. The Parthenon is dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their virgin patron. The one in the picture is NOT the Greek goddess, but if you insist- FINE! I can be one I suppose. MUAHHAHAHHA *cheeky*

The Greek Ministry of Culture is currently carrying out a program of selective restoration and reconstruction to ensure the stability of the partially ruined structure. There you go, that says it all! Apparently the this repair works has been going on for decade(s) (and more to come) to finish thus don’t rush youself there. Hehehe…

The Corinthian pillars or column, it's a marvel in those days.

Chak!!!

Erechtheion… that’s a mouth full huh! This a smaller complex with porch and columns known as the famous "Porch of the Maidens" for a simple reason as you can see - 6 draped female figures (caryatids) as supporting columns, each sculpted in a manner different.

The picture from afar, as I said, the complex is very small versus the rest.

Heading back and down to Plaka area, at that point we didn't know where we were heading, we just decide to follow out instint, tau tau sampai Plaka.... rasa pandai ler pulak.

I think they must be BORED waiting for other tour members, what else better to do, play a game of Chess. Next time I should bring a portable one, pandai gak diarang nih. Hahhaha....

Here’s the thing, did you notice that most of the temples/statue are dedicated to female… hemm… GURL POWER! Apa cite skarang man out there?! Hehehe….

By the way, I have always personally felt that the God & Goddess are mythical or folklore, but being there kinda acknowledge the existing of them in a weird way. Hemmm…. But I still have the doubt, anyone care to enlighten me? Are they real? Is there God, Goddess, Hercules? Or Atlantis?

Oh aside from this, normally the country in Europe that I have traveled before are chilly during this month of the year (even New Zealand which supposedly be entering summer); but Greece being in Mediterranean Sea kinda spells differently, it is still hot; BUT NOT that HOT lar. I didn’t even need to wear my new white light dawn jacket - UPSET!!! I bought 4 new jackets ok! F.O.U.R! *bawak 1 je ler…, idak ler I segiler itu nak bawak sampai 4*

OK! Let’s stop here, tomorrow I share on my first hand impression on Athens, the riot and the multiple strikes ok!

Till then.. Parakalo!

Hyperlink credit : Wikipedia, in2greece, mlahanas