Alright, well this is the final post from my trip with my dad to the Mediterranean in JUNE. That's right, June. I know it has taken me a ridiculous amount of time to get the pictures sorted and the posts published, but my 7 short weeks home to Canada this summer were intensely busy and school start-up this year, ridiculous! It is the end of October and the craziness of school doesn't seem to be easing up any. LOL I have a few cultural posts started and now that this one is finally complete, I can work on those. :)
Our second last port of call was Piraeus, just 7 miles from the ancient city of Athens. We took a bus tour along the coast down to Cape Sounion where the remains of the Temple of Poseidon stand. The legend states that Aegeus, the king of Athens at the time, was watching from the Cape for his son's return from Crete. His son, Theseus, had travelled by ship to the island of Crete to slay the Minotaur (who was half man/half bull) who roamed the famous labrynth of Minos, the King of Crete. Each year Athens sent 7 boys and 7 girls to basically become sacrifices and dinner for the Minotaur. Theseus was determined to kill the beast once and for all so the city could stop sending sacrificial kids! The deal was that on his way back he would fly the white sail to let his father know from a great distance that he had won the battle and come back victorious. Theseus did indeed slay the beast, but forgot to switch flags before he sailed home. As his father saw the ship sailing home with the black flag hoisted, and assuming that his son had been killed, he lept off the cliff to his death on the craggy rocks below.
That would be the Temple of Poseidon on Cape Sounion!
Dad and I on the way up to the Temple of Poseidon. It was quite windy that day! :)
Up close and personal with the Temple
This fat quail looked so funny just hanging out on the ruins.....
Another shot of it...
This would be the lookout point where the king supposedly watched and spotted his son's ship
Looking in another direction.....it's hard to capture the deep blue of the sea and the
vibrant green of the plants......but it was beautiful! :)
Looking from the land side of the Temple, you can see the remains of another
old Temple of Appolo. Just the foundations remain now.
Random pic of a boat on the shore
Ok, from Cape Sounion, we drove back to the city of Athens and drove around looking at some famous sites! Top of our list was the Acropolis and Mars Hill. I didn't realize until I was there, but "The Acropolis" actually refers to the hill on which the Parthenon stands. "Acro" means "high" and "polis" means "city"! The cool temple at the top is the Parthenon.
The pollution in Athens made the air pretty hazy, but if you peer closely, you can see the Acropolis in the distance. :)
Can't remember what they said this was, but thought it looked cool and managed to snap a clear pic from the bus window...
Cool sign in Greek, again no idea what it says! LOL!
At the bottom of the Acropolis with the Parthenon at the top! :) It was 46 degrees celsius at the bottom and over 50 degrees at the top that day.
The Parthenon! :) So cool to actually be there to see it in person!!!
Dad and I and our classic tourist pic to prove we were there! :)
As you can see, the Parthenon in all its splendor.....marble blocks, enormous ridged columns and rebar? LOL, yeah they were working on restoring it while we were there.
The Erechthion - another structure atop the hill
The caryatids (maidens)
The view from atop the Acropolis, was beautiful as you could get a 360 degree view of the city!
That would be Mount Lycobettos in the distance with the National Gardens below it.
You can see the Temple of Zeus down below......it had finally been completed
in 125AD, 638 years after the first building had begun! These enormous columns are
all that remain of the original 104.
This is the ancient theatre of Herod Atticus. Although it was built in 161AD, it is still used today for theatrical performances and concerts. I would love to see that! :)
Dead centre and below is the Thission......an old temple built in 449BC
Nothing like an ice cold Coke after traipsing around the Acropolis for an hour
in the +50 degree heat!
Looking down in one direction from the Acropolis, you can see Mars Hill below. The Apostle Paul spoke to the people of Athens about the Unknown God (Acts17) from atop this chunk of rock. :) This was a spot Dad especially looked forward to seeing. :)
Mars Hill.....also known as Aereopagus
Climbing the steps up to the top!
Dad standing where Paul would have stood when preaching to the crowds. :)
The view of the Acropolis, looking up from Mars Hill
Final stop - CRETE! We were only in port for a few hours, so it was pretty unexciting. LOL We walked around and saw what we could. Here are a few pictures we managed to snap of the port town of Heraklion.
Some cool looking volcanic island on the way there.....
This would be pulling into the port with all the container loaders.
Looking down the main street, back towards the sea!
A quiet street in the market
I liked how the harbour was right along on of the main streets......you can see the arches of the very old arsenal in the background
A better shot of the old arsenal, moped and all! LOL
The old Venetian Koules Fortress built to protect the harbour.
What's left of the old emblem of Venice on the side of the fortress!
A cute, little old man feeding the birds.....
The Fontana Morosini built by the Venetians in the middle of Lion's Square. Apparently at one time during the 9th/10th centuries, this square was the largest slave market in all of the Eastern Mediterranean!
This is the 16th century Monestary of Vrondissi.
That is it! All posts from all the amazing places we visited during our time in the Mediterranean have been posted! I had the time of my life exploring this part of the world with my dad. :) Love you, Dad!!!! :) xo
I'm off to Egypt and Jordan in 15 days, so hopefully once I buy a new camera to replace my now broken one, I will be able to take and post some pics of my next traveling adventure! :) Stay tuned for some more cultural posts in the next few weeks as well. :)
