An Acropolis View

A very picture heavy post ahead! Enjoy!

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After our first day walking around Athens, getting the lay of the land, we embarked on a full day tour of the city!

We started out at the Panathinaiko Stadium.

This stadium is an athletic stadium in Athens that hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. Reconstructed from the remains of the ancient Greek stadium, the Panathinaiko is the only major stadium in the world built entirely of white marble.

 

In the 2004 Olympic Games, the Panathinaiko Stadium hosted the archery competition, and the finish of the Marathon. Pretty cool, right?

        

It would be pretty cool to finish a MARATHON in this stadium, right?

 

Next up we headed towards the “main event” – the Acropolis!

 

All I could think when I would see the “city on the hill” was – Get me up there! I don’t really get excited about rocks or ruins in general, but this was pretty amazing.

 

Before we could set foot in the beautiful space high up on the hill, we listened to some history about the area from below.

 

And took lots of pictures – of course!

In real life, it literally takes your breath away.

 

After circling below the hill, we were ready to head up top!

       

On our way up the hill, we passed by the Theatre of Dionysus, located on the southwest slope of the Acropolis. It’s a major open aired theatre that is still in use today!

 

When you are making your way up the hill, pretty much every view is awesome!

   

The Acropolis was packed during our time there, but we made the best of it!

   

This theatre was amazing, but it was nothing compared to the Acropolis up on the top of the hill!

Wouldn’t it be amazing to check out a concert here?

          

Ok- I am sure other honeymooners would agree – I think I needed to hire a photographer to follow us around and take pictures of us! Finding someone to snap out picture who was confident in using my camera was hard!

 

There was great visibility of Athens from the Acropolis! It was a clear and perfect day!

  

Seriously, can you imagine that someone literally carried these rocks, one by one, up the hill?

    

The Acropolis is constantly under renovation, so I wasn’t surprised to see the scaffolding all over the place.

   

Did I mention that the Acropolis is a flat-topped rock that rises 150 m (490 ft) above sea level in the city of Athens – surprisingly it was VERY high!

   

It’s really hard to explain the awe-inspiring view from the top.

   

Everything at the top of the Acropolis is so massive!

    

They are still doing tons of work on the Acropolis and Parthenon from the top – there are ruins everywhere!

 

My favorite part of the Acropolis was the Parthenon – it was un-freakin’-believable!

The Parthenon is dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena, who is looked upon as the patron of Athens.

     

Charles and his rocks. It’s love.

  

I have less love for the rocks, but lots of respect. They have been hanging out here a long time!

   

Looking at the columns were magnificent for me!

     

Seriously, isn’t it beautiful?

From the top, we checked out the view below –

  

It’s a long way down!

          

Obviously we had to do some jumping shots at the top!

 

It was amazing seeing the city of Athens below us.

Photo op!

   

A more romantical photo op!

Seriously – if you haven’t seen this yet, put it on your travel-go see list! It’s amazing!

And if you have seen this already – did you love it as much as I did? Did it take your breath away?

         

Across from the Parthenon on top of the Acropolis is the Erechtheum – which is another ancient temple.

 

Side note: If you are confused like I was, here is a little breakdown: The Parthenon is the most iconic  and prominent landmark on top of the Acropolis – which is the name for the entire space on the top of the hill.

And the Erechtheum is home to the famous “Porch of the Maidens”, which is six draped female figures (caryatids) as supporting columns, each sculpted in a manner different from the rest and engineered in such a way that their slenderest part, the neck, is capable of supporting the weight of the porch roof while remaining graceful and feminine.

 

Pretty cool, right?

   

I thought it was also cool that all the rocks, that aren’t currently placed within the ruins the are numbered.

 

These rocks are probably from when the Acropolis was used as target practice (either that or when there was a gun powder explosion on the top!)  

I really just got lost in all the detail.

         

Before I knew it, our time on top had come to an end. I really enjoyed hanging out up there, among all the rocks, it was very peaceful.

         

Honestly, I could have stayed up there all day.

  

But as our time on top came to an end, I still managed to embrace the feeling I had on ‘top of the world’ throughout the rest of our time in Athens! I always caught myself searching for a glimpse of the Acropolis.

Seriously, it was built pretty high up there!

 

Next up on our tour was a trip to the Acropolis Museum – which is home to many of the amazing artifacts found up on top of the hill.

 

No cameras were allowed inside the museum, but I can share with you the amazing job that was done outside the museum – it was built on top of ruins! Pretty cool, right?

The museum did an awesome job of showcasing this aspect.

 

All the floors were see through and there was work being done down below so you got to see what was going on. It was pretty amazing to see first hand!

 

And that, my friends, was one of my favorite days on the honeymoon. Ok, I pretty much loved all the days – but seeing the Acropolis and the Parthenon up close and in person was an amazing experience! 

What was your favorite part of the Acropolis that I shared with you today?