nofixedaddress: The Acropolis and Sicily

Athens, while located in a beautiful climate was a bit of a mess when we were there. The municipal sanitary workers were on strike protesting austerity measures. Our lady tour guide was disgusted and had many insights into the monetary wreckage that Greece is facing, one that floored me was a law that did not allow the dismissal of government or municipal employees.

After a city tour past all the new stadiums and facilities that were constructed for the 2004 Olympics, our guides opinion was that the costs of these Olympics contributed largely to Greece's monetary issues. The costs of these games was about 11 billion dollars, not including construction costs of new transit systems that were installed to accommodate the amount of people coming. Most of this cost, according to the guide, was paid for by borrowed money at high interest rates.

The Acropolis, situated on a high rocky hill, is one of the highlights of Athens. It consists of many buildings including the Parthenon. Now a European Cultural site the total area is one large heritage site.

One of the many temples at the Acropolis

Constructed in the 5th century BC the Acropolis was a palace and had several temples added to worship the various gods of the Ancient Greeks, the main one being Athena. As with other cities and other ancient structures the Acropolis has been destroyed and rebuilt several times. Mostly in wars between the Persians and Greece, the structures were repaired during the time of Alexander and during the Roman periods.

The Parthenon

The Parthenon, originally constructed as a temple to the goddess Athena through the years was used as a treasury, a church, a mosque and a munitions storage site. A explosion of munitions stored inside the Parthenon during the Ottoman rule did severe damage to the structure.

Base of a column

The stones used to construct the Parthenon, large enough for the columns, were transported about 10 miles from a quarry on an adjacent hill. The construction took 300 men 9 years and another 5 years to complete the artistic decorations. They have being working on restoration since 1937 and this work continues today.

Temple dedicated to the Greek hero Erichthonius

Built into the mountain side between the Acropolis and the flats were at least two out door theaters. These were used for plays and political gatherings.

Theater of the Acropolis

After the Acropolis we went back to the main city and stopped at the stadium built in Athens for the original Olympics. Seating around 50,000 people this stadium is now only used sporadically.

The first Olympic Stadium

Now over to Sicily, I was looking forward to see all those Mafioso type guys running around, but no such luck, every one was pretty much just like me! No guided tours here as we took a long walk to a bus station and took the public bus to the little town of Taormina.

Perched on high cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean, Taormina, although having a Greek and Roman past is more of a medieval atmosphere.

Taormina Beaches, accessible by tram.

The road to the town is as steep and curvy as anything in South America, difference is this one is paved. Most corners so sharp that oncoming vehicles had to stop and back up to let the bus around the corner. The town itself is surrounded by walls and entry is through rock gates.