Greece

Med notes Greece

First stop – Piraeus. Never heard of it.  Turns out Piraeus is the port city for Athens. Athens has grown so much that unless you know the area (or have GPS) you can’t tell where Piraeus ends and south Athens begins (much like Long Beach and LA). I really didn’t care, as long as the bus driver knew where he was, and could get us back to the ship at the end of the day. 

The Med can get very rough

The ship smashing into a wave 

Standing on Deck 13 forward facing the wind of a storm

My hand-held anemometer - note the wind speed! When I bought the anemometer, the specs said it maxed out at 65 mph. Apparently not!

We went through a Beaufort force 11 storm (with 16’ waves) off Greece. Compare a Greek ferry to an American ferry plying the calm waters of Puget Sound.

Seattle Puget Sound ferry. Most American ferries can only handle waves up to single overhead (threw in that surfer term to look cool, single overhead waves are only 6’).

Blue water Greek Ferry

Athens is a modern, well built, gorgeous (large) city with bits-o-antiquity scattered around.  

 Specifically I’m referring to the Acropolis. Acropolis actually refers to the big hill which contains the Parthenon (and assorted temples). 

"AthensAcropolisDawnAdj06028" by User:Leonard G. - Own work. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons -
Can't believe I forgot to take a picture of it and had to go to the web

The Acropolis has a bizarre ancient and modern history (Acropolis means citadel built on elevated ground) . First the ancient - it's really really old (duh!).  Apparently there is evidence of human activity dating back 4,000 years BC. It holds 4 important buildings.

First - the Parthenon. 

They started building it in 447 BC as a temple to the Goddess Athena (the Goddess of  strategy and tactics, handicraft, and practical reason). Supposedly she was a virgin (which makes the "practical reason" tribute somewhat suspicious). Unbelievably, it was completed in 438 BC.  9 years to build? Gedoutahere! I would love to see how they did it (slave labor is worth every penny). The stones were quarried 10 miles away (marble, limestone) but DAMN! Each of the "drums" that make up the columns weigh 5 tons. 

When you first see the Parthenon you think "Damn, this place is really old, no wonder it's falling apart". When you look closely, things don't add up. It's not so much the weather that's wrecked the place - it's the idiots that ran it after construction. 

Originally it was used primarily as the treasury. 1000 years later it was converted to a Christian church (600 AD). That lasted for a while, then came the Ottoman conquest and it became a mosque in 1460.  The Muslims weren't too bright and they wound up using this piece of priceless antiquity as an ammunition dump. Predictably, during some screwy war against the Venetians, a lucky mortar round landed on it and sparked a terrific explosion.  The explosion did a lot of damage.

Then along came the British in 1803. Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, proceeded to plunder a bunch of the marble sculptures with the (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) "permission" of the Ottoman Empire.  In 1816 he sold most of them to the British Museum in London where they reside today. They're known as the Elgin Marbles. As you would expect, the Greeks aren't real happy about this.  They have been negotiating with the British since 1983 for their return, but so far they've had as much luck as people have had getting the Swiss to return Nazi gold and treasure.

According to Wikipedia, some of the financial building records have been found and the biggest expense was the cost of moving the stones from the quarry to the top of the hill.  It was only 10 miles, but at the time, the route went past over 200 bars (alright, I made that part up).

The Greeks, God bless 'em, since 1975 have had a serious go at rebuilding the place. It hasn't been easy. Look closely at the new parts below:





When I first noticed the new white parts, my first thought was "Oh for God's sake, the Greeks hired Bubba to go up on a stepladder and slap in some Spackle". Not so, every white piece is marble that had to be very painstakingly crafted to fit it.  That, of course, leads to the question - where do you find stone carvers?  Angie's List? It will take over 100 years for the white marble to "age" to the brown color of the original marble (there are small particles of iron in the marble that oxidize when exposed to air) . Back in the 19th century some of this reconstruction work began, but they were wasting their time.  The 19th century construction engineers weren't as smart as the original (400 BC) engineers. The building is held together with big iron "H" pins.The ancient Greeks took care to coat all the iron with lead to prevent oxidation of the iron. The 19th century Greeks skipped this step and paid the price - when iron rusts - it expands (which cracks all the surrounding marble). I'm not sure if this is what squished this horse, but something did.



As mentioned before, there are several temples on the Acropolis, but to be honest, I kinda got confused.
I think this is the Polypropylene Gateway.  Er, it's really called the Propylaea Gateway?

This is the very first Nike shoe store:

 

Not really. It's the Temple of Athena Nike. Notice all the new marble in place.  Nike means victory in Greek (most Americans think it means 'Just Do It'). Athena was worshiped in this form, as goddess of victory in war and wisdom.

This is the porch of the Caryatids (it's part of the Erechtheion
Temple - dedicated to both Athena and Poseidon).  

    


All is not what it seems, however.  If you count the Caryatids you'll notice there are 6 of them. There were originally 6, however, in 1803 Lord Elgin (Tommy Badboy Bruce) stole one to decorate his mansion in Scotland (later hocked it to the British Museum). He came back and tried to steal another one, but ran into technical difficulties preventing him from picking it up. The jerk then decided to saw it into pieces, but only succeeded in wrecking the whole statue. Later the Greeks rebuilt the broken one, then in 1979 took all of them and put them inside The Old Acropolis Museum.  What you see today are replicas. They're quite well done.  If I hadn't looked it up in Wikipedia I would never have known.

One thing the Greeks don't lack for on the Acropolis is spare parts:
  



Like I said earlier, I got a little overwhelmed by all the stuff on the Acropolis.  I couldn't remember which temple this was:


Turns out its the Temple of Hephaestus (I think). Ole Hepie (as he was known as to his friends) was the patron god of metal working, craftsmanship,and fire. Good guy to know if you were building a new house in those days.

The view from the top of the Acropolis is spectacular, to wit:



This is what's left of the Temple of Zeus. Zeus was the God's God (kinda like Tom Brady to the rest of the quarterbacks). This was, at one time, a colossal temple.  The Greeks began construction in 600 BC, and (unlike the Parthenon) this one took 638 years to complete (it's not that there was a workers strike, for 336 years nobody cared to finish what had been started).  When completed, it didn't last long. In the 3rd century AD it was pillaged by a barbarian invasion.  After that it was used for material for other construction projects. Damn shame, if you ask me. In case you're wondering, there are 15 vertical columns.  The one laying flat fell over in a storm in 1852 (no known casualties, at least not that they've found yet).

The ancient Greeks really liked to work with marble. You can't beat marble for longevity. This is the Panathenaic Stadium:

 



There really is something to be said about using marble to build stuff. This stadium was made entirely of marble in 329 BC!  In 1869 it was finally renovated (2,198 years later) and hosted the first modern Olympic Games. In the 2004 Olympics it was the site of the marathon finish line and the archery competition (although not at the same time as the marathon finish - those guys were tired enough as it was without getting shot at). The guy who owns the seat cushion rental stand makes a killing at all events here. Sitting on marble isn't at all comfortable.

Finance guy for the stadium.  
You can tell he's not one of the athletes because he's wearing clothes.

Damn, it's been a whole month since I've used algebra.

This is one of the Evzones (Greek Presidential palace guards, also the guard unit of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier).  Note the shoes (they weigh 3 1/2 pounds each).

The changing of the guards is pretty cool (although not nearly as impressive as the changing of the British Royal guards in London). It's worth clicking here to see it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXN06PF2Xmk 
In my opinion, it may have been the inspiration for the Monty Python "Minister of Silly Walks" bit (no disrespect, it's just kinda funny to see). Goofy shoes or not, these guys are hand picked (you have to be at least 6' 2" to qualify) and tough as nails. In 1941 the Nazi's demanded the Greek flag be hauled down and replaced with the swastika at the Parthenon.  The guard complied, but refused to hand over the Greek flag to the German officer. Instead, he wrapped himself in it and jumped off Acropolis to his death. In 2001 some moron threw a Molotov cocktail at the guard shack (made of wood). Even though the structure was fully engulfed in flames, the Evzone on duty refused to move until ordered to do so by an officer. He emerged with a scorched and smoking uniform and still stood at attention until relieved.

I took a stroll through the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. 

"Attica 06-13 Athens 02 Archaeological Museum" by A.Savin (userpage · contact) - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons -

This is considered one of the greatest museums in the world and houses a crapload of priceless artifacts. It also houses some good comedy (if you look hard enough, are bored with antiques, and have a juvenile mind - in other words; me).  

This is a statue of some naked guy.

Notice anything missing? (besides his right hand)

This is his girlfriend next to him:

See how she's smiling? (plus she's clothed - not much of a girlfriend if you ask me)

She's not smiling because she's holding his missing "piece".

She's holding an acorn (looks kinda like a Christmas light)

This is another famous statue called the Artemision Bronze.

I was in group 4 with our cute guide.

Here's his butt, if you're so inclined.

The funny thing is that because his throwing hand is empty, the Greeks can't agree if the sculpture is of Poseidon (would have held a Trident) or of Zeus (would have held a thunderbolt). The statue dates back to 2nd century BC and was found at the bottom of the ocean in 1928.  The theory is the Romans were looting the statue back to Italy when a storm sank the prize ship in the Artemision Sea (don't ask, I don't know where the hell that is either). They were looting all kinds of bounty.  Like this bizarre statue of a jockey that was found on the same sunken ship:

I think it's weird because of the jockey's face. Creepy.



Not a kid, more Willie Shoemaker?



Another creepy artifact is this death mask called the Mask of Agamemnon (it's one of the museums most famous pieces).

 
It dates back to 1,500 BC (supposedly). It was found by an archaeologist named Heinrich Schliemann in 1876.  Henry



doesn't have the best reputation for authenticity. He was as much a showman as he was an archaeologist.  Some think he had the piece made and then salted the dig with it. Henry is also the bonehead that used dynamite to speed up archaeology digs (possibly destroying the original Troy). Either way, the mask is gold.  BTW, they didn't make it by taking gold leaf and mashing it over the face of the dead guy. It was hammered out on a piece of wood.

This old piece of pottery really cracked me up.



It depicts a chariot.  Look closely:

There's his wife in the back seat bitching at him.  Some things never change.

More humor can be found in their collection of tablets (usually used as grave markers)

Cocoa Puffs.  I want Cocoa Puffs mom.  I wash the chariot for a year if you just buy me Cocoa Puffs.



Your turn, he's been crying all night, you take him.

Fancy a quick game of Ping Pong?

(actually it's a hand mirror)

I don't know.  It's just not the same anymore.  All he wants to do these days is watch the chariot races on ESPN. I mean just look at this piece of junk jewelry he bought me.






Aha! I found junior's weed stash at last!


Just my luck.  I get a cold and we're all out of Kleenex

Look, all I'm saying is that I don't want to go to another one of 'So-greats' parties.  The guy's a windbag.  I'm just saying.

What would all these statues be without pigeons to sit on them?  Apparently the ancient Greeks agreed with me.

Notice how some of them have had their heads blown off? Those are probably the ones that sat (shat) on the wrong statue.

If you ever get the chance to visit Greece - GO.  I'll be coming back some day.