Day 2 in Athens! With temperatures soaring into the mid-high 30's this afternoon, we were very glad to be in an air conditioned museum... we spent the morning first visiting the Theatre of Dionysus, the last of the ancient site's that we had missed yesterday, before heading to the Acropolis Museum, a new museum (it only opened in 2009) with many artifacts from the Acropolis and the area surrounding the Acropolis, including a life-sized reconstruction of the Temple of Athena itself -- or most of a reconstruction anyways. We learned a lot about the temple, including that much of the destruction was caused by a giant explosion during a war here in the late 1600's, as well as the usual looting and re-purposing of the temple (it has also been a church, a synagog, caught fire, sacked by the Persians, and much of it moved to England) so the fact that any remains is pretty amazing.
After the museum we had lunch, before deciding to head back to the hostel during the heat of the day while waiting for our tour to the Temple of Poseidon. So we hung out in the air-conditioning, until catching our bus to Cape Sounion. It was about a 1 1/2 hour bus ride, during which we learned about Athens neighbourhoods, such as that the richer areas are near the ocean where they can quickly get to the beach and the centre of Athens. We also drove by many beaches that made me really want to go swimming!
Once we got to the temple, our tour guide told us about the temple (it was to the God Poseidon, and there was a temple to Athena nearby as these two temples are always near each other) and how part of it is older than the new part as it too was sacked by the Persians. It was also built differently than many other temples as it had to withstand harsher conditions so near to the ocean.
After our tour, we headed back into Athens, had some dinner, and are now relaxing in our hostel before bed. Tomorrow we are heading on a 3 island cruise, which I'm really hoping will involve swimming!
Later days!
Kathleen.
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