The name Piraeus means “the place over the passage”. In the early days Piraeus was connected to the mainland by a low-lying stretch of land that was flooded with seawater most of the year and used as a salt field whenever it dried up. The area was increasingly silted and the flooding stopped. By classical times the land passage was made safe. Piraeus then assumed its importance as a deep water harbor. The harbor handles 20.5 million passengers and over 29 thousand vessels annually.
We hopped on the “Hop On – Hop Off” City Sightseeing Athens & Piraeus bus.
The Orange Trees were right downtown, the smell was wonderful and you could reach out and grab one! Also, the beaches are so beautiful and just a stone’s throw from downtown.
The Lion’s Gate, another cruise ship terminal.
The Peace and Friendship Stadium holds a capacity of 11,000 spectators. It was the site for the 2004 volleyball tournaments.
The renovated Acropolis is an Athenian icon. Acropolis means “high place and you can see the sites from a far distance. They believed that ancient Gods lived in the clouds, so high places brought people closer to those they worshipped. Construction started in 432 BC.
We encountered this jolly man right after we entered, he was whistling and singing – for a Euro he allowed me to take his picture!
The walk is far, but it is not steep and the natural granite rock is slippery.
The Parthenon is the quintessential Greek monument. Considered by many to be man’s finest structural achievement, the flawless proportions feature a gentle upward slope, so the form appears to be a perfect rectangle, but look closely – it is not! The columns are slightly widened on one end to create a linear illusion.
The magnificent Erectheion commands attention. It’s six Caryatids (maiden pillars) are replicas as the originals are in the Acropolis Museum.
And then the rain came down! We hailed a taxi to take us to the cable car about 35 minutes away. The streets were flooding.
The cable car took us to the top of a mountain. It was very scary with the rain coming down and the wind rocking us, but beautiful.
Coming home this evening, we came across a demonstration in the streets. They had started a huge fire so the road was blocked. Interesting cab ride home. Mario, our driver, was so irate about their government he was banging his fists on the steering wheel.
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