Photos: Cindy and Genevieve enjoying an evening cocktail; crazy crowds at the Propylaia; off-center caryatids; the Parthenon; and the Parthenon at night.We managed to spend three days in Athens during the most unusual heat wave in recent memory. It was 116 the day we arrived, apparently, and temperatures have topped 100 degrees ever since. Leave it to me to find the least comfortable places to visit! Cindy, Genevieve and I are staying in an un-air-conditioned hostel. They have been very good sports about the heat, and I 'borrowed' an extra fan from the common area, so we're 
surviving. Yesterday we trekked through the National Archeological Museum and the Islamic museum before meeting Eliza, another Samothrace-bound IFA student, and her mother for a delicious dinner. Eliza and Mrs. Lee were our informants about the heat, and I think we were all relieved to know that we weren't wimps -- it really WAS very hot. So hot, actually, that the government closed access to the Parthenon and the Agora!
Today, despite continuing warm weather, we hiked to the top of the hill to inspect the ruins. The route is called the Panathenian way
-- a winding path that devotees would follow during the great festivals honoring the goddess Athena. Worshippers would enter through the Propylaia, an impressive entryway that conceals your view of the Parthenon before dramatically exposing it as you pass through the arch. My favorite part of the Parthenon complex, however, is the Erechtheion -- the sacred space where the goddess Athena was actually kept. I love the graceful, solid caryatids (the woman serving as pillars). It was a great morning; completely exhilarating despite the heat, the crowds, and the smog-obscured views of modern Athens. After such incredible heat, we found a rooftop 
pool and spent the day there before wandering around the monuments at night (bad photo here). For a perfect end to the evening, Cindy and I raced to the Benaki Museum, an extraordinary house museum compiled by a Greek collector. They are open until midnight on Thursdays, and so we had an hour to wander through the collection after dinner. It was no where near enough time -- but it is a real joy to travel with people who think midnight expeditions to museums counts as 'fun.'
So much has changed since my last trip to Athens -- the subway is larger, cleaner
and has digital information about the next trains; the drachma has been replaced by the Euro; the streets are cleaner; everything is labeled; simply stated, it is much friendlier to foreign tourists. Cindy imagines that this is the result of the Olympics. Probably true.
Tomorrow, we depart for Alexandropoulos. From there, we will take a ferry to Samothrace on Saturday morning. I'm looking forward to meeting the three non-IFA students and to eventually unpacking all my things! What a relief it will be to stop digging through my bag!
surviving. Yesterday we trekked through the National Archeological Museum and the Islamic museum before meeting Eliza, another Samothrace-bound IFA student, and her mother for a delicious dinner. Eliza and Mrs. Lee were our informants about the heat, and I think we were all relieved to know that we weren't wimps -- it really WAS very hot. So hot, actually, that the government closed access to the Parthenon and the Agora!Today, despite continuing warm weather, we hiked to the top of the hill to inspect the ruins. The route is called the Panathenian way
-- a winding path that devotees would follow during the great festivals honoring the goddess Athena. Worshippers would enter through the Propylaia, an impressive entryway that conceals your view of the Parthenon before dramatically exposing it as you pass through the arch. My favorite part of the Parthenon complex, however, is the Erechtheion -- the sacred space where the goddess Athena was actually kept. I love the graceful, solid caryatids (the woman serving as pillars). It was a great morning; completely exhilarating despite the heat, the crowds, and the smog-obscured views of modern Athens. After such incredible heat, we found a rooftop 
pool and spent the day there before wandering around the monuments at night (bad photo here). For a perfect end to the evening, Cindy and I raced to the Benaki Museum, an extraordinary house museum compiled by a Greek collector. They are open until midnight on Thursdays, and so we had an hour to wander through the collection after dinner. It was no where near enough time -- but it is a real joy to travel with people who think midnight expeditions to museums counts as 'fun.'So much has changed since my last trip to Athens -- the subway is larger, cleaner
and has digital information about the next trains; the drachma has been replaced by the Euro; the streets are cleaner; everything is labeled; simply stated, it is much friendlier to foreign tourists. Cindy imagines that this is the result of the Olympics. Probably true.Tomorrow, we depart for Alexandropoulos. From there, we will take a ferry to Samothrace on Saturday morning. I'm looking forward to meeting the three non-IFA students and to eventually unpacking all my things! What a relief it will be to stop digging through my bag!
