We took a school trip to Athens this weekend with all of the study abroad students. The bus ride took about 8 hours due to stops along the way, but finally, we arrived to the hotel around 7PM. Poor Samantha, I think I was asleep the whole way, in the aisle so she couldn’t even get out… oops! Our hotel, the Divani Acropolis, was beautiful and overlooked the Acropolis. The first night a few of us went out to dinner at a nice restaurant close to the hotel, which had a straight view to the Parthenon, it was gorgeous at night. We went out with a bunch of the study abroad people for our first night on the town.
Saturday morning was packed with all of the standard touristy stuff: a tour of the brand new Acropolis Museum, then off to the Acropolis to see the Parthenon, Temple of Athina Nike and lastly lunch at a famous gyros place. Let me pause here and reflect on the museum for a couple of minutes, as I was extremely impressed with it. The museum only opened up in June of 2009, and was created on top of some ruins. To preserve them, they built the museum around, and above them, meaning the bottom floor is clear glass so you can look down at the ruins underneath you. Incredible. And, the top floor of the museum was built to the exact specifications as the Parthenon, with fake pillars and everything! The metopes that once lined the top of the Parthenon and the east and west pediments are preserved in either in the British Museum in London, or the new Acropolis Museum in Athens, and I am excited to say that I have been to both! A fun-fact about the Parthenon is that it was built with humanistic qualities, meaning there is no straight light on the Parthenon; everything was built with a slightly curving, even the stairs and the roof!
We did our fair share of tourist shopping after lunch and then Samantha and I headed back towards the Parthenon to hike up “Mars Hill” or the Argeopagus. This is the place Pauls is said to have delivered a famous speech, “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else” in Acts 17:24-25. It is so neat that Samantha and I are able to read about these places, but also reflect and pray on the spot. It was a little after sunset that we were there and watched the Parthenon light up and the city come to life with the beautiful lights. And the sky was a beautiful hot pink :]
We didn't have as much time in Athens as I had wished, but all in all it was a good place. It was a little dirtier than Thessaloniki, but we only were able to explore one certain part of the city, because of our time constraints. I am still amazed with how much I am able to do while in Greece. Thank you mom and dad, and thank you God :D
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