Greece: Part 2

Athens
I decided to set this up a little bit differently than the last post. Here I will lump together all of the pictures from Athens and then I will do a post about our time on the island!

 Hadrian's Arch- Right next to the temple of Zeus

Temple of Athena

Temple of Zeus

 On the walking tour we went into this building to see a more modern (1800s) example of Ionic columns

Trees in the national garden, located in the historical district

The Olympic stadium! This was used in ancient times, and then refurbished for the first official Olympic Games in 1896

Left- This tunnel led ancient athletes onto the track.
Above- Maggie and Me sitting where the king and queen would sit to get the best view of the events

Above- Flags decorating the entryway to the stadium
Right- At the end of the tunnel leading from the stadium, torches from many of the modern Olympic Games are on display. These are from Beijing 2008 and London 2012!

I got first place in the "being born" contest!

  The changing of the guards in front of the Parliament building- We learned that the guards wear pom poms  on their shoes because they used to use them to conceal spikes when they weren't supposed to have weapons 

A beautiful church being built in the historic district. The blue marble (left) used for the facade is incredibly stunning. The church is still under construction and most of it is covered so we couldn't see it

The Temple of Hephaestus, in the Agora. This was Tom's favorite stop because Hephaestus is his favorite mythological character!

Some marble statues on display in the Agora - I was shocked by how beautiful they look in real life

A mosque in the middle of a pedestrian square

 

(Mostly) Group picture! My dad is not in the picture, but this is the rest of the group. We are in front of the church I talked about above

Thank you for checking these out! Pictures from the island to come!

Greece: Part 1

     I am finally getting around to posting some pictures form Greece! We (my family and 5 other family friends) went for two weeks starting June 16th and spent 4 days in Athens and the rest on a small island called Alonissos, about 50 km from mainland. We returned home yesterday (Jul.1) after a very tiring 25 hour commute home. It was a spectacular adventure and I am so glad I had the opportunity to go! Unfortunately my camera had some mechanical problems and I was unable to use it on the trip, but Maggie and I took tons of pictures with her camera, so there was no lack of documentation of our adventures. I tried to narrow it down to one or two pictures to post per day, but it was pretty much impossible so I am going to have to post multiple installments of the series over the course of a few weeks. Here is part one!

Day one
     After an exhausting series of flights to Athens, we arrived. A driver met us at the airport and took us to our Athens Studios, our hotel right in the historical Acropolis district.

 We took a walk around the area, and there were street performers and vendors everywhere

 A ruin at the foot of the Acropolis walls

 Maggie and Mackenzie being cute!

 We climbed a hill that gave us a great view of the city and the Acropolis. The sunset was gorgeous!

Tom. Maggie, and Athens! From above, the city looks very convoluted but handsome at the same time. All of the buildings are white, and I found myself wondering how anyone can find their way around when everything looks the same!

 Tom and Calvin being cute and tired at the café below our hotel





Day Two

 We climbed to the Acropolis, which was really cool to see. The columns and statues are absolutely beautiful and I find it incredible that ancient humans were able to accomplish such an amazing architectural feat.

 The Greek flag waving proudly at the Acropolis. Props to Maggie for such a cool photo!

 Tom and I taking a break to work on our funny faces

Day Three

We took a walking tour of the historical landmarks in Athens. It was really cool because our tour guide was genuinely excited to teach us about the history of the landmarks, and told us interesting little tidbits that I would have not known otherwise!

Greek salad for lunch. This is the way all salads should be: full of delicious non-lettuce vegetables and topped with delicious cheese!

An interesting installation in an alley. I love the way it looks!

     So there is a taste of the first three days in Greece! I will post more soon, and I promise they won't all be in three day sections, I am just very tired tonight because of jetlag! Sweet dreams, and see you tomorrow!