Getting Monumental

For one price of admission one gets a slew of tickets - the Acropolis, Ancient Agora, the Roman Agora, Hadrian's Library, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, Keramikos, Dionisos Ancient Theater, Hadrian's Arch, and more. We started with the Acropolis...

the back way up to the Acropolis

Gorgeous views from the summit of the path

 There were, of course, hordes of tour groups swarming the site. However, not so many that it diminished our experience. We were in complete awe pretty much the whole time.  In awe of the little things like the marbling in felled columns, to the grand such as the theatre of Herod Atticus built by the Romans and is still used today for ballet and classical music performances.

The Propylaea, or entrance.

Donica in the upper, upper balcony section of the theatre of Herod Atticus.

The Acropolis, or Upper City, is the word to denote the entire hilltop and surrounding areas within which are the Propyleae, Parthenon, temple of Nike Athena, Erecthion, the rock of Areopagos, etc.  But enough with the archeology lesson.

After taking this self-portrait in front of the Parthenon an older couple approached us to take a picture of them. They were celebrating their 40th anniversary in the same spot where they spent their honeymoon. Literally, they slept IN the Parthenon on their honeymoon. Cool!

The Caryatids

Bust of a Satyr from the Theater of Dionysis

One thing that was fascinating at all of these monuments was the ongoing archaeology and restoration being done. As we were strolling through these incredible structures we were never far from the "chink-chink" of delicate chisels, or "swish" of a brush.