Athens Adventures

After a long day of traveling, we have arrived in Athens, Greece! This city is spectacular. It is absolutely gorgeous with its rich history, and its Grecian aura. There are so many places you need to experience when visiting Athens, and unfortunately, we really only had one day to see them all. Thankfully, our amazing trip coordinators planned a fully packed day so we could see them all! Here are all of the places we were able to see while visiting Athens!

We started out the day bright and early with a bus tour of the city. We had an amazing tour guide pointing out all of the historical locations around Athens as the bus attempted to slow down or stop in front of each.

The first location we visited was the Panathenaic Stadium. At this site, we were actually able to get out of the bus and see the stadium up close. Of course we had to prove that Gator Nation is everywhere, and take our group picture with the iconic gator chomp! This historic stadium is the built completely of marble, making it the only one in the world. This stadium was originally built in 330 BC for the Panathenaic Games. It has been excavated, refurbished and used for different purposes over the years. One of the most famous games it has hosted, was the first modern Olympics in 1896. During these games it actual held the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as 4 out of the 9 games. This stadium currently serves many different purposes, such as the finishing point for the annual Athens Classic Marathon.

Unfortunately, the rest of the locations we visited during the city tour we were unable to get off of the bus. I did try to snap some pictures from the bus window of the beautiful sites. The next "stop" on our bus tour was The National Historical Museum. This museum is located in the Old Parliament House on Stadiou Street. This museum displays the collection of the Historical and Ethnological Society of Greece, whose purpose is to promote the history of Greece through preserving historical items. The time period in which these items originate vary from the capture of Constantinopolis by the Ottomans (1453) to World War II. In front of this museum is the Theodoros Kolokotronis Statue. This stature portrays the Greek general, and leader of the Greek War of Independence, Theodoros Kolokotronis, riding his horse. He is pointing forward, leading the Greek people to their future of independence, and freedom.

This building is the first of Theophil Freiherr von Hansen's Trilogy of neo-classical buildings in Athens. The National Library of Athens is located on the left side of the three buildings. This library was built in the early 1800s, and it was not originally located in this location. As the number of books in its collection grew, it moved from location to location, eventually ending up at the University of Athens.

The second of Theophil Freiherr von Hansen's Trilogy of neo-classical buildings in Athens, is the University of Athens. This building is the center of the three buildings in his trilogy. This University is the first modern University in the Eastern Mediterranean. This University was founded in 1837 by King Otto of Greece. The University of Athens was the first University in the freed Greek state. There were only four areas of study: theology, law, medicine and art. Today, this building is no longer used by students, because it is an administrative building.

The Athens Academy is the final building in Theophil Freiherr von Hansen's Trilogy. This building is located on the right side of the three buildings. This is Greece's national academy, as well as the top research institution in Greece. The Athen's Academy was created in 1926, and it is now controlled by the Ministry of Education. The three Orders of this institution include: natural sciences, letters and arts, moral and political sciences. (Unfortunately, I was not able to take a picture of this location)

The last stop on our drive-by bus tour was the Greek Parliament House. The Hellenic Parliament is located in the Old Royal Palace. This institution is democratic, with elected Members of Parliament to represent the citizens of Greece. Located outside of the Parliament House are two soldiers who are dressed in traditional uniforms. These soldiers are guarding the Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier. The bus was not even allowed to stop in front of this building because of the intense police scrutiny of the area.

After we finished with our bus tour we finally arrived at the destination Athens is famous for: the Acropolis! We all exited our buses and made our way up the high Acropolis Hill. Once we made it to the top of the hill, we had the most amazing view of the city of Athens! The Acropolis is an ancient citadel with the remains of other significant ancient buildings. These buildings include the Parthenon, the Propylaia, the Erectheion and the Temple of Athena Nike. Each of these ancient buildings has significance in Greek History, and many have to do with the Greek Gods. These ruins were originally built in the 5th Century BC, and the construction was commissioned by Pericles. The buildings did not survive the years because of the wars Greece has been involved in. One specific incident ruined many of the buildings on the Acropolis. This incident occurred during a seige by the Venetians in the Morean War. Gun powder was being kept in the Parthenon, and it was blown up when it was hit with a cannonball.

(Brittany Lewis, Hana Dawood, Gaby Connor, Katy McGrath, Kelly Frehling, Annie Braune)

(Elisa Press, Alexis Musa, and Hannah Ross)

(Julia Renner and Kayla Tuckerman)

(Maria Marren, Gabby Seiner, Laurel Biddy, Marissa Sunshine, Julia Frohlich, Julianna Musumeci)

After everyone took their pictures and learned the significance of this historical sight we walked over to the Acropolis Museum. It is only about a 5 minute walk from the Acropolis Hill. This beautiful museum showcases ancient remains from the Acropolis. This museum also has glass floors throughout, so you can look down and see the ruins below the ground. There were many beautiful statues and parts of buildings from the Acropolis inside this museum, such as the Caryatid pillars (pictured above).

By the time we left the Acropolis Museum it was around 2:00 in the afternoon, and everyone was ready for some yummy Greek food! We headed over to an adorable area of town called Plaka. There were so many delicious restaurants to eat lunch at, and a ton of great shops for souvenirs!

We had our first group dinner at an amazing restaurant named Spilia Tis Acropoleos, which translates to Cave of Acropolis. This restaurant was located right under the Acropolis! We ate in their outdoor area, where we had an amazing view of the hill and some of the ruins on top. Not only did we have a great view, but we also had live music and delicious food! Because we are such a large group, we were served multiple small plates to get to try a little bit of everything. For appetizers we received greek salads, falafels, tzatziki sauce, loukaniko (Greek sausage), and an eggplant dish. For our main meal we received a delicious veal with risotto. We ended the night with fresh fruit as a dessert.

Athens was amazing, and I cannot wait to see what Mykonos has in store for us