Day 25: Sept 29th: Don't touch the marble

It's amazing how these centuries old ruins are so fragile. Even in their damaged state, its hard to think about them as deteriorating at a rapid rate. But indeed they are. The air pollution, the botched repairs, the tourists, mother nature. The list goes on. I guess its all about slowing the aging process down. But no matter how hard we try, someday there won't be many traces left. But in the meantime, don't touch the marble!

Today started off in the usual fashion: breakfast at the hotel (the Greek yogurt was fantastic!) followed by a quick exploration of the area surrounding our hotel. But, around 11, our travel pattern shifted when our visitors arrived: Alicia's parents and sister, Abigail. They were jetlagged and exhausted from not sleeping on the overnight flight, but being troopers, they rallied quickly and we were on our way!

Our first stop in Athens, (cliche I know) was the Acropolis. Shockingly (ok maybe not), we walked to the highest point first thing. The ruins were not nearly as extensive as I had envisioned (after seeing Ephesus in Turkey), but I needed to remind myself that many of these ruins have been around since before Roman times. Although they were maintained during Roman occupation, the ruins and the rest of the city went through so many changes and wars that it's a wonder any of it survived at all. Yet the Parthenon still stands (news flash!) and is impressive (even when wrapped in scaffolding). As we walked around and read the guidebook's explanations, we were struck by how many questions we still had. For example, how exactly was the transition in Athens from Greeks to Romans (other than the fact that the Romans loved to borrow their clothing, housing, and artistic styles)? We had all taken some sort of ancient Greek and Roman history class, but when the real thing is in front of you, everything you thought you knew goes out the window. You start saying: oh wait, but why is this like this?...I thought that it was.....and so on.

I so wanted my Roman Archeology professor there to make sense of all the chaos for me. They always made it look so easy. The museum explanations help a little by explaining the time periods and different styles, but they often fail to explain how the puzzle all fits together. Another example of this is found in the different painting styles throughout antiquity. Why is it that the ancient Roman and Greek artists are more successful in accurately representing the human body and face, as well as a sense of perspective, than medieval artists? Why is it that even in the same city, the manner of painting humans seems more rudimentary as time progresses from Antiquity to the Middle Ages, and this style isn't rekindled until the Renaissance? The history of Athens is so long and so complicated; I don't know how anyone managed to put it all together.

After our heads (maybe it was just mine) were reeling, we walked mindlessly through the Plaka - the street markets - selling trinkets and scarves to tourists. I almost got a small bronze helmet but then realized that if it looked corny on the shelf in the store it would only look worse on my shelf. Maybe a scarf would be a better souvenir. Yet, I might hold off until India where it will be so much cheaper (Euros are really hurting us).

After exploring the shops around the Plaka, we headed back to the hotel to regroup before dinner. After a delicious meal, we headed out to seek our favorite treat- baklava. But as it turns out, out of the 15 shops we looked in, none of them sold it. We couldn't believe it. In Turkey it was found on every street corner. Sadly, we went back empty handed.

Maybe we'll have better luck tomorrow.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry