Kitty City - Day Β

Today's agenda: the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the Athenian Agora, the Roman Agora, and Kerameikos Cemetery

Athens is one of the biggest cities in Europe. Fortunately, everything of a tourist's interest lies in less than a 2 square mile block. Phil and I enjoyed various paths through the heart of the city as we walked to and fro with our hostel as a base. Some of the city has a very Middle East/Egyptian feel, like with merchants selling pottery and fruits and camels at the bazaar, except you walk on asphalt potholes instead of sand.

This is one of the nice slums. It got way slummier elsewhere but I failed to snag a photo.
In light of the real slums, it pains me to even call this a slum, but I wanted to give you a point of reference.

Next are several different views of the Zeus Olympian. I couldn't decide on my favorite so have all four.

Rubble outlining an ancient bathhouse, on the Olympian grounds

Indirectly headed to the pair of ancient agoras, we climbed our second Athenian hill today, the Hill of the Muses. This hill holds Socrates' probable prison and the Monument of Philopappos.

Panorama with the monument in the distance, center-left.

Socrates' prison, held here until forced to drink hemlock.
Sentenced to death for impiety and corruption of youth.

Monument of Philopappos

A good view of the vast Athenian cityscape.

Now starts the Athenian Agora:

The Temple of Hephaestus is visible in the back.

This temple is perhaps the most well-preserved of its type.

It has been repurposed many times over the millenia, until finally becoming a tourist's amusement in the 20th century.

View onto the agora from the temple

The Temple of Ares - what a fall from grace!

The agora includes a nice small museum, called the Stoa of Attalos, which is a dramatically rebuilt ancient structure.

And the lackluster Roman Agora, showcasing the Tower of the Winds:

The Tower of the Winds was a sort of ancient weather station, featuring a sundial, weather vane, and water clock.

Inside the tower, water clock mechanism seen here

The open space of the Roman Agora

Moving right along to end the day, we have the Kerameikos Cemetery. As far as I know, nobody extremely noteworthy is buried here, but as a cemetery it has been well-preserved. Also, like in the Athenian Agora, there is a small museum on the grounds.

A similar bull statue (or is this one a copy? I forget) can be found in the cemetery as a gravemarker.

Stray cats prowl this cemetery. Legend has it Artemis bred these cats.

"Oh great, our archaeological dig excavated another beautiful marble column, toss it over there with the others."

Greece is extremely cheap - cheaper than Poland even, in all regards except for the lody. The prize food of the city are the pitas. You can get a whole pita sandwich, and perhaps fries if you find the right vendor, for under $3. Did you know pita used to be spelled as pitta? And then the etymological connection to pizza becomes obvious. The Italians stole literally everything from the Greeks. Later on our trip in Italy, pizza would similarly become our prized street food: cheap, delicious, and filling.

The Panathenaic Stadium, site of the first modern Olympics in 1896

Even random little parks throughout Athens would have bits of ancient ruins inside. You could not escape the marble columns. And I loved it. History is everywhere.

The National Garden behind the Greek Parliament building with lots of hidden facets.

The Jumanji villain on a horse outside National History Museum.

Greece is far from done, but the post to close up shop on Athens will be published tomorrow.

This cat saddled up right next to me at the cemetery.
It'd be creepy if it were black.