The Acropolis

It's really a bit sad that I, an architecture major and history buff, waited until my forty-fifth year of existence on this planet before finally going to see the ancient Acropolis in Athens, Greece. Better late than never, I guess...

The port town of Piraeus, Greece, is right outside of Athens and was the penultimate of call of our Adriatic cruise. We took a shore excursion into Athens to see the Acropolis (along with a few other landmarks, such as the Panathenaic Stadium and the Tomb of the Unknown Solider guarded by the distinctively-dressed Evzones).

The Acropolis has been inhabited for millennia, but the ruins atop it generally date from Fifth-Century Athens, when the city-state dominated Classical Greece.

The Acropolis, as seen from the Panathenaic Stadium. The Acropolis is not the highest point in Athens, but at an elevation of almost 500 feet, and with a relatively flat top, it made the ideal location for the monuments that currently occupy it.

Looking up at the Temple of Athena Nike. Getting to the top of the Acropolis requires a fair amount of climbing. I'm proud to say that my parents - both in their seventies - were able to negotiate the many steps and inclines up to the top.

Throngs of tourists climb up the steps through the Propylaea at the front of the Acropolis. Our cruise was one of several that had docked in Athens that day, and it seemed like all of the shore excursions from the various ships managed to arrive at the Acropolis all at the same time.

Front view of the Parthenon. The Parthenon is the dominant structure on the Acropolis; it was a temple dedicated to Athena, the patron goddess and namesake of Athens.  The Parthenon is considered one of - if not the - finest example of ancient Greek architecture.

Side view of the Parthenon. The temple remained more or less intact from its completion in 432 BC until September 1687, when a Venetian artillery attack ignited the Ottoman gunpowder stored inside it and caused a devastating explosion.

The Erechtheum, completed in 406 BC, features the iconic "Porch of the Maidens" on its south side. The monument is dedicated to both Athena and Poseidon, who according to legend contested each other for control of the city.

In the mid-1970s the Greek government began an effort to restore the Parthenon and other monuments atop the Acropolis. To that end, all of the marble building fragments lying about the Acropolis have been catalogued and neatly stacked. Think of it as a 2,500-year-old jigsaw puzzle!

A view of Athens from atop the Acropolis. Pretty impressive.

Corinne and I take a mandatory selfie! (and yes, this picture makes my face look fat. I really need to go on a diet.)

The nice thing about shore excursions is that it allows you to get a "taste" of a given destination and decide whether you want to come back. And while this excursion allowed me to check Athens and the Acropolis off the bucket list, they are definitely going onto the "go back" list.

Corinne and I would like to spend more time atop and around the Acropolis, as well as see the recently-completed Acropolis Museum. We'd also like to see other sites in Athens, such as the Ancient Agora of Athens, the National Arechological Museum, and the Plaka neighborhood. We also want to take in a nice Athenian meal or two - our shore excursion did not include lunch.