Sunday 14 October 2012

From Ancient Olympia to the Modern Olympiad 8

Athens
Overnight in Kalambaka (where the Meteora monasteries were) the Opening Ceremony of London 2012 was held.  I tried to stay up but the ceremony didn't start until 11pm Greek time and I kept drifting off, although I was awake for the lighting of the flame and cried my eyes out at the beauty of the design. The following day we travelled back to Athens for a final day in the capital and a visit to the national archaeological museum. At night, we visited the Plaka district and looked up at the lit Acropolis.  The next day we went to the archaeological museum and got to see the original treasures from the places we had visited. Wherever we went bars and restaurants had huge screens showing coverage of London 2012 and it looked so amazing: the vibrancy of the pink and purple colour scheme, the crowds, the .. sun! I have never been so proud to be British. A very special memory will always be sitting in a bar in Athens eating pizza and trying to invent the rules of fencing for ourselves as the commentary was all greek to us...

Please read this.  It's a wonderful country and well worth visiting.

And has amazing cake.

Along with incredible views



Poseidon

This bronze dates from BC times.  The detail was mind blowing.




I adored this statue: it was found in a shipwreck. The side buried in sand and silt was flawless, the other side affected by sea creatures and erosion.  A fascinating juxtaposition.

The Mycenean Grave Circle A death mask known as the Mask of Agamemnon


Enjoying gyros on our final meal in Athens

Thinking about what the highlight of the holiday was

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