20th July, 1425hrs Tuesday. Acropolis, Athens, facing the Parthenon.
Yesterday on the train we met Makis, who told us to regard the Parthenon as ours, as a European monument, not Greek. I am having difficulty. It was built before there were countries, according to Makis (he was scarily intense, so I kept quiet about the city state of Athens) and so was built not to the glory of Greece, but of the goddess Athene. This and Stonehenge, he opined, were the only two true European monuments.
I was so excited about seeing the Parthenon for the first time that when I raised my eyes to it, clad two sides with scaffolding and with a crane protruding from the top (not a ubiquitous crane, but a seemingly malicious one), that I was shaking. I don’t think I’ve been so...pissed off in my life. (Pissed off is the only fitting description, sorry.) They’re cleaning it. Thankfully the two side I couldn’t see are free of scaffold (where I’m sitting now) and are as beautiful as I imagined. It is magnificent. The precision involved must have been phenomenal. The base is not flat – it’s curved to counteract any non-aesthetic optical illusions, and the pillars taper toward the top – in a curve – and the overall effect is of perfect straightness (to the not-too-enquiring eye) and balance. The stone is not white, it is a golden cream. I had no idea that the Acropolis has had such a turbulent history. One thing that pleases me about all of the restoration, cleaning, replacement and rebuilding in places, which seems to me rather...not blasphemous, but close, is how part of one of the buildings was destroyed. During the Turko-Venetian war (when the Turks used the Acropolis as a fortress), the Turks kept their gunpowder in the Propylea (entrance palace). It was struck by lightning, destroying one wing. Nice shot, Zeus!
The museum displays models of the portico marbles, which were removed by Lord Elgin in 1801 and are in the British museum - London. Damn.
The pollution of Athens is frightening– acid rain is damaging the buildings, so all of the statues are in the museum. In the morning when we were up here, the view was clear. It’s now slowly blurring over and has taken a greyish tinge. In spite of this, the view of Athens’ sprawl is impressive.
We bumped into a familiar American couple – after spotting them at Brindisi, Corfu, Patras (on our second time, just passing through) and here, are worth a mention!
Our hotel, the Student and Travellers’ Inn, is five minutes walk from the Acropolis, and okay value at 3000 drachmae, but worth it for the position! It seems brighter and cleaner than Napoli, despite pollution.
1835hrs: Café, Piraeus.
There was also a great place just down the road from the Inn that sold Souvlaki (like shish kebabs, but Greek and nicer) in pitta bread, rolled up with tomato, onion and a garlic salad dressing. A sprinkle of salt and paprika, and the pitta bread rolled into a cone, and the ingredients were transformed into the ultimate snack food. They were GORGEOUS. We had two each last night for dinner (great value at around 400dr) – one chicken one, one pork, and one as a farewell to Athens snack as we left the Inn. If the guy that runs it ever thinks about expansion, McDonald’s had better watch out. (Hurrah!)
(Oh – I’ve made a point of not going into McDonald’s through Italy, and haven’t yet in Greece – I think I’ll keep it that way!)
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