Day 5: The Whole History of Greece

This is a picture of the Acropolis from a rooftop garden where we were having our lecture:
Today I attended a lecture on the history of Greece and Athens and then visited the Archeological Museum. At the museum I saw artifacts from over 10000 BC! There were quite a few statues of Athena and Poseidon.

The most interesting part of the history of Greece though, was that Athens was never really the capital of Greece. Way back in Greek Mythology times the country didn't exist. Instead there were city-states (one of which was Athens). The the Ottoman Empire took over Greece and the capital was Constantinople (Istanbul). When Greece gained their independence around 1821, the capital was Aegina, a city near the mainland. This was only the capital for a year though since it was so remote and hard to get to. The capital was then moved to Nafplion (the city I will be visiting starting on Thursday). But when Otto became King of Greece he moved the capital to Athens because the Acropolis was there and he felt like the capital should be near one of the greatest monuments in Greece.

The hotel I am staying at is very close to the acropolis. I can see it above on the hill (Acropolis means "City on a Hill"). I'm staying in the Plaka neighborhood, which is the oldest part of the city. I'll be walking around the streets and turn a corner and BOOM! there's an ancient greek column in the middle of the street. It's pretty cool.

Answers to Questions:

Ana, Anna, Jade, Amalia, and Dahlia -- The most beautiful sites in Greece so far are the acropolis and the islands. I would recommend making sure you see the Acropolis when you come to Greece...there's too much history in it not to see it.

Keisha -- The weather is very warm and muggy. It was in the 90s today and very humid. I think I got a little bit of a sun tan :)

Ryan -- Gas stations are very expensive. It's twelve euros (I think maybe that's liters???). But people are lined up around the street and corners to fill up their cars and mopeds.

 

P.S. Feel free to comment in the comment boxes. I have been answering your questions or responding to your comments when you post them.