Athens, Greece
June, 2015
Present:
As you are reading this post, Greece is in a financial turmoil. Though the EU bailout agreement has been reached, looks like Greece is going to go through a very hard transition at least for the short term. The banks are now open after 3 weeks. It is sad to see the common people of a county with such a rich history and culture getting affected. I chatted with many Greeks during this visit. They all have a lot of pride. They didn't want handouts from EU, just a practical solution to the problem. We visited Greece during the last week of June (before the banks were closed) and didn't experience any difficulty.
Past:
Temple of Zeus
Construction of the Temple of Zeus, the Olympian King of Gods, started in 515 B.C but was completed only in 131 AD during the Roman rule by the Roman emperor Hadrian. During the Greek and Roman periods, the Temple of Zeus was the largest temple in Greece. It was larger than the Parthenon in the Acropolis.
June, 2015
Present:
As you are reading this post, Greece is in a financial turmoil. Though the EU bailout agreement has been reached, looks like Greece is going to go through a very hard transition at least for the short term. The banks are now open after 3 weeks. It is sad to see the common people of a county with such a rich history and culture getting affected. I chatted with many Greeks during this visit. They all have a lot of pride. They didn't want handouts from EU, just a practical solution to the problem. We visited Greece during the last week of June (before the banks were closed) and didn't experience any difficulty.
Past:
Temple of Zeus
Construction of the Temple of Zeus, the Olympian King of Gods, started in 515 B.C but was completed only in 131 AD during the Roman rule by the Roman emperor Hadrian. During the Greek and Roman periods, the Temple of Zeus was the largest temple in Greece. It was larger than the Parthenon in the Acropolis.
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| The Temple of Zeus as seen from the Acropolis. The Arch of Hadrian, is towards the lower left corner. |
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| Temple of Zeus. |
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| Out of the 104 Marble Corinthian columns, only 15 are standing. |
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| The Temple of Zeus with the Acropolis and the Parthenon, far in the background. |
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| The 16th column, fell during the earthquake of 1852. The individual circular blocks that made up the column are clearly visible. |
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| Arch of Hadrian, from the streets of Plaka, a historic neighborhood closer to the Acropolis. |
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| The Athenians built this arch to honor the Roman emperor, Hadrian. |
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| Now, I fully understand the meaning of "It's all Greek to me" !!! The above sign translates to "The Museum of Pavlos and Alexandra Kanellopoulou". Looks like, M = M O = U Y = S E = E N = M ... what ??? I thought M = M !!! My head is spinning :) |
