Downtown Athens at Night

The other night I went downtown to see the Acropolis all lit up. I went all around it and ended up on Mars' Hill for a little while over looking the city of Athens. The weather was beautiful and the view was amazing. It was quite the spiritual moment.

The Parthenon atop the acropolis.

Night lights of downtown

Front view of the Temple of Athena. I took this photo from Mars' Hill.

The Parliament building in Syntagma Square all lit up. The guards at the tomb are still standing there.

Cliff Jumping With Friends

Yesterday six of us guys from Hebrew and Greek class went cliff jumping just a little ways down the road. We jumped cliffs and went snorkeling too. The area we were in was also a nude beach zone, so the scenery was a little foreign to my American eyes. oofda! There were mostly guys taking advantage of the freedom :(

This is the first cliff we jumped. It was about 20-25 feet high from where we jumped.

This is how clear and blue the water was there. When we went snorkeling you could see so well to the bottom but it was too deep to free dive it. 

This is the second cliff area we jumped. It was shorter, only 10-15 feet. But the guys were getting a lot more creative when jumping though.

Synchronized diving. :)

Here goes Doug doing a back flip.

This is a sequence shot of one of my jumps...just simple jumping and diving. No flips for me.

Afterward we went to a gourmet gilato icecream shop and indulged in some amazing taste-bud teasers.

Delphi Tour

This last week we took our group tour to Delphi, high up on Mt. Parnassus where they get snow in the winter. It was a beautiful day in the higher elevation; breezy and cool. We first toured the Museum of Delphi, then we had an opportunity to wander around the ruins for about an hour.

I'm sitting in the Ampitheatre, high on Mt. Parnassus in the religious center of Delphi.

The famous Bronze Charioteer. This is supposedly the most famous piece of art in the Delphi Museum.

The famous feet of the Bronze Charioteer. The detail is so great that you can see the veins in his feet. According to our tour guide, these are the most famous feet in ancient art.

Antinous, a youth famous for his beauty.

Gold found accidentally in the bottom of a well in Delphi.

Detailed soldiers from two armies on a frieze from the Siphnian Treasury.

This the Sphinx of Naxos which originally sat on an Ionic column about 10m tall. It was a gift from the Naxians to the Oracle of Delphi.

Ancient Greek shield.

Outside of the Museum of Delphi.

This is the stadium where they held the Pythian games. It seated around 6500 spectators and the track is 177 meters long. It is situated high on the mountain above the ampitheatre and the Temple of Apollos.

Another view of the Stadium of Delphi. Originally this stadium did not have terraced seating like you see here. But later on the Romans added the bleacher-style seating.

This is the view from the temple of Apollos.

Below is the Treasury...

This is the treasury of Athens. Many different city-states constructed small treasuries where they could deposit gifts to the Oracle of Delphi. Delphi was one of the richest places on earth and therefore fell victim to raids by foreign armies who would steal the wealth and art over the centuries.

This was the treasury of the King of Argos.

Christian symbols along the Sacred Way leading to the Temple of Apollos.

Small-scale model of what Ancient Delphi used to look like.

Is that a statue???

Outside of the Treasury of Athens, the only treasury still standing today.

Pillars from the Temple of Apollos.

In the background: The Temple of Apollos. This temple was destroyed many times over the centuries, but always rebuilt on the same foundation because the Oracle, or Pythia, would breath in the vapors that came out of a crack in the earth. This is where thousands of prophecies were made by babbling women who breathed in the gaseous vapors and chewed Laurel leaves.

Standing in the Ampitheatre where musical and artistic performances were held. They did not perform comedies or dramas in Delphi due to the sacredness and seriousness of the prophetic Pythia who dwelt there.

View of the Ampitheater from above.

View of the remaining columns from the Temple of Apollos.