Thursday, May 16, 2013
Athens, Greece
The Acropolis for me was kind of a Pilgrimage. I'll let the beginning of the video explain.
It wasn't just that Yanni was my inspiration to become a musician, but also that his music was always able to lift me up and carry my through my roughest times. And that's why I was moved to tears at this site.
Anyway, moving on. I was actually fortunate enough to be escorting a tour to this amazing place. Unfortunately though, that required that I babysit the guests for a while at the museum of boring, but don't worry, we're going to skip right to the cool stuff. Isn't that a great deal? I save you all the down time, and take you right to what's important? Anyway...
Like this: The excavation is underneath you.
And you can walk right over it.
But enough of that. The big deal that we have set out to see is The Acropolis! There it is! It is a law in Athens that no building may be build taller than the Acropolis. Since this is only one of two or three hills in the whole area, that still gives buildings a lot of height potential (and sadly, with their current economic situations, no sky scrapers would be going up in the near future anyway)
Chronologically speaking, this is the spot where I would put my story about how I let the guests go on ahead of my while I balled my eyes out at the spot where Yanni gave his concert.
Sure, there's the Parthenon and everything right behind me, but this is more important right now.
The best thing happened to me after that moment. I went for a little walk, and ran into my best friends on the ship! Jennifer, Rebecca, and Gabriel! They weren't escorting a tour, so they got to do everything on their own, and in their own clothes. Me, I had to snap this picture, and then go run and find my guests. I'm really happy though that they all got off this ship and saw this place as well.
...oh right, so I eventually got up to the top, which is the big draw of the place. On top of the Acropolis is the Parthenon with all it's Glor-- Scaffolding?
Okay, well you travel the world long enough and you just have to realize that not every Unesco World Heritage Sight is going to be 100% ready for your picture taking pleasure. Sometimes, a little upkeep is necessary. Fortunately for us, the Parthenon has four sides. Here's one of them:
The next picture is a 360° panorama from the top of the Acropolis. Click on it to get a better look around.
Before we go, here are some of the things you can see while standing on top of the Acropolis.
And here I have saved the best for last. I give you: Mars Hill:
Acts 17:22-34 KJV
22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To The Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.
33 So Paul departed from among them.
34 Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
It was a great day. No really, I'm not kidding, it was an incredibly great day. After my tour, there was enough time to change clothes, rest a bit, and then take the train from Piraeus back into Athens where I met Marcy for some Authentic Greek Yogurt! Oh yeah!
And then, we had this experience. A warning though: this may be the longest video you've ever seen in your life. Once you start watching, you might get stuck watching, and you won't get that time back. This is the actual changing of the guard ceremony that happens on the hour, every hour (even at night!), every day. Sometimes, I play it in the background of whatever I'm doing just because our stupid commentary still makes me laugh. Again, you've been warned.
Next time: We'll attempt to take a bite out of Ephesus. Or, maybe we'll do the whole thing. I haven't decided yet. Ephesus is a really big deal. It might take several posts to see all the perspectives. We'll see.
Athens, Greece
The Acropolis for me was kind of a Pilgrimage. I'll let the beginning of the video explain.
It wasn't just that Yanni was my inspiration to become a musician, but also that his music was always able to lift me up and carry my through my roughest times. And that's why I was moved to tears at this site.
Anyway, moving on. I was actually fortunate enough to be escorting a tour to this amazing place. Unfortunately though, that required that I babysit the guests for a while at the museum of boring, but don't worry, we're going to skip right to the cool stuff. Isn't that a great deal? I save you all the down time, and take you right to what's important? Anyway...
Like this: The excavation is underneath you.
And you can walk right over it.
But enough of that. The big deal that we have set out to see is The Acropolis! There it is! It is a law in Athens that no building may be build taller than the Acropolis. Since this is only one of two or three hills in the whole area, that still gives buildings a lot of height potential (and sadly, with their current economic situations, no sky scrapers would be going up in the near future anyway)
Chronologically speaking, this is the spot where I would put my story about how I let the guests go on ahead of my while I balled my eyes out at the spot where Yanni gave his concert.
 |
| It happened right here! |
The best thing happened to me after that moment. I went for a little walk, and ran into my best friends on the ship! Jennifer, Rebecca, and Gabriel! They weren't escorting a tour, so they got to do everything on their own, and in their own clothes. Me, I had to snap this picture, and then go run and find my guests. I'm really happy though that they all got off this ship and saw this place as well.
 |
| The Four |
...oh right, so I eventually got up to the top, which is the big draw of the place. On top of the Acropolis is the Parthenon with all it's Glor-- Scaffolding?
 |
| Waa waa waaaaaaa... |
 |
| Someone once accused me of thinking I was a God amongst men. To this person I say, "I'm home!" |
 |
| The Minithenon |
 |
| Now, if I could just get five ladies to hold up my house. |
Before we go, here are some of the things you can see while standing on top of the Acropolis.
 |
| Really big other hill. |
 |
| Tetris-- I mean, Columns. Or Bowling for Giants. |
And here I have saved the best for last. I give you: Mars Hill:
 |
| Mars Hill as viewed from the Acropolis. |
22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To The Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.
33 So Paul departed from among them.
34 Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
 |
| What is this silly picture about? You'll have to watch the video at the end. |
And then, we had this experience. A warning though: this may be the longest video you've ever seen in your life. Once you start watching, you might get stuck watching, and you won't get that time back. This is the actual changing of the guard ceremony that happens on the hour, every hour (even at night!), every day. Sometimes, I play it in the background of whatever I'm doing just because our stupid commentary still makes me laugh. Again, you've been warned.
Next time: We'll attempt to take a bite out of Ephesus. Or, maybe we'll do the whole thing. I haven't decided yet. Ephesus is a really big deal. It might take several posts to see all the perspectives. We'll see.
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