Thankfully, after the long day we had on Thursday, we only
had a half day tour scheduled for Friday.
We all slept in, having exhausted ourselves the day before, and took our
time eating breakfast and getting ready for the day. We made our way into Athens and got there at
about noon – plenty of time to do a little tourism before our bus left. Our stop in Syntagma square is also the
location of the house of Parliament. We
were just in time to catch the changing of the guard as well as listen to one
particular Greek woman air her complaints very loudly – presumably about the
current financial crisis. Except for
that woman, long ATM lines, and some heavy traffic due to supposed
demonstrations in the square (which we’ve never seen), there has been very
little indication of unrest in Athens.
We then walked a few blocks to see the National Library of
Greece, the University, and the Academy of Arts. The only building we were allowed to go into
was the National Library, which was alright by me! We were only allowed into the entrance of one
of the rooms, and no pictures were allowed.
The books were very old and the titles on the bindings were all in
Greek. The room itself was smaller than I
had anticipated, although the library itself seemed to be much bigger than just
the area we could see.
After the library we headed back toward the Hotel Amalia and
found a café where we grabbed a quick lunch and took a break from the
heat. We hopped on our tour bus and
settled in for a long drive. This tour
was much bigger and the tour guide was speaking in both French and
English. The drive took us along the
coast of the Aegean Sea and was gorgeous!
I slept off and on, but every time I opened my eyes all I could see was
blue sky and bluer water.
As we drove down to Cape Sounion, the guide told us how the
Aegean Sea got its name. Apparently there
was a king named Aegeus who had not been able to have children. After a trip to Delphi to consult the Oracles
about the issue, he stayed in a neighboring kingdom and slept with a woman who
was visited by Poseidon later that same night (lady gets around!). As it turned out she was pregnant and Aegeus
was happy to claim the child as his own (presumably he didn’t know about the “other
guy”), but he couldn’t stick around to raise the child due to his kingly
responsibilities. He gave the woman his
sword with the instructions to send the child to him when he or she was grown
with the sword to prove his identity.
Nine months later a healthy baby boy named Theseus was born.
When he was old enough his mother told him of his father’s
identity, gave him the sword, and sent him on his way. During his journey to his father’s home,
Theseus completed many labors, including clearing the mountains in the area of
criminals. His reputation proceeded him
and he was welcomed in his father’s city as a hero. When his father learned who he was he was welcomed
with open arms as a prince.
Unfortunately, the city was under a blood tax by King Minos of Crete, who required 14 young people
(seven boys and seven girls) to be delivered to the Labyrinth on his island in
order to feed the Minotaur housed there.
Theseus decided to go with the next shipment of people in order to kill
the Minotaur. Before he left he told his
father that he return home with white sails if he was successful. He managed to kill the Minotaur and find his
way back out of the labyrinth, but he forgot to change his sails on the way
home. King Aegeus was at the tip of Cape
Sounion watching anxiously for his son to return. When he saw the black sails of the ship, he
flung himself off the cliff in despair and drowned.
Seems melodramatic to me (I mean, seriously, wait a few more
hours and find out for sure!), but apparently that’s the way to get a sea named
after you.
We got to Cape Sounion and hiked on up to see the Temple of
Poseidon. The sun was just starting to
set and the view was stunning!
Definitely my favorite ruins so far.
Just so beautiful. We spent about
an hour there, walking around the whole thing and taking pictures. Then we got back on the bus and drove back to
Athens. I slept most of the trip, which
made the time go much faster.
Today we got to just laze around the resort. Carla and Dan got here at 11 AM, so we have
been able to catch up with them and hear about their cruise. Tomorrow we have an 11 hour tour of three
islands in the Mediterranean: Poros, Aegina, and Hydra. We have to get up very early in order to make
it to Athens, so we’ll be calling it a night early this evening.
Amelia
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