2018 Greece 02

On Wednesday we went on a 3.5 hour walking tour led by Nikos Bousioutis, a former teacher of Greek Antiquities.  He’s an encyclopedia of information covering thousands of years of history. By the end of the tour our heads were aching.  So were our feet.

Before the tour we saw the changing of the guard in front of Parliament.  This changing ritual occurs every hour, on the hour, 24x7. On Sundays at 11am is the formal attire and all of the guards participate, not just three.  Among other changes the skirts are white and have 400 pleats each.  This represents 400 years of bondage.  The shoes for all occasions have pompoms on the toes and include 33 nail heads in the sole of each shoe, for maximum sound effect as they stomp and slide their feet. The shoes weigh 3.5 kilos.

Next we walked through the National Gardens which were created by King Otto in 1862.  There are more than 7000 trees, mostly evergreen but not all native.  We walked through a grove of California palm trees.

Greece now has a president but is ruled by Parliament.  It wasn’t always so.  In 1974 the people voted against the monarchy and established the office of president. However, the power is held by the 300 members of Parliament.  Currently there are 7 parties represented in Parliament, but there are more than 100 political parties in Greece.  To be represented in Parliament that group must garner at least 3% of the vote.

Greece became a member of the EU in 1980 but did not adopted the Euro as its currency until 2002.

The unemployment rate is still high at approximately 15%.  There are lots of seasonal workers, primarily in the tourism industry.  Between November and March the rate can hover at 28%.

The picture below is the Temple of Zeus, which was the leader of the Olympian Gods.  Today there are only 16 columns standing and one on the ground that was toppled by the wind.  Originally there were 104 columns.  Construction began in 2nd c BC by tyrants and was completed in 2 c AD by Roman Emperor Hadrian (of Hadrian’s Wall in northern England).

Our final stop was the Acropolis and  Parthenon.  The Acropolis is the top-of-the-hill fortification and the Parthenon is the temple. Acro means high (think acrobat) and polis means city. This area is under renovation and has been since the mid-1980s.  I think it will be quite a bit longer before all the pieces strewn about the area find a home.  On the long sides of this site the floor rises about 4 inches in the middle compared to the corners.  On the short sides it is about 2 inches.   This is to trick the eye into thinking the lines are straight.  The columns are constructed out of round discs maybe a meter high with the upper disc having a protrusion which fits into a well on the lower disc,  The column is assembled and then the fluting is chiseled into the entire column at the same time.

For the next three days, we’re on bus tours outside of Athens.

Below, Temple to  Nike (NEE kay) and Odeon Theatre.  The theatre was once buried and has been rebuilt. Elton John, Yanni and others play here. An Odeon is a theatre where music is performed.  Although the acoustics are good at the Odeon, because of Athens city noise performers must now use amplification for better sound.

 

Most of today’s verbiage was written by Brenda.