When people think of ancient Greece, the Parthenon, pictured above, may be the first image that pops into their minds. Built during the golden age of Greece in the 5th century BC by the great Athenian general Pericles, the Parthenon was a shrine to Athena, goddess of wisdom and namesake of Athens.
The purpose of our trip was to follow in Paul's footsteps, but we did see some of the sites of ancient, pagan Greece. We owe much of our western civilization (i.e. foundations of democracy, philosophy, science, etc.) to the Athenians.
The Parthenon is located on top of the Acropolis, a huge rocklike hill in the middle of Athens. Acropolis means highest point.
Fellow pilgrims Denise and Peggy. They are veterans from our Camino pilgrimage also.
Monuments to other gods are also located on the Acropolis. Above and below is the Porch of the Caryatids on the Erechtheum, a temple to Athena and Poseidon, the god of the seas.
Beautiful views of Athens from the Acropolis.
Above is our tour guide Alexandra. She met us at the airport and will be with us the entire pilgrimage. She is no nonsense. In 1985, my friend Chris and I went on a three week if-this-is-Tuesday-it-must-be-Belgium tour of western Europe. Our tour guide used to say, "You are not on a holiday (vacation); you are on a Cosmos tour." Alexandra reminded me of that. She was very good about getting us to places early before the crowds.
This is one of our other tour leaders and fellow pilgrims, Leigh, who arranged many of the details of our pilgrimage with 206 Tours.
It was a sunny but windy day on the Acropolis.
One last panoramic view before we move onto the Areopagus.
