A Bubble off center

My adventures in island hopping began and ended in Athens.

 I knew this is a major metropolitan area 

but, even so, the density of population – over 4 million – surprised me.

 The amount of graffiti surprised me even more – even having been forewarned about it by younger relatives who visited Greece earlier this year.

 Some of it was amusing, 

some obviously designed to make a point or express a political sentiment; 

the vast majority  however seemed wanton, gang related 

and destructive for the sake of destruction.

After being struck by the jarring reality and in your face-ness of it all, 

it was easy enough to look beyond the spray paint 

and see the gorgeousness and beauty that was all around.

I won’t pretend to have seen Athens, even with having spent the better part of 4 days there.

We stuck pretty closely to the historic, and I suspect, curated, tourist area.

The Acropolis was right outside our window and, 

while it didn’t make climbing the 150 steps to the Parthenon any easier, 

at least we didn’t have to walk miles before getting to the starting point.

The ascent was broken into several levels of steps, 

with plateaus in between, 

so it wasn’t like a straight climb up, for instance, the Washington Monument.

That being said, the marble treads can be very slick 

and, the prospect of falling, breaking something and experiencing the healthcare system up close 

was felt by everyone in my group.

Just as tricky was the uneven marble and granite ground around the Parthenon. 

While it is an uneven surface, 

centuries of foot traffic has worn down the individual pieces 

and the going can be treacherous.

Wouldn’t have missed the view, experience or photos, 

but ‘caution’ was the word of the day.

BTW, for those uninitiated, 

the Acropolis is the hill upon which the Parthenon (the temple) sits.

Many folks don’t make that distinction and speak as though the terms are interchangeable.

I’m not weighing in; 

there are so many others things upon which to take a stand; 

just thought I’d point that out.

The Parthenon was built in (roughly) 447 BC 

and has served as a temple, a church and a mosque.

Holy space is holy space , am I right?

To imagine the number of pilgrims, worshippers and devotees 

making their way to the top over the centuries is actually quite staggering.

Luckily, since it was fall, the hordes weren’t too bad 

and I could almost imagine I was alone.

What can I say, I have a vivid imagination.

 The best part of Athens was the port - and leaving it.