Rhodes to Athens

Parthenon Gallery at Acropolis Museum

If you prefer to see a video of this trip, a 27 minute narrated video is available on youtube.

We got up about 8:00 AM after getting to bed about 1:30 AM last night. It felt much too early. But it allowed us plenty of time to catch our 11:15 AM flight. We thanked Dick and Char for their hospitality on Rhodes as they drove us to the airport. We were pleasantly surprised when our hotel in Athens, the Hera hotel was just across from the Metro stop for the Acropolis. After a much needed nap, we visited the Acropolis museum.



Acropolis and its museum from our hotel

All the sculptures that remain from the Acropolis are in this museum where they are protected from the elements. Of course, the big controversy is the return of the Elgin marbles taken by Lord Elgin for his personal collection and now exhibited in the British Museum. These include both the East and West porticoes. The top of the museum is shaped like the Parthenon and the 3 layers of frescoes and statues are displayed here. In place of the Elgin marbles are plaster replicas. In the lower part of the museum are other representative samples of vessels, art, and statues from the pre-Classical and Classical period of Greece (3-5th Century BC). After dinner, we went to the dining room of our hotel with it's view of the Acropolis lit up at night. I also walked to see the Temple of Zeus and Hadrian's Gate.

Temple of Zeus at night