Athens, next couple of days

In general, during our stay in Athens we spent the mornings with JJ walking around and visiting museums. Apart from the ‘Cycladic Museum of Art’ in the very beautiful neoclassic building we visited the New Acropolis Museum for the second time, the National Archaeological Museum of Athens and the Benakis Gallery at Piraeus Avenue to watch a Tsarouxis exhibition. During the evenings we met friends of mine for dinner or drinks, or my brother and his fiancée for the same purpose.

 

                          Going in for the Greek Salad!                  

The new Acropolis Museum is something amazing! That is why we went there again after it during our previous visit to the capital. The old museum used to be a tiny building on the Acropolis, next to the Parthenon. The new building is a big construction next to it, overlooking the Dionysus Theatre and the Acropolis. It’s new and modern with replicas, statues and information on everything related to the area and its structures. The entrance fee is only €5, a bargain for the quality offered. The views from the balcony to the Acropolis and the Parthenon are breath taking. We sat there for lunch trying to absorb the views. The top floor of the museum is dedicated only to the statues and details of the Parthenon. It’s great looking at them and turning your head to look at the actual construction behind you.

The view from the Acropolis Museum top floor

ladies?

Inside the Museum

                   

The National Museum of Athens is a must see for lovers of the Ancient Greek Art. It contains mostly statues of the Hellenistic and Classical period. They were so different from the figurines we saw in the Cycladic Art museum. They are displaying strong emotions and ‘movement’. Between the items we saw and amazed us, were the so called Agamemnon mask, the Santorini murals and the Antikythira Mechanism. There was a whole new exhibition on the Antikithyra shipwreck which was very interesting. Unfortunately, due to lack of staff and the general economic crisis, parts of the museum were closed. They had available the most important artefacts, but still…

                                    Agamemnon's Mask                             Santorini's murals

                                      Poseidon or Zeus                              JJ's rare appearance                

The Antikithira Mechanism and JJ looking at it.