Greece – Page 2 – Geeky Girl Engineer

Greece: Meteora

Posted on July 5, 2015 by geek

Today we visited Meteora, an area in central Greece, of beautiful, amazing rock towers. They are composed of sedimentary rock, and the towers are for the most part bare rock. Portions of the towers have crevices that have been created from erosion. In the 9th century, monks sought refuge and solitude in the caves, and later, monasteries were built on top of several of the towers. Until the introduction of electricity, monks accessed the monasteries via ladders or a basket suspended via ropes, and evidently very strong will and stomachs. Now, those of us with not quite that strength, can visit the monasteries via roads and stairs.

Meteora

Holy Monastery of Varlaam

Meteora

Greece: Athena Pronaia at Delphi

Posted on July 4, 2015 by geek

Right next to the Delphi archaeological site is the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia. It is a much smaller site, and I am not sure if it is technically considered to be part of the Delphi site. The main ruins at the site are those of the Thosos, which is a round building. A neat feature at the site is a mountain spring that flows onto the site and is channeled away in a small stone canal.

Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia with Delphi in the background

Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia

The Tholos

Lego pieces

Mountain spring

Channel for the spring at the site

Greece: Delphi Museum

Posted on July 4, 2015 by geek

After we visited the archaeological Delphi site, we visited the museum next door. All the artifacts are from the site, and there are some amazing pieces in it. The pieces are amazing and masterfully made. I also can’t get over the detail into some of the pieces, especially ones that were supposed to be on top of structure and thus never seen up close.

Sphinx

Athenian column

chariot driver

cornice

frieze

lion head

Omphalos

The Twins

Greece: Delphi

Posted on July 3, 2015 by geek

Today we visited the archaeological site of Delphi. Delphi is definitely one of the most amazing archaeological sites to which I have ever been. It is not the biggest. Olympia and the Athens Acropolis are probably bigger, and both of them are very impressive. I think what I found so awe-inspiring about Delphi was not just the ruins, which are impressive, but also the setting. It is nestled into the mountains, and it reminds me of Machu Picchu. As an engineer, I haven’t stop being impressed with the construction of these sites, and at Delphi, I found the Polygonal Wall to be just amazing. Polygonal Wall is built of carved stones set on top each other without any mortar.

Temple of Apollo

Delphi

View from Delphi

Polygonal wall and Athenian Stoa

Stadium

Theater

Treasury of the Athenians

Altar of Apollo

Omphalos

Greece: Arachova

Posted on July 2, 2015 by geek

Today we traveled to Arachova, a mountainous village set at the foot of Mt. Parnassós in Viotia, Southern Greece. It is mainly a resort town in the winter for the nearby ski slopes. The town reminds of me of a ski village in Colorado but the architecture more reminds me of Europe. It is a cute little village with wonderful views.

Arachova

View of Arachova

Arachova main street

Arachova steps

Arachova main street

Greece: Athens Turkish Baths

Posted on July 2, 2015 by geek

I visited the Turkish Baths in Plaka today. I found out about them in Lonely Planet. I don’t think many tourists visit them because when I walked in around 8:30 the man at the desk looked surprised to see a visitor and had to turn on the lights in the place. The baths are really well restored 17th-century public bathhouse and a remnant of the Ottoman times. The only criticism I have is that more signage as to what you are looking at would have been really nice. They had pictures projected onto some of the walls that did help a little.

Changing area

Ceiling of changing area

Door to the bathing areas

Bathing area ceiling, the lights are from glass domes through the roof catching sunlight

Basin

Bathing area

Greek Financial Crisis Media

Posted on July 2, 2015 by geek

Yesterday, my tour group came back to Athens before heading out again today. While in Athens, I walked over to Parliament and Syntagma Square, which is directly in front of Parliament. I saw zero protestors, but maybe they came later. I did however see lots of media, or more descriptively, lots of bored looking media. Here are a few photos of the media gathered around reporting or looking bored.

According to my camera’s GPS, this was taken outside the Greek Ministry of Economy and Finance

Seems to be the vantage point for many media outlets

Zoomed photo of balcony of Athens Plaza

Zoomed photo of balcony of Athens Plaza

Greece: Olympia

Posted on June 30, 2015 by geek

Today we visited the ancient site of Olympia where the original Olympic games were held. The site is huge, and they are still uncovering it. The gymnasium is only partially uncovered with something like 80% still left to dig up. There were two different areas where people were working to uncover remains while I was there. There were so many structures that I got confused at times what was what structure. Then of course there also pieces lying around in what I am sure is some logical method to the archaeologists, but to most of us, it looks like column, foundation, or undetermined piece of stone lying about everywhere with no clue as to which building it belongs. Then there is the stadium, which is unmistakable as it is a huge open area surrounded by sloped grassy areas, where I like most people, felt the need to traverse the distance just to say I walked across the ancient Olympic Stadium. Many others raced each other down the length of it. The entire site is just really neat to explore. I also really started examining the limestone that was used to make the structures. Some of the stone has eroded enough that I could examine the shells in it. Other limestone was being eroded by plants, lichen, and moss, who clearly had no respect for the history of the stone.

Temple of Zeus

Temple of Hera

Hera’s Alter, where they light the Olympic torch for modern Olympics

Propylon

Philippeion

Stadium entrance

Stadium

Leonidaion

Column parts

Ruins

Seashells in eroded limestone column

Moss and plant on limestone column

Greece: Mycenae

Posted on June 29, 2015 by geek

Today we visited Mycenae, which includes both the Treasury of Atreus and Mycenae Acropolis. The Mycenaean civilization dates back to the 15th to 12th century B.C. The architecture is impressive and unique and includes the triangle structure as a predecessor to the arch. The Treasury looks like a giant beehive from the inside and is just amazing to stand inside. The Lion Gate is possibly the most impressive and certainly (to my untrained eye) the most unique structure at the Acropolis.

Treasury of Atreus

Treasury of Atreus dome from inside

Treasury of Atreus entrance

Lion Gate

Mycenae Acropolis

View from Mycenae Acropolis

Greece: Nafplion

Posted on June 28, 2015 by geek

Our final stop of the day was Nafplion. It is a cute little town in the Peloponnese and was the first capital of the First Hellenic Republic and of the Kingdom of Greece after the Greek revolution from the Ottoman Empire. The view of the water and surrounding mountains is just beautiful. It also has views of the Palamidi castle and the Bourtzi that was used to guard the city from sea attack.

Street of Nafplion

House in Nafplion

Original Parliament building in middle

War Museum

Harbor

Bourtzi

The castle of Palamidi