Another slightly dreary day in Athens, but it was still tons of fun. We went to the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the Panathenaic Stadium, and the New Acropolis Museum.
The ruins of the Temple of Olympian Zeus (not to be confused with the Temple of Zeus at Olympia), are a very visible landmark, especially from above, because of the lush green ground cover contrasted with the pale marble columns. In some ways we found this site much more impressive than the Parthenon. Being of the Corinthian order, these columns are taller, more slender, and have more elaborate capitals than those of the Doric order at the Parthenon.
Steve acting Napoleonic
Big'ol columns
Abby is half as tall as the columns.
There was a pretty lichen or something that gave them this almost rusty look.
We then went on an audio tour of the Panathenaic Stadium. It was very impressive,but we were a little disappointed to learn that only one or two pieces of marble are from the original stadium. It was still very impressive, considering that much of the restoration was funded by benefactor, George Averoff.
Steve couldn't afford first class seating.
A view of the stadium from the top of the seats.
After the stadium, we walked through another Christmas village outside of the palace. These reindeer were pretty cute.
A Christmas tree with cute little houses around it. Behind, in the tent they had an ice skating rink set up.
They even had some amusement park rides set up. Steve really wanted to ride the swings.
After the village, we walked over to the new Acropolis museum. Like so many other sites in Athens, the new building was built on the site of ancient ruins. They did a great job showing off the archelogical dig that is going on under the museum. The outside had great open areas where you could look down on the site.
Inside the museum, the floors were made of glass, so you could look straight down onto the site. There were even glass floors on the second floor so you could see down from even higher. Not great for anyone who's afraid of heights, that's for sure! Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take cameras in, so no photos of that.
*Catch up on our entire Athens adventure by checking Our Travel Page, or our Greece tag.*
Catch up on the rest of our adventure:
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