Travel To Athens: A Gift From The Gods

Travelers who expect to be greeted by lone standing relics of ancient Greece will be awestruck by the sprawling urban metropolis of today’s Athens. The capital city is an explorer’s paradise as historic gems are embedded within the modern day melee & cultural nuances of a turbulent past are written between the lines of concrete & the sparkling blue Aegean Sea. In all places in Athens is a testament to why this mythic peninsula is thought about the cradle of Western civilization & modern democracy.
Of particular interest, Athens received a much needed facelift in preparation for the 2004 Olympics. Infamous for its nefos (smog) resulting from rapid growth & congestion following World War II & the Cold War, Athens realized the necessity to neat up its act when it became clear that historic monuments were eroding at an alarming rate due to acid rain from air pollution. Due to this Olympic makeover, it is very simple to navigate around the well marked streets in English & Greek & transportation has never been more streamlined.
Mythological Mythos
Ancient Greece reached its societal peak in the 1st century BC when magnificent monuments like the Parthenon & the Temple of Athena Nike were constructed on the fortified Acropolis & Socrates & Plato developed their Western thinking schools of thought. While most of the major attractions from the time period are in the midst of the city, travel in the outskirts of Athens will bring encounters with plenty of significant locations from this time period. Marathon, of the famous battle (& today’s 26.22 mile race), is northeast of Athens & the ancient Mycenaean excavation site at Velatouri is to the south, boasting the unearthed Thorikos theater. While the Grecian period is omnipresent, Greece has fascinating Turkish & Persian cultural influences because of plenty of wars & takeovers until the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the 20th century.
Club Hopping or Island Hopping?
In the spring & summer evenings, enjoy the cafés & restaurants as they start to spill in to the streets & squares. Greece, & Athens, is infamous for its boisterous & indefatigable nightlife. The Port of Piraeus comes to life as plenty of vacationers head out for their island excursions from this historic cove. Athens is the ideal place to become immersed in Greek culture & life before taking a ferry ride to one of the surrounding tranquil, historic or party islands – the choice is yours. The port itself is also of particular historic interest. One of the oldest in the world, the port was heavily used in the work of the Peloponnesian Wars in the 4th century BC & remnants of the long Themistoclean Walls, which fortified the port & Athens together in the work of this time period, still survive today.