Athens

The Temple of Zeus

Across the street from the present site of the LDS chapel is Hadrians Arch and behind it is the ruins of the Temple of Zeus.  From the back balcony of the church, there is a spectacular view of the Acropolis.  Our Monday morning started with a trip to the church.  After a tour of the church building located on three floors of this down town site, we walked a block to a site referred to as "The Grove Academe." Wikipedia states the word  akademeia, An academy (Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of higher learning, research, or honorary membership. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 385 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and skill, The sacred space, dedicated to the goddess of wisdom,Athena, had formerly been an olive grove, hence the expression "the groves of Academe". It was here that Aristotle, Plato and other great minds would gather to discuss important matters of the day.  Under the protection of the olive trees, the beginnings of democracy and the roots f modern academia were established with the likes of these great philosophers.

Athens is one of the oldest cities in the world, spanning a period of 3,400 years.  As a city state, it was a centre for the arts, learning and philosophy, home of Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Lyceum; it is widely referred to as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy. 


We decided to take a bus tour of the city and see as many sites as our limited time would allow. The city itself is a congested mass with bumper to bumper traffic. Our bus driver navigated the narrow streets with inches to spare on each side.  Pedestrians seemed to have no regard for rules of the road. Sidewalks are often cluttered making them almost unnavigable.  Hence,  people often would resort to the streets walking blandly along seemingly oblivious to the traffic passing within inches of them.  In spite of the congestion, Athens was alive with vendors of all sorts plying their wares in any nook and cranny available. 



This city has numerous museums as many countries are represented here, doing archeological research or coming to study.  Greco Roman or Neo Classical are the two prominant architectural styes.  No one style  dominates like in other cities.  An interesting side note is the cars are licensed with odd or even numbers and can only be driven downtown on their allocated days.  This place would take some getting used to for a Canadian used to wide open spaces.



I was totally engaged during the time here with one session after another.  It was fun but challenging. The Assistants to the President took us on a walking tour to Mars Hill where the Apostle Paul is reported to have addressed the Athenians saying: "I found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD, whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you." This is the view from that site.



It was pretty warm when we started the walking tour. During July and August it would be almost intolerable.  Most Athenians hunker down during the heat of the day, waiting till late afternoon to venture forth again.


This last picture was a more detailed account of Mars Hill.  The rocks on the hill were worn smooth through centuries of human traffic.  The view overlooking Athens was impressive.  Most of the buildings and even homes have adopted lighter colours giving quite a different perspective than what one would see in the other parts of Europe.

The Rhine - River of Romance

For at least twenty-five hundred years, the Rhine has been the gateway into much of the hinterland of Europe. The waters are navigable with but one or two treacherous  portions.  At any given time, two or three barges can be seen making their way ponderously upstream or quickly passing with the flow downstream, carrying everything from petrochemicals to manufactured products.

On this trip we decided to make stops along what is decidedly the most picturesque and historically rich segment of the Rhine.  This is vineyard country with castles and quaint little towns tucked in any place where land was halfway suitable for habitation.  Our plan was to stop as we felt inclined, taking in the surroundings, castles or food venues according to our tastes and the time we had available.  It was to be a full day of marvelous sites, sounds and aromas.  Our first stop was at a town called Bacharach.  The picture to the right is typical of many we saw in this charming village.

We hiked up to Burg Stahleck, once an imposing fortress, now a hostel, which  provides a commanding view of the Rhine.  Many people choose to explore the Rhine by taking advantage of the well maintained walking and bike trails

Bacharach is very much a tourist oriented community with the shops, restaurants and lodging establishments catering to the heavy summer tourist traffic. 

Oberwessel was a Celtic town in 400 B.C., then a Roman military station.  It now boasts some of the best Roman-wall and medieval tower remains on the Rhine.  The enchantment of this place lies in the old battlements crisscrossing the town with a little creek hunkered between old houses which  obviously served as a ready-made sewer in olden times.  This town and nearby Bacharach tell the story of a boy abused and killed.  Local citizens attributed the death to the Jewish population resulting in tragic consequences for the innocent Jewish citizens. 

Another castle overlooks this town and its colorful history.  The Prince of Schonburg Castle had seven spoiled daughters who always rejected suitors because of their shortcomings.  Fed up, he invited seven of his knights up to the castle and demanded that his daughters each choose one to marry.  They complained that each man had too big a nose or was too fat, too stupid, and so on.  The rude and picky girls escaped in a riverboat.  Just down stream, God turned them into the seven rocks that form the reef just downstream from the town.