Acropolis
Saturday, April 1
After we had already visited the great Acropolis Museum in detail a few days ago, we finally had time to visit the “real” Acropolis. Basically, the word “Acropolis” generally refers to a castle hill that belonged to an ancient Greek city. The Acropolis in Athens is now so famous that the word “Acropolis” usually means the mountain and the associated temple complexes in honor of the goddess Athena above Athens.
The entrance to the Acropolis is at the foot of the mountain on which the temple complexes are built. Admission costs 20 euros and is actually worth it because of the beautiful walk through the typical Mediterranean nature. As a visitor, you walk up the Acropolis mountain on a narrow but easily walkable path: in between trees, flowers and ancient columns lying individually in the grass. I particularly liked the walk, as you escape the noisy hustle and bustle of the big city and walk up to the Acropolis surrounded by olive trees. On the way up you will also meet one or the other free-roaming turtle, which is crawling comfortably in the grass.
You realize that you have arrived at the entrance of the Acropolis as soon as you suddenly find yourself in the middle of a large crowd of people. This is where the chaos begins: all of a sudden, there is shouting in different languages, young women in flowing, brightly colored dresses are trying to take the perfect picture for Instagram in the midst of the crowd of people and everyone accidentally walks into everyone else’s photo. In short: the contrast between our everyday life in Athens in the alternative student district, away from any tourists, and the day on the Acropolis in the middle of the city could not have been greater! Although the terrain on the mountain is surprisingly spacious, you rarely have a quiet minute, let alone a free bench, to yourself. My sketch for today was created accordingly quickly: in the middle of the Acropolis, surrounded by Spanish, French and Swabian tour groups and drawn in the blazing sun!
However, with most tourist attractions, there is a reason why certain places are more visited than others. At the Acropolis, this reason is the breathtaking view over Athens and to the sea, the huge temple complexes and their oversized marble columns. A visit to the Acropolis is therefore a must when in Athens and, in my opinion, very worthwhile, despite tourist groups from all over the world.
