Among the Ruins

by | Sep 27, 2010 | Uncategorized | 7 comments

In the autumn of 1978 I met my husband, Mr. D, at graduate school. He was studying Bronze Age archaeology and I was studying ancient Greek language and literature. Our passion for the classics brought us together and this past summer we celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary. Over these 28 years we moved to a new country and have had the good fortune to travel extensively.  But we never went to Greece. I suppose we thought we wouldn’t go until we had a good long time to travel at our leisure and see all we wanted to see throughout the region. Of course, that good long time to travel never happened and, unbelievably, 30 years has passed.  But this past weekend Mr. D had a conference to attend in Athens and I went along. Finally, we made it to Greece and it was a rather emotional experience for both of us.  After spending so much time looking at images in books, we were finally able to see these incredible works of art in real life.  We roamed around the museums seeing things that were “too famous to look at,” like this Artemisian Zeus (though some say he’s Poseidon):

 
Isn’t he amazing?  But when we went up to the Acropolis to look at the Parthenon, the Propylea, the Erechtheion – well, it was pretty overwhelming.

And then, last night, we ate dinner outside at a restaurant with the most amazing view of the Acropolis. I only wish the photograph was better.  But check out the nearly full moon rising on the right (and ignore the strangers eating in the foreground):


Good things do come, I suppose, to those who wait.

7 Comments

  1. Queenie
    Queenie on 27th September 2010 at 1:33 pm

    Greece is my favourite country. I’ve been to quite a few bits of it over the years (not Athens, yet) but there’s so much more to explore. I love the people, the food, the language (not that I speak much of it), the smell of pine woods in sunshine, I do hope I can go again next year. Glad you had such a good time.

  2. Carol
    Carol on 27th September 2010 at 3:03 pm

    It’s on the list of places that I would absolutely love to visit! I’m so glad that you made it 🙂

    C x

  3. Tania Hershman
    Tania Hershman on 27th September 2010 at 8:59 pm

    Mazal tov, and it looks like a wonderful trip! (Next year, science-inspired open mic in the Acropolis 😉 )!

  4. Jenny Beattie
    Jenny Beattie on 28th September 2010 at 12:41 am

    It’s definitely worth the wait Sue.

    I was very lucky that I had the opportunity to go to Greece with my school when I was around 14. We stayed in Athens for the week and the itinerary was packed with wonderful places. I credit this trip with being a contributing factor in my decision to do Classics at university five years later.

  5. Lane
    Lane on 28th September 2010 at 11:27 am

    Fabulous photos Sue. Looks like you had a splendid time.

  6. Lauri
    Lauri on 28th September 2010 at 5:10 pm

    How lovely! The night photo is pretty nice, it must have been beautiful. Glad you finally went, I’d love to go to Greece one day.

  7. Glyn Pope
    Glyn Pope on 28th September 2010 at 8:24 pm

    Must go to Hydra