It started with a military marching band, then several groups of the military in different uniforms: from some dressed in camo and toting some seriously scary looking guns to others in traditional dress uniforms carrying swords. The military was followed by important priests of the Greek church -- a girl on the program said they were primarily bishops.
They were all wearing traditional Greek robes, mostly cream colored with heavy embroidery and some very ornate crosses around their necks. It was amazing to see so many priests together at one time. They seemed to get more and more important as the groups passed us, and those surrounding the truck carrying the Archbishop's open casket were wearing some incredibly ornate outfits. There were also a few couples in what looked like regional dress interspersed through the crowd. After the truck came another set of soldiers, followed by hundreds of "ordinary" orthodox priests in their traditional austere black robes (and a few men who looked like Catholic cardinals or bishops) and ordinary Greek people following the procession through the city. As the end of the group reached us, those around us began to duck into the road to join in, eventually reaching the First Cemetery where the Archbishop was buried in an invitation only ceremony.
Afterwards, we headed off into the Plaka, the oldest part of Athens which sits directly below the Acropolis. We saw the Lysikrates Monument, which was built by Lysikrates to display the tripod he won for sponsoring theater in 335 B.C. It's got quite an interesting history, and was even part of a library at one point. We spent the afternoon wandering through narrow, winding streets, exploring small (and fairly touristy) gift shops, and ate lunch outside at a cute taverna, where I tried mousaka for the first time -- delicious, and definitely one of the dishes I want to learn how to make!
As the sun began to drop in the sky and the light turned to an amazing golden color that I don't think I've ever really seen anywhere else in the world, we headed back towards home. On the way, we passed Hadrian's Arch, which is right on a main road, and the Olympian Temple of Zeus, which was closed for the day because of the funeral. It was absolutely beautiful from what I could see, and I'll definitely be going back to explore it thoroughly.
As we were about to leave, I realized you could see the Acropolis through Hadrian's Arch if you got the right angle. I still can't get over seeing all these monuments and ruins that I've read about for so long in person on a daily basis, so of course, I took a picture.
Quite content with the day I'd had, I headed back to my apartment, and on the way, glanced down a side street to see this incredible view as the sun set. The picture doesn't do it justice, but it does begin to capture the golden light, although the colors in the sky are lost.
Coming up next: our weekend trip to Nauplion (NAF-plee-oh), a coastal town on the Peloponnese.
No comments:
Post a Comment