All good things

…come to an end.  We tried to stretch this one out a little longer, by lingering over breakfast watching one ferry after another leave the harbour here in Athens.  But sooner or later, we had to leave as well.

We’d had plans to visit the new Acropolis Museum but our habit of visiting cities on Mondays when such places are closed continues.  We settled for a view of it here and decided to walk in the other direction, towards the Archaeology Museum instead.

I was keen to get some photographs of the guards with the pompom shoes but again, it was a definite no go area for me due to those pesky pigeons.  Athens is absolutely full of the things and I walk in fear and trembling.  Not a comfortable place for me to be.

We enjoyed a leisurely walk along Panepistimiou Street towards the museum, loving the shapes of all these pastries.

We couldn’t resist taking a closer look at the National Academy – so much lavish decoration, so many owl motifs to spot, too!

Further along, the front facade of another of the “Trilogy” designed by Theophil Hansen  (I think this is the “Propylaea”) had this wonderful frieze along the whole length.  We couldn’t really get high enough to take better photos, but were interested to see variations on the “Meander” pattern from Ephesus here, too.

Too hot to sit in the sun drawing – thank goodness for digital cameras!

Though the beautiful classical buildings stand proudly back from the dreadfully busy traffic, sad to say that much of the street scene looked a little scruffier.  Perhaps not altogether surprising, considering the current situation here in Greece?

Thankfully, we didn’t have much further to walk until more attractive wall decorations were in sight.  I gathered a few more fragments for my collection as soon as we managed to gain access to the Museum.

I found a few hands to admire, too.

Not to mention some magnificently sculpted fabric folds

Though we’ve seen a fair bit of Roman sculpture recently, I’m a little less familiar with the Greek side of things.  In particular, I had no idea what lie in store in the next room, where the treasures from Mycenae were on display.

This was just one of around a dozen cases of gold treasures found in graves   dating from the sixteenth century BC.  The detail and patterning was remarkable and we stood for some time marvelling at the craftsmanship.

There were butterfly motifs, spirals and whorls, all absolutely regular and finely drawn.  This was so refined and not primitive in any way in spite of the great age.

In another room were small (about 1.5cm sq) pressed glass tiles which had been created to form jewellery – neckpieces and suchlike.

The subtle shades and patterns of these pieces were similarly sophisticated although rather more modern than the gold: These date from the 13th century BC.

Altogether quite awe-inspiring.  Unlike the pavement on the way back to our hotel.

Mind your step!