The Road More Traveled

Since my last post, we've been to Olympia, Sparta and Delphi and Rome. Needless to say, there's a lot to say.

While I will never be a true Athenian, I will admit that the comfortable rhythm of Kolonaki Square and patterned weekly conversations with the local supermarket cashier had started to pull the wool over my eyes. But the last two weeks of traveling has thrown me back into that small but notable niche of the American tourist. In my Nike sneakers, I could only run from it for so long.

With that behind me, I fully embraced all the sites to see, foods to eat, and pictures to take on our Peloponnese trip and in Rome.

Facts that you may not find on your typical tourist brochures however:

1) Mycenaens suffered from megalomania. There was no fathomable reason for them to build such monumental architecture as the Lion's Gate. Perhaps they anticipated visitors.


Lion's Gate

2) Off-center doorways often indicate ritual dining halls because Greeks ate while reclined, thus requiring couches lined at an angle.

3) Henry Miller believed Epidaurus to be the healing center of nature. I see no reason to disagree.

Epidaurus

5) Phidias, the famous sculptor of the Parthenon, likely retreated to work in Olympia because auditors removed the gold off a statue that he created and found it to weigh less than what he claimed to have used.


Phidias' Workshop

6) Delphi was considered by the Greeks to be the literal bellybutton of the universe. Thus, home to the Oracle.


View from the upper site of Delphi

And for some statistical data of the week. When in Rome...

Food vs. # of Times Consumed
Gelato: 3
Pizza: 4
Cannoli: 2
Coffee: 5
Pasta: 2


Cannoli (literally the size of my palm)

The sites of Rome were a sight for sore-eyes after seeing only repeated piles of rocks, as some might grumble, in Greece. The decadence of the basilicas, the colors of the frescoes, the gleam of the sculptures. It was love at first sight if I ever were to believe in it. Maybe it was the coin I threw in the Trevi Fountain that cast its spell on me.




Yet, somehow despite the eponymous firework, Rome just doesn't seem to hold a candle to Athens. As noted even by the breastplate of Hadrian, Athena stands on top of the she-wolf of Romulus and Remus. Roman culture and Athenian culture are inexplicably tied. Maybe I'm biased. Somehow that little American tourist in me is dwindling even as I run amok with my Polaroid.

It's good to be home.