For our last Sunday here, we attended church service at a Greek Orthodox Church, Agio Nikalaos. First for all.Though we did not understand any single word as the service is conducted entirely in Ancient Greek, it was a fascinating and eye-opening experience for all of us. It gave Paschal great respect for an Orthodox Church Cantor his
office once represented when her church, located in Portland, Oregon, successfully filed immigration petition to secure her permanent residency in the United States. The Cantor is integral to the Orthodox church service as a lot of the liturgy is sung.
We also watched the Sunday Morning Changing of the Guard by the tomb of an unknown soldier. Our experience watching the Turkey military band at the
Military Museum made this a very interesting experience, offering us opportunity to compare the two. The guards (called Evzones) were dressed in the traditional Greek military costume wearing a short kilt called a foustanelle with 400 pleats representing the end of 400 years of Ottoman Rule and red shoes with pompoms.
Picture with the Honor Guard
The Pigeons of Athens feasted
With a kid begging for money and then taking his calls. Na who say beggar no get phone???
Acropolis Redux
We returned to the Acropolis to see a site we were unable to see last time: the Ancient Agora, which included the sites where Socrates and company spent their time; and the most preserved of the ancient Doric Greek temples: Hephastion
African Drummer Man, performing near the Acropolis
Stoa of Attalos II.
A gift to Athenians from King Attalos of Pergamum in 2nd BC, it was restored in the 1950s. Socrates lectured and incited the youths of Athens to follow his teachings here. It now houses the museum of the Agora.
Hephastion
A little older than the Paethenon, Hephaestion was originally dedicated to Hephaistos - the god of metalworkers. Metal workshops still exist in the area. It was at one point used as a church before it became a museum.
Returning to our apartment for the last time
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