The Sawyer Stories

In Athens, we got straight to tours. We had an incredible tour guide. Fillippa was her name. She not only knew a lot of myths, but she also knew the history behind the myths.

Highlights from Day 13:

– We got to see the Acropolis and the ruins around Athens.
– Liam was able to rehear myths and also learn new parts of myths in connection to real Greek history.

-One of our favorite myths was about how the city was named. Poseidon (the God of the sea) and Athena (the goddess of wisdom) wanted to patron a city but the one option was Aktaio (the original name of Athens). Both gods went and tried to be the patron. So the citizens decided for the gods to give the Athenians gifts to help them decide. Poseidon went first and decided to give them unlimited water, which didn’t see great at first but the men realized patronage from the water God meant safe travels across the sea. Then came Athena with the olive tree. No one liked it until Athena explained that they can make olive oil, it’s easy to grow, and they can sell olives and olive oil for a profit. It also gives them light with oil lamps. Women voted for Athena and men for Poseidon. It came to 1 more woman than the men and that’s why its name is Athens. But, in retaliation Poseidon withdrew all water from the new city Athens. They had to pray to Poseidon to make him not angry. He need 2 temples up near the palace, and women to never vote again. Convenient for then Athenian men…

-We headed back to the apartment for Michael to take a nap and to cool off a bit. During that time Amber forced Liam to watch Mama Mia which he tolerated but only barely.

-Before dinner, we went to Mars hill, which is the famous spot where Paul, from the Bible, preached to the Athenians about the true God and the revival of Jesus. In Acts, it said Paul walked through the market, which was at the Ancient Agora where we also toured, and most likely the Acropolis. Then he preached on Mars Hill about how the Athenians had altars to so many gods, including one to the unknown god. This was his connection to preach about the one true God.

-During dinner, we had some amazing falafel. Surprisingly you’ll find more falafel in the states than in Greece. It is really hard to find falafel especially on Greece’s Islands, and on some smaller islands theirs no falafel at all. And then, there was gelato of course.

– We ended the day with walking through Plaka and doing some shopping. We much prefer shopping with street venders over souvenir shops. We got the coolest souvenir: a tiny book with pages that the artesian added for us to match our time in Greece. Walking and seeing such incredible history everywhere is so surreal.

• Last note, here are some pics from our Airbnb. We had an old time elevator where you could feel the doors go by and you push the door open on your floor. And, our door had 4 locks on it! It took awhile to open.