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Athens, Greece
The picture was an old collage of something classical, the model with the tragic end
For as long as I can remember I had wanted to visit this place, and even after a month since this visit I remain impressed. I lingered for as long as allowed, watching its shadows chased by the light of a warm late afternoon sun.
In one of the tragedies of modern archeological history, the sculptures from the pediment of the Parthenon are forced to live half a continent away from the Acropolis in the cold, harsh light of the British Museum.
Still on the Acropolis and just along side of the Parthenon, clever replicas of the Caryatids (the women with the structure on their head) silently stare of into the distance. Most of the real ones remain nearby, safe from the perils and wonder of the city in the Acropolis Museum.
We just got to Greece and already we’re gone and now in Turkey where I found Istanbul to be either wonderful beyond description or just plain creepy, but never both at the same time. This is the Hagia Sofia, the Church of the Divine Wisdom, arguably the second greatest dome in all of Christendom, built by Justinian in 500 when Istanbul was Constantinople (now it's Istanbul not Constantinople).
In the last 1500 years, the Hagia Sofia has hosted Byzantine Christians, Roman Catholics (following a particularly vicious crusade), Muslims and now tourists. Painted Muslim frescoes are falling off, revealing original Christian mosaics, while giant Muslim caliphs make their presence known.
Looking up at three quarters of the dome itself, slightly out of focus but impressive nonetheless as renovation work slowly continues.
There’s more to this slideshow
After London, Paris, London, Athens and Istanbul, this trip continued on to Italy, if you want to find out why you’re going to have to click below,
