We’ve heard it said that people either love Athens or not. It was so amazing for us, but it’s not a surprise… engineering, architecture, and construction are fascinating to us! The history and buildings were amazing, and it’s close to our hearts with so many places to walk (and run). We also loved all of the cats here that greeted us and would come say hello. So here’s a little tour from us.

We started our time in Athens by walking to get a feel for the city! Our hotel was north of the Acropolis and our first evening, we walked up the winding streets with street art, by the Roman Agora, up stairs, through restaurants, and to Areopagus Hill to overlook the Acropolis. It was a delightful walk that might qualify as a hike up to a rock to take photos (with a fun crowd that you conveniently don’t see?!?). It was an experience beyond a single photo… but what a pretty photo to start our trip!

We started exploring Athens at the Roman Agora with it’s beautiful columns, and the Tower of the Winds which was a water clock tower. We then headed over to Hadrian’s Library which was filled with the smartest Greek tortoises :). And we discovered a stunning Greek doppelgänger for our cat Ms. Vin (currently at “college” with family).

We took a full day to visit the Acropolis and hike to the top of the hill (and enjoyed running around it and a bit over the hill on our run days!). We went in the south entrance, by the Theater of Dionysus, to the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, and then to the top of the Acropolis through the Propylaia where you emerge to see the Erechtheion and the stunning Parthenon!!! They continue to rebuild the Parthenon because it was destroyed in an explosion in 1687 as part of the Morean war when a Venetian artillery ignited the Ottoman gunpowder stored there. It is constructed entirely of Pentelic marble and was built using the golden ratio as well as some enhancements pleasing to the eye including arched steps so they appear strait across the long distance and columns wider at the top so they look in proportion.

Another day, we visited the Arch of Hadrian and the Temple of Olympian Zeus and were able to take some photos of each with the Acropolis in the background. One of our favorite activities in any city is wandering and we enjoyed walking through Athens’ Botanical Museum of the National Gardens where we discovered an entire pond of turtles (including tiny ones!). In our wanders we also met a sweet cat, found more street art, and discovered the amazing decorations at Little Kook where we enjoyed red velvet cake and decadent drinks amongst stunning decor.

On another day, we enjoyed the Ancient Agora of Athens including the Stoa of Attalos containing the Agora museum and the Temple of Hephaestus. The agora was the central public space including a marketplace, meeting ground, and also for spiritual practice, politics, business, art, athletics, and social interaction.

One evening, we heard music that seemed to be getting closer… opened our hotel window to discover an impromptu parade following a band! It was delightful!!! Listen with the sound on, if you can. 🙂

Our final visit in Athens was the National Archaeological Museum. The marble carvings, vases, and statues are amazing! We also enjoyed the pottery including the geometric period and classical period. The Egyptian antiquities were beautiful and included statues, a sarcophagus, scarabs, and jewelry. The highlight however, is that the museum has the world’s oldest computer, the Antikythera Mechanism (more below on this mysterious device…)!

We had such a fun and amazing time in Athens! It was so very cool. We had so much fun!!

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Welcome to the after party…

Thanks for staying, now you get a mystery story! The Antikythera Mechanism (or device, if you prefer) is the oldest analog computer in the world. It was made between (205-60 BCE) out of bronze with a wood case and is hand-operated by a single crank. Prepare to be amazed because it calculates and displays: the position of the five known planets of the time (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter), position of the sun and moon relative to the 12 constellations of the zodiac, a solar calendar (365 days), lunar calendar (19 year cycle), phase of the moon, predicts solar and lunar eclipses (and their color), and a count down to athletic games (Panhellenic Games including the Olympia the precursor to the Olympics). The Antikythera Mechanism was a controversial find because according to historical knowledge at the time, gears like these shouldn’t have appeared in ancient Greece. In fact, machines this complex did not appear again until the 14th century (Richard Wallingford’s St Albans clock and the Astrarium by Giovanni Dondi dall’Orologio). Even more fascinating, until the 2000’s no one really knew how the Antikythera Mechanism actually worked!

The rediscovery began in 1900 when Captain Dimitrios Kondos and his crew of sponge divers (with copper helmets and canvas suits) discovered the Antikythera shipwreck (dated 70-60 BCE). While waiting for favorable wind, they dove for fun and found “dead naked people.” Luckily they were statues!?! The divers left the island to fish for sponges, but returned at the end of the season and coordinated with the authorities in Athens to salvage the wreck from 1900 to 1901. The wreck was full of ancient treasure and the first major underwater archeology operation in history. The Mechanism was retrieved from the wreckage in 1901, but only appeared to be a corroded lump of bronze and wood. All items from the wreck were transferred to the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. There many researchers tried to determine what it was and how it worked including:

• 1901: Corroded lump of bronze/wood retrieved from Antikythera shipwreck
• 1902: Archaeologist Valerios Stais identifies the Antikythera Mechanism as containing a gear the size of coins in one of the wreckage pieces (now three pieces). The first scholars were able to make out three Greek words: Venus, Sun, and degree scale
• 1905: Philologist Albert Rehm was working on ancient clock devices and stopped in Athens to study the device. He radically (and correctly) proposed it was an astronomical calculator and planetarium and translated further inscriptions on newly exposed surfaces, but was entirely wrong about the mechanical details and locations as he approached it from the inscriptions
• 1951-1974: Physicist Derek de Solla Price studies the Mechanism focused on the gears and how the instrument works, writes a Scientific American article An Ancient Greek Computer, collaborates with Charalambos and Emily Karakalos‘ using their X-ray and gamma-ray details for the now 82 fragments, and publishes Gears from the Greeks. He details each gear (size, number of teeth, etc.) and determines it is a complex planetarium that can detail the 19-year cycle of the moon can be calculated using the gearing and correctly proposes an epicyclic system (gears mounted on other gears), but not the right locations and does not address planetary capabilities
• 1995-2006: physicist and curator Michael Wright works with Allan George Bromley to linear X-ray tomography the pieces, creates a 2D model, designs and builds the first workable model of the planetarium including gearing and display for the position of planets, moon phases, and eclipse prediction
• 2006: Article in Nature Decoding the ancient Greek astronomical calculator known as the Antikythera Mechanism by the AMRP—Antikythera Mechanism Research Project with Cardiff University uses computer X-ray tomography and high resolution scanning on outer casing inscriptions suggesting a total of 37 meshing bronze gears that follow the movement of the moon and sun through the zodiac, predict eclipses, model the irregular orbit of the moon, and calculate positions of the five classical planets
• 2008: Article in Nature Calendars with Olympiad display and eclipse prediction on the Antikythera Mechanism further research by the AMRP and partners, uses X-ray scanning to read around 3,400 characters on the surviving surfaces. The inscriptions detail the timing and color of eclipses suggesting the mechanism may be used for both astronomy and astrology. The inscriptions also indicate that the device was probably from the island of Rhodes
• 2021: While the back of the mechanism was solved by earlier studies, in 2021 the University College London as part of AMRP use 3D modelling to recreate the gearing on the front panel and are hoping to build a full-scale replica as shown below