Colors

I just bought Kenko Extension tubes yesterday to increase my macro magnification. They are attached to my Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 macro lens and I took a few macro test shots on color pencils. The magnification was simply amazing. Can't wait to try that next weekend at butterfly park.

Greece-Travel-Athens

Greece tour is not complete without a visit to the famous Acropolis that stood tall above the hill in the heart of Athens. This Acropolis picture was taken from the hotel I stayed, the Attalos Hotel. Room was basic but it offered a rooftop terrace overlooking the majestic Acropolis.

Another sight of Athens from the other end of the hotel rooftop terrace...

My first ancient site visit was the Roman Agora. We bought a multiple entrance ticket covering most of the important Athens ancient sites which include the Acropolis, Ancient Agora, Roman Agora and some other sites. Hmm..after visiting this site, I got a impression that I was going to see many more stones, columns and statues.

My next destination was the Temple of Zeus. After seeing the movie, "Clash Of The Titans", I thought I could see Zeus statue, the king of Olympian Gods. To my dismay, the statue was not there. Anyway, this place left impressive gigantic columns for us to admire.



Fallen column. Looks like the column was constructed by stacking all the cylindrical stones together.

On the way to the National Archeological Museum, I had a strolled at the botanical garden and swiftly passed the Parliament house.
It was so coincident that the the changing guard took place at the Parliament building. We were quite cautious walking around that area as there was a strike occured a few days at the Parliament house before our arrival.

The National Archeological Museum had a great collections of statues, paintings, potteries and surprisingly, some Egyptian collections.

Poseidon, National Archeological Museum. This is a famous bronze statue of Poseidon, God of the sea and younger brother of Zeus.

Aphrodite, Goddess of love and beauty. Roman called this goddess as Venus.






The visit to the museum was good. The only thing that kept me wondering was the Zeus collections. We could not find any of Zeus statues. Ironically, after we asked the guard, she showed me the location but it was just a palm size statue. I guess most of his statues were destroyed.

Monastiraki restaurant. This was our regular place for our dinner. Surprisingly, I could see many immigrants selling goods:- Gucci, Coach, pirated CDs ...you name it.

The next morning, we started our journey early to the majestic Acropolis site. We passed by several grafittis. That was an eyesore and what a pity to see all the grafittis vandalized the whole city. It was a big contrast to the beautiful Santorini island. How annoying....sigh




Putting aside this ugly side of Athens, we finally reached the majestic Acropolis.





The Parthenon is the main attraction in Acropolis. It was destroyed through several rulings by the Christian and Islamic. It became a church before and next, served as a mosque and was believed that during the war against the Turks, this building was badly damaged by an explosion.

The sculptures at the East pediment represented by the birth of Athena, the goddess of Wisdom while the West pediment represented by the contest between Athena and Poseidon to become the city's patron.

Odeon Of Herodus Atticus. This ancient theatre is still alive with occasional classical theatre show.


Panoramic view of Athens from Acropolis. The Temple Of Olympian Zeus can be seen from a afar.


The Erechtheum was used to accommodate religious rituals. The Caryatids have become the temple signature features. There are a total of 6 Caryatids which the original ones(only 5) are kept in the Acropolis museum. One of them were taken by Lord Elgin and kept in British Museum. All these Caryatids in the picture are replicas.


Athens gets its name through a competition between Athena and Poseidon. They competed by giving a gift to the city. Poseidon struck his trident to the ground producing a spring symbolizing naval power while Athena created Olive tree, symbolizing peace and harmony. The Athenians chose the latter and named the city after Athena. The replicas showing the competition between Athena and Poseidon and is supposed to represent the west pediment of the Parthenon.

Replicas for the East pediment of the Parthenon. It depicted the birth of Athena from Zeus head. I did not have the chance to take the entire replicas of west pediment as I was stopped from taking photos by the authority. It really confused me as I did get a permission to take photos by his colleague.

Overall, my Greece tour was quite pleasant and joyful. I got an opportunity to enjoy one of the best islands in Europe and learn the ancient sites of Greece. The people in Santorini seemed to be friendlier than those from the big city probably due to the competitive living.Personally, I think for anyone who wish to visit Greece, they shall cover both the island and the land attractions. Else, it can be quite boring if you just keep visiting the ancient sites alone.

Pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/photo.dannylim/Athens#

Greece-Travel-Delphi

My next destination was Delphi. My original plan was to visit Meteora but due to timing issue, I decided to visit Delphi instead. Delphi is understood to be the most Sacred place in Greece. Ancient mythology believed that this place is the center of the earth whereby the two eagles released by God Zeus with one to the east and the other to the west met again. The well known Oracles of Delphi resided in this place.

All the tourist took a day tour but we opted for the 2 days 1 night which in my opinion was worthwhile. I got to enjoy the quiet town at the hill side and the spacious room.

The view from Delphi town. The main income of Delphi are from tourism industry and agriculture (olive). The greeneries along the valley are all olive trees. What a beautiful and quiet place to go...

Some of the folks abandoned their house in search for better opportunities in Athens.


Lovable swallows resting on one of the Delphi old house...


The tour mainly covering a visit to the most important sacred site known as the Santuary Of Apollo. This sacred place was the home to the famous Oracles.







Next, was a short visit to the museum.




The charioter is one of the best known ancient Greek bronze statues. The eyes of this statue looked so alive. From one of the source, the lifely eyes were made of glass and copper detailing the eyelashes and lips.

During spring, many wild flowers bloom around Delphi. Most of the shots were taken from the hotel's garden.


This boastful red poppy immediately caught my attention. I was attracted to its color and shape which was quite different from the rest of the flowers.



Without the additional day, I will not be able to enjoy and get all the interesting flower and insect shots in Delphi.





These wild grasses probably common in Greece but I never seen that in my home country. Once a while, when the wind blew towards the grasses, they looked as if waving to welcome our arrival.

On the way back to Athens, the tour bus had a short stop at the Arachova village. Arachova is famous for its picturesque landscape and near to the ski centers.



From the beautiful and romantic Santorini island, I had journey through a picturesque hilly views around Parnassos to view the most sacred place in Greece and experienced the fresh air from the surrounding hills. It was another great place to visit. My only complain about the tour was that the visit to the sanctuary and museum was quite short and we did not have much time to admire the surroundings. Off course, I could revisit the sites the following day but it make more sense to explore the Delphi town and enjoy the colorful spring flowers.

My last destination in Greece was Athens ....to be continue...

Pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/photo.dannylim/Delphi#