The Temple of Zeus – Ναός του Ολυμπίου Διός, Naos tou Olympiou Dios is a huge ruined temple in the center of the city that was dedicated to Zeus, king of the Olympian gods. The columns that are left are huge in diameter and height. It is a little strange here, to be walking around the city shops and busy streets and come upon ruins standing. But then you realize that there is basically another city underneath that has been covered with time. There are some shops that have glass floors, or portions of the floor that is glass that allows you to see the ruins of a building or interiors of buildings that were there so long ago. Athens is definitely an interesting city to visit. Also, at the entrance of the ruins of Zeus, is the Arch of Hadrian. It is believed that the arch was built to celebrate the arrival of the Roman emperor Hadrian and to honor him for his many benefactions to the city.
There is an obsession, that has it’s roots in the Grecian times of debauchery, of the male genitalia and of sex. There are naked statues of men, of which we cannot pass by without a running commentary by our three year old grandson calling out the anatomically correct word for that particular body part. He calls them the “nasty statues”. It is pretty funny! Almost all statues and pictures of females are fully dressed, but even the warriors that went to battle were most often naked. So in many of the tourist shops you will find items that emphasize said genitalia. Bottle openers, whiskey bottles and many other things that I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have use for! I guess it’s the novelty to take back for some people. I think the souvenirs we will take back will be more of the eating kind, or rocks!
His Grace For The Journey 