On our last day in Greece we docked on the port of Piraeus and our tour bus was ready to take us to Cape Sounion. The drive from the port to our destination was about 3 hours, so all of us fell asleep on the bus. As we got close to Cape Sounion I woke up and realized that we had been driving next to the shore for a while and the view was incredible; the temple of Poseidon – Neptune looked amazing with the contrast of the Aegean Sea.
According to legend, Cape Sounion is the spot where Aegeus, king of Athens, leapt to his death off the cliff, thus giving his name to the Aegean Sea. Every year the Athenians were forced to send 7 boys and 7 girls to Minos attribute. These youths were placed in the labyrinth to be devoured by the Minotaur. Theseus - Aegeus’ son - had volunteered to go with the third tribute and attempt to slay the beast. He had agreed with his father that if he survived the contest, he would hoist a white sail. Theseus managed to overcome and slain the Minotaur, but had simply forgotten about the white sail. As he sailed back from Crete, King Aegeus saw the black flag on his son’s ship and despaired, throwing himself off a cliff.
We were able to walk around, take many pictures and enjoy the wonderful view this spot offered. On our way back to the hotel, we all planned to take the subway into Plaqa so we could all enjoy one last meal in Athens. The subway station was amazing! There is an entire exposition of the ancient artifacts they found while they built the station. The subway system was also amazingly modern and cheap. As we got back to out hotel, we all went to the terrace, hung out in the pool and enjoyed a nice glass of wine with the view of the Parthenon. It was a truly wonderful experience: Greece is certainly a country worth visiting!
Beautiful! Were the sights of greece overwhelming? How did you fight the urge to reenact all of the greek tales? I would have been hard pressed not to fling myself off the cliff - assuming I would survive - or even fight a minotaur! Exciting!
ReplyDeleteA very good post. I've gone to Greece and I agree it is an amamzing country to visist. I enjoyed your told one the Greek stories for this and then went back to your vacation. Well done :)
ReplyDeletewow that view of the Aegean sea looks beautiful. I could only imagine how amazing the counrty must be. I always liked learning about history on sight not in the classroom. :) Nicely Done!
ReplyDeleteThank you Moon3. Which islands did you visit while in Greece?
ReplyDeleteBasso, yes they were! and my best friend and I have an obsession with Hercules (the Disney version), so when we got to the temple of Zeus, we started singing the song and pretending we were in the movie :)
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