Cape Sounion

As tired as I was yesterday from the exertions of the day (and it's a good thing I like to walk because I have been doing a lot of it), I headed out in the evening. This time I took the metro to Omonia Square and then walked to the Plaka, the tourist area at the foot of the Acropolis. I wanted to enjoy the spectacle of the city at night, its great monuments floodlit. It was gorgeous indeed. The Acropolis was even more imposing and the magnificent Temple of Hephaestos was bathed in golden light. Athens has made a very positive impression. It is a sprawling, vibrant city with too much traffic, but it seems prosperous and well taken care of. It is, in fact, one of the cleanest cities I have experienced. One would never guess that the country is on the brink of economic collapse. And the Greeks, in my experience, are friendly, helpful, polite and, above all, honest.
With little desire to see any more museums (if I have to look at another Attic vase I'll throw myself off the Acropolis), I made an excursion outside of the city today. There are many places I could have gone: Marathon, site of one of the most important battles in Western history where the vastly outnumbered Greeks outwitted the Persians and destroyed their seemingly invincible army; but there is little to see there except a commemorative plaque. And there is Eleusis, site of the Mysteries, but it is now located in an industrial area and has an oil refinery next to it. I would have dearly liked to visit Delphi, site of the famous oracle, but it is a three and a half hour bus ride each way. So I opted to go to Cape Sounion. It is the southern most tip of Attica and less than two hours by bus. Fortunately, the bus station for traffic to the south was just a few km down Alexander Avenue, the main drag near my hotel. It was a lovely ride down the coast, the sparkling sea on one side and well-kept houses and hotels on the other. It is a nearly barren, rocky landscape; a few trees and shrubs manage to survive. The ancient Greeks built a temple to Poseidon at the Cape. Its gleaming white marble was a beacon to sea travelers. It was built at the same time as the Parthenon, in 444 BCE. Twenty years before, the Persians had invaded and destroyed the important temples, including everything on the Acropolis in Athens and the temple at Sounion. It was all rebuilt, greater than before. Not only did the Greeks eventually defeat the Persians, they took their revenge when Alexander the Great later invaded Persia, routed the High King and burned his capital city Persepolis. Take that, Persians! Alexander the Great -- now there is someone who truly deserved the title! Anyway, back to Sounion. It is a wind-swept site, perched high above the sea. After a few tour buses left I almost had the place to myself. There is nothing else to see aside from the temple so I retired to the adjoining restaurant for a refreshing repast of food and drink. Why is it that a Greek salad tastes twice as good in Greece? I had the temple in view from my table and the wide expanse of glimmering sea to my left. The gentle breeze caressed the oleanders and Norfolk pines. It was another perfect day in Greece. I shall miss the gentle tempo of life in this blessed land. Byron visited the temple and was quite taken with it. He wrote: "Place me on Sunium's marbled steep, Where nothing save the waves and I , May hear our mutual murmurs sweep..." He also carved his name into a column. It is still there but one cannot get close enough to see it. I imagine it says something like: Byron wuz here.