National Archeological Museum of Athens: Part 3

Jewelry from the Mycenae Chamber Tombs

14th-13th century BC

Safety Pins and jewelry have not changed much in over 3,000 years!

National Archeological Museum of Athens: Part 2

Zeus or Poseidon

This two meter high bronze statue of Zeus or Poseidon dates from about 460 BC and was found in 1928 at the bottom of the sea north of the Greek island of Euboea. The god is throwing either a thunderbolt or a trident, giving reason for the debate about who is depicted in the sculpture.

Artemisian Jockey

This two meter high bronze statue of a horse and a young jockey, made about 140 BC, was retrieved in pieces from in the sea in 1928 and 1937. It depicts a young jockey, probably African in origin, that would have held the reins of the galloping horse in his left hand and a whip in his right.

Perseus or Paris

Found in 1990 in an ancient shipwreck on the sea floor off Antikythera, south of Peloponnese, this Bronze statue of a youth (340-330 BC) has been identified either as Perseus, who would have been holding the head of Medusa, or, more probably, as Paris, with the “apple of Strife”, ready to award it to the most beautiful goddess, Aphrodite.

Marathon Boy

This bronze statue of a young athlete (340-330BC) was found in the sea off Marathon, Attica. The statue probably depicts the winner of a contest, as is suggested by the band on his head which ends in an upright leaf above the forehead.

National Archaeological Museum of Athens: Part 1

One of the first displays that a visitor sees at the National Archeological Museum are kouri.
The kouri are statues of naked youth that were made starting in the second half of the 7th century BC. These heroic statues, usually with the left leg forward and arms at the side, were often found at sacred sites as offerings to the gods and were found on graves as memorials of the dead, recalling the person’s past youthfulness of power.

Shopping for an Icon

Athens is filled with tourist shops.

On the first of numerous strolls through the neighborhood of Plaka we found a small shop with religious items.

The owner, Anastasios Vobirakis, spoke English and, in addition to sharing his merchandise, he shared many stories about his Christian faith. We wanted to return to the shop to obtain an icon, but it took us the rest of the week to find the store again. It was not until our last night in Athens that we spotted it, but the shop was already closed.

When we returned in the morning we saw the store owner with his prayer book in front of the shop. He was happy to see us, and shared even more stories about his merchandise and the miracles of the saints.

Here we are with Anastasios and our icon of St. Paul.

When you are in Athens be sure to stop in and visit Anastasios and his religious items shop. (29 Panorosou St. -Mitropolis.

Athens for the 2010 Marathon

We just returned from Athens where Vincenzo ran in the Athens Classic Marathon. It was his second full marathon race, and his time was 10 minutes better than his Rome Marathon in March, 2010.

Athens airport banner announcing the Marathon.

Vincenzo's race "prep notes"

estimating when he will arrive at check points.

Eating the traditional before race bowl of pasta.

(Larry had the delicious moussaka seen in the foreground.)

Vincenzo in the stadium (seventh runner from the left) approaching the finish.

After the race with balloon and flowers.

Cheese Options at McDonalds

When you stop in at McDonald's in Rome for something to eat, part of the menu will seem familiar to Americans. You can see a picture of CBO, a sandwich with pollo, bacon and cipolla (in the US that's cheese-bacon-onion) next to the McFlurry options.

But then, there is a hamburger with mozzarella and basil.

There is also a hamburger with fresh pecorino cheese and rucola.

I chose the burger with Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

Canonization

On Sunday I journeyed with three friends to St. Peter's Square to witness the canonization of six saints, including Mary Mackillop, Australia's first saint.

Maria, Brad and Larry

Caravita, our church in the historic center,

was a center for picking up our pilgrim packs.

The packs included a guide to places in Rome that were important to Mary Mackillop, a booklet with her biography, a bottle of water, a rain pancho, and our pilgrim scarves.

Tens of thousands of people gathered in St. Peter's Square for the canonization Mass. (In addition to Mary Mackillop (1842-1909), Pope Benedict XVI also canonized the French Canadian Andre Bessette (1845-1937), Stanislaw Soltys (1433-1489) from Poland, Juana Cipitria Barriola (1845-1912) of Spain, and two Italians, Giulia Salzano (1846-1929) and Camilla Battista Varano (1458-1524).

St. Peter's Square was literally a sea of people. We we in front of a group from Scotland, beaming because of the Scottish heritage of Mary Mackillop, and behind a group of Australians of Lebanese descent.

Proud Australian Flags!

This cross contains a relic of Mary Mackillop and was presented to the pope during the canonization. (It was at Caravita a couple of weeks earlier, pictured here with Sister Maria Casey, a member of Mackillop's religious order who was the procurator for Mary Macillop's cause for sainthood, and Tim Fischer, the Austalian Ambassador to the Holy See.