Ahhhhhh, Athens

Did I say I was going to write about Italy? Well, perhaps at some point I will, but for now you’re getting Greece while it’s fresh on my mind.


For Emma, the whole summer is about this port. Sure, she’s excited to see the pyramids in a couple of weeks, and reuniting with Emma Z. was atop her list as well, but this kid LOVES all things Greek. She is fascinated by Greek history. She pours over Greek mythology books. She devours Greek food. Thus, she was giddy as we approached the port of Piraeus. On our first day in Greece we were on an SAS trip that took us to the Acropolis and the New Acropolis museum. Though we’ve been to the Acropolis twice before, Summer ’08 and Spring ’09, it was still an awe inspiring experience. Emma also managed to garner two “firsts” while we were there: her first solo negotiation with a vendor and her first turn on a Seagueway. She really wanted a parasol, but they were asking 5 Euro for them, so her parents said, “no.” Daddy did give her 2 Euro and told her she could get whatever she wanted with the 2 Euro. She waltzed over to one of the parasol salesmen and offered him 2 Euro. He shook his head and said, “minimum 3 Euro.” She shook her head and said, “2 Euro only.” This scenario repeated itself a few times before the man took her two Euro and gave her the parasol. She was quite proud of herself. And riding a Seagueway is something neither of her parents has done, so again she was more than a little pleased.

The New Acropolis Museum was scheduled for completion before the 2004 games, but, as is true for many construction projects in Italy and Greece, ruins were uncovered that halted the process several times. Thus, it was not yet open on our last trip to Athens and we were all excited to visit this state of the art facility. Being in the museum really brought home a lecture we heard the day before when Dr. Nancy Burkoff spoke in Global Studies about Cultural Patrimony. On the third floor of the museum were the reliefs from the Parthenon. Three different types of displays were housed there. First were original pieces. Next, there were blank spots for pieces that had been destroyed or looted and not rediscovered. Finally, there were copies of the originals, labeled (BM). The originals are located in the British Museum. We’ve seen many of them on previous trips to London. Spectacular. Cultural Internationalists have argued for hundreds of years that the British Museum could preserve them far better than any Greek facility and so the items looted by Lord Elgin should remain housed in the UK. Perhaps now that Athens has such an amazing facility it’s time the British Museum returned them to their home?