Acropolis of Anthem (yes-yes, we went there again, but why not if the entrance was free that day?!)
- And since it was a free museum day, decided to go to the National Gallery of Athens as well.
- Had lunch at Taverna Saita located at Kidathineon 21, Athina to celebrate my birthday. We ordered grilled squid, fried cod with skordalia, lamb chops – everything was delicious!
- At night, D and I went to the Observatory for the Night tour at Thissio Visitor Center, where we saw Saturn (!!!) in the telescope. The center also had a copy of antikythera mechanism (naturally). The telescope was no longer used for research (light pollution) but for education. Research telescopes are located in the mountains.
- Fun fact learned today: the Thissio Observatory on the Hill of the Nymphs was built right after getting independence by Greece for… to tell the time for navigation purposes, specifically to determine longitude. Latitude could be found by comparing the location of Polaris (North Star) to the horizon. If Polaris is at an angle of 60° above the horizon, then the latitude is 60°N. But to determine longitude, one needs accurate time because it involves knowing the difference in time at noon between locally and noon at Greenwich, UK. One degree of longitude equals four minutes of time. If local noon is 440 minutes afternoon in Greenwich, UK, then the longitude is (440/4=110) or 110°West.
- Great blog about acropolis https://notanomadblog.com/three-days-in-athens-greece/#aeropagus.
- Word of the day: A caryatid is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term karyatides literally means “maidens of Karyai”, an ancient town on the Peloponnese. (Source: Wikipedia.)
