You might miss what’s right in front of you

And before we get too far away from the Athens part of this trip, I have to say something about all the rocks that litter this place.

OK, just kidding. I meant all the carved rocks that litter this place.

MP and I spent a couple of hours on Monday afternoon touring the Acropolis , the collection of white columns that sits atop a hill commanding a view of all Athens. We stepped over smooth marble steps and past ancient stoa with Asian tour groups, elderly German tour groups, Athenian high-school tour groups and the occasional Australian, Frenchie and even Brit.

And I thought to myself: This is where Socrates once walked and taught. Or, at least, I think that’s what my friend Karen told me (and she should know, having once studied philosophy at the UW). And I felt … well, nothing would be too strong. But I didn’t feel as much as I thought I might.

Thing is, the Acropolis has been destroyed more than once. The Persians dismantled it. The Venetians bombed it. So did the Turks. The Greeks themselves did it just to get some Turks who were hiding there. And then there was Lord Elgin , the English guy who cut out some of the most hallowed marble pieces and hauled them back to London (where they sit to this very day). And so what we see there is not what actually was but a representation of what was.

I say this not to demean the place. It truly is inspiring. Or can be. But I think that people tend to see Greece, as many of the Greeks themselves do, in terms of what was going on some 2,500 years ago instead of what is here today.

And the fact is that Greece is more than a few pebbles strewn about the Acropolis, the Agora or over the slopes of Delphi. Greece of today is mountains as starkly beautiful as anything you’ll find in Yosemite, as evergreenly atmospheric as any Cascades meadow, as shipshapely presentable as any Italian port.

So my point is this: If you come here to visit, take time to appreciate what is here now instead of just dreaming only about what once was.