Temple of Poseidon
Greece is incredibly striking due to the contrast between desert and the beautiful clear waters of the Aegean Sea.
Our friends, Alex and Jen, were kind enough to let us stay with them in Athens, and during that time, one of the places we explored was the Temple of Poseidon. On our way there we drove along the coastline and came to a gorgeous beach. The water was calm and cool and a perfect breeze dried the perspiration on our faces. We watched as elderly people made their way into the water on a lift that gently slid them into the turquoise Aegean Sea.
We knew we wanted to swim at some point but decided that it’d be best to wait till after walking around the Temple of Poseidon, but I did want to stroll the shore just for a second first. Perfect smooth pebbles in a variety of colors, littered the shore, and the water felt so wonderful on my legs. I wandered past where people were swimming and once secluded, stripped down to my underwear and plunged in. I simply couldn’t resist! Danny commented that he knew all along that I wouldn’t be able to as he smiled at the wet patches seeping through my clothes.
Many ruins still stand tall across the country side, keeping the rich feeling of history, sacrifice and hard work, in the forefront.
The Temple of Poseidon is on a hill overlooking the Cape of Sounion, and was considered a sacred area dating back to the Bronze Age, but the structure was built between 444 and 440 BC.
The large marble columns are about 20 ft tall and 3 ft in diameter, and the entire structure is approximately 90ft X 40ft. It is difficult to imagine the amount of work that went into cutting away and forming each of the huge blocks that are stacked as foundation as well as walls around the grounds, and the detailed carving on each column.
The view from the temple is exquisite. The deep blue of the Aegean Sea surrounds two thirds of hill, and the town of Sounion lays peacefully at its base.
After hiking around and admiring the temple, Danny and I walked down to a little restaurant below, and enjoyed a simple yet incredible meal of freshly baked bread, mounds of tzatziki and bowls of blood red tomato, thinly sliced green bell pepper and purple onion, kalamata olives and a fat slab of fresh feta.
The view from our comfortable seats in the shade were of the Temple of Poseidon, and I could just imagine the Greek God and his brother Zeus, wrestling in the surf , breaking boulders and shifting dirt, creating the beautiful alcoves we admired as we drove in.
Adventures of a Tribe 