Day three, Part I - Wow, did Jesus come here?
October 22, 2006
Bergama, Turkey - For the Bible literate out there (which I now consider myself after a Google Search) you might have heard about the Church of Pergamon (which is also spelled Pergamum).
The Church of Pergamon was listed as one of the seven churches in the book of Revelation, the book at the end when everything catches fire. Apparantly, when the world ends Pergamon will have to send a letter or something.
I think there's also a verse about how the Devil lives there. I'm not sure if the bible predicted my visit, but it was the most impressive site of the tour.
Pergamon was one of the Ancient Kingdoms of the Greek Empire and a very influential part of the Hellenistic period. The sites that remain there are the Acroplis (which consists of an upper and lower city built on a mountain) and the Asklepion.
The first stop for Sunday, October 22, was the Acropolis.
The site was magnificent. The outsides of buildings remain intact as lines of columns. The amphitheatre there is estimated to be the tallest in the Ancient Greek world. It seats 10,000 normal size people, 7,000 fat people and 20,000 midgets.
I've been scouring the Internet for dimensions on this thing, especially the incline, but I can't find one. Help me out on this one. Google Pergamon and amphitheatre and get back to me.
This is the amphitheatre, with the modern day city of Bergama in the background.
I had a photo from the top of the mountain (above) and I had one from sitting in the top right corner of the theatre, but I wanted to see if I could get a good photo from the bottom to the top, really showing how big this damn thing was.
So as my tour group had 15 minutes of free time before we headed to the bus, I jolted down the theatre steps to get the shot. Getting down was a breeze and I complimented myself on how quickly I negotiated the steep steps.
Then came the climb back up. I started with a brisk walk up the steps. I didn't want to run because I knew I needed to pace myself. My brisk walk slowed to a walk. That's OK, I thought, because the tour group will not leave without me.
Then my walk slowed to a sluggish pace. This was killing my thighs.
I began walking like a snail up the steps. I originally thought I should try and walk up the entire amphitheatre, just to say I did it.
Screw that. Just get me to the halfway point where I can exit to the right and take a nice flat trail around the hill.
I almost began crawling. "No," I said to myself, "I will remain on my two legs."
This was one of the worst inclines I've ever felt.
Eventually I made it. I made it to the half way point of this theatre and felt like the king of the world.
I took the cigarette out of my mouth I had been smoking and stomped it out on the step. I made it.
Coming up in Day Three Part II - There WAS something in the water.
Bergama, Turkey - For the Bible literate out there (which I now consider myself after a Google Search) you might have heard about the Church of Pergamon (which is also spelled Pergamum).
The Church of Pergamon was listed as one of the seven churches in the book of Revelation, the book at the end when everything catches fire. Apparantly, when the world ends Pergamon will have to send a letter or something.
I think there's also a verse about how the Devil lives there. I'm not sure if the bible predicted my visit, but it was the most impressive site of the tour.
Pergamon was one of the Ancient Kingdoms of the Greek Empire and a very influential part of the Hellenistic period. The sites that remain there are the Acroplis (which consists of an upper and lower city built on a mountain) and the Asklepion.
The first stop for Sunday, October 22, was the Acropolis.
The site was magnificent. The outsides of buildings remain intact as lines of columns. The amphitheatre there is estimated to be the tallest in the Ancient Greek world. It seats 10,000 normal size people, 7,000 fat people and 20,000 midgets.
I've been scouring the Internet for dimensions on this thing, especially the incline, but I can't find one. Help me out on this one. Google Pergamon and amphitheatre and get back to me.
This is the amphitheatre, with the modern day city of Bergama in the background.
I had a photo from the top of the mountain (above) and I had one from sitting in the top right corner of the theatre, but I wanted to see if I could get a good photo from the bottom to the top, really showing how big this damn thing was.
So as my tour group had 15 minutes of free time before we headed to the bus, I jolted down the theatre steps to get the shot. Getting down was a breeze and I complimented myself on how quickly I negotiated the steep steps.
Then came the climb back up. I started with a brisk walk up the steps. I didn't want to run because I knew I needed to pace myself. My brisk walk slowed to a walk. That's OK, I thought, because the tour group will not leave without me.
Then my walk slowed to a sluggish pace. This was killing my thighs.
I began walking like a snail up the steps. I originally thought I should try and walk up the entire amphitheatre, just to say I did it.
Screw that. Just get me to the halfway point where I can exit to the right and take a nice flat trail around the hill.
I almost began crawling. "No," I said to myself, "I will remain on my two legs."
This was one of the worst inclines I've ever felt.
Eventually I made it. I made it to the half way point of this theatre and felt like the king of the world.
I took the cigarette out of my mouth I had been smoking and stomped it out on the step. I made it.
Coming up in Day Three Part II - There WAS something in the water.
posted by James at 5:21 AM
2 Comments:
How do you figure the midget capacity?
I mean, with 10,000 normal people fitting in the place, about 7,000 fatties seems about right. But could you really put two midgets in the place of one average Greek? Could two George Stephanopoli squeeze into the chair of one John Stamos?
just think...you must be an ADONIS to those people
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