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So you are off to Athens, where, along with visiting the ancient sites, you’ll probably spend some time exploring the National Archeological Museum. It has quite a large collection, and while most visitors only spend an hour or so viewing the highlights and your traveling teens may roll their eyes at yet another museum and “more rocks”. Yet inside the museum, along with the endless collections of statues, vessels, bronzes and ceramics, be sure to seek out the world’s first analog computer, the Antikythera mechanism.

Discovered off of the island of Antikythera, about 15 miles north of Crete by sponge divers around the turn of the last century, for decades scientists and researchers questioned its use, and even today there are different opinions, though it is widely understood to have tracked solar cycles. Thanks to the work of the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, we are learning more and more about the world’s first and oldest “computer” and now, when you visit Athens, you can have a look at it in person.

For the techies and scientists out there, lots of info is available the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project – for the laypeople amongst us, check out this New York Times article.

    

By Athensguide

How does a little girl from Skokie, Illinois find herself in historical Athens, leading curious explorers through the winding streets of Plaka, down "pezodromos" to hidden ouzeries for tempting mezedhes and homemade barrel wine? The journey began more than twenty years ago, and regardless of whether the wanderlust comes from the spiritual and culture DNA flowing through my veins, or the alignment of the stars on that cold mid-December day this Sagitterian came into the world, I never seem to tire of exploring my adopted homeland of Greece. Here you'll join me as I explore Athens: be it the back streets of Psirri and Gazi, or through the National Gardens and Zappeio where a family of turtles makes their home, or down wide, treelined Imittou Street in Pagrati, which pulses with Athenian life 24 hours a day. And while Athens has stolen my heart, the rest of Greece vies for my curiousity and wanderlust. My two guys (that'd be the Greek God, Vasilis and our Greek dog, Scruffy) and I can often be found settling in for a long weekend in some charming mountain village, or a quaint fishing port on a nearby island, or learning how Greek vitners are producing wines that rival some of Napa Valley's finests productions, or celebrating a panayeri in Epirus or sharing in the festivities as a family of Cretan sheepherders come together to sheer their 1500 sheep in the spring ... And if you happen to find yourself heading to Athens, consider finding yourself a real home for your stay. Living amongst the locals, be it for 3 nights or 3 weeks, will offer you the chance to experience true Athens, beyond the Acropolis. Choose from one of our 5 beautiful penthouse and historical homes, and who knows, I may be leading you down that winding "pezodromo" to our favorite hidden ouzerie!