Monday, March 22, 2010

There's a Parthenon,... in Nashville? Really? Yup.

K, being a huge Percy Jackson fan, wanted to know if there was really a Parthenon in Nashville. Yes indeed there is.

And it is sooooo cool! We didn't know what to expect. We arrived around 10:30, just when a group tour was starting, looked like 6Th graders, maybe 7Th. The tour guide was really great, so we just kinda tagged along. And it was fantastic! Really well done and as authentic as a one can be using concrete and gold leaf. The coolest part are the castings taken from the original Parthenon statues. They were done really well and we were told they were some of the last castings the British Museum allowed to be made from the originals. They tried to accurately recreate the original structure and the Athena statue, which looks nothing like the one in the movie, but very much like the original. Minus the ivory, thank goodness.

K absolutely loved it. We stayed for three hours, and then she wanted to go back after lunch. And there was nothing to do with Percy Jackson, they don't even mention the movie. We asked another wonderful museum docent and she said, yes, the movie was filmed there, last August, but that was it. K was still all excited and walked all around trying to think where Percy and Annabeth might have stood. Fun.

And did I mention, there's an art gallery downstairs. Very cool.

2 comments:

Scarlett said...

You know I was born and bred in Nashville. I remember as long ago in the 60's there was a donation box to drop coins to fund the Athena Schedule. It was not until the late 90's we actually got her, AMAZING! I am glad you got to really see her!

pj said...

Hey Scarlett!

Nashville! Cool! We've driven through dozens of times, but this was the first time we've stopped for anything but the airport. We want to go back for a longer visit, where should we go? What should we do? Where should we eat? I'm a northerner, but I'm raising a little GRIT, and we want to show her more of her part of the country.

Our tour guide told us about the donations from kids to build the stature. It was worth the pennys, it really is amazing. The whole park was wonderful and we had a great time.

pj