In the last few decades, airports have styled themselves as great places for art exhibits. After all, thousands of travelers pass through airports. They are often a captive audience. And airports are large civic places begging for both beautification and intellectual stimulation. I mean, how much CNN can one person watch, right?

Personally, San Francisco is one of my favorite places for airport art, and I have blogged about spending time at SFO before. On my way out of town this week, I spent a few minutes admiring the collection of Ancient Mediterranean Pottery on display in the International Terminal. The pottery is on loan from the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology through March, 2010.

The exhibit, "Scenes from Myths and Daily Life: Ancient Mediterranean Pottery," focuses on the ancient red and black pottery common in Greece roughly from 700 - 31 BCE. The pieces ranged from a delightful little pot sporting an oblique owl to an elaborate vessel with athletes sprinting toward a laurel wreath. In the midst of travel headaches (and a brief spat with my husband) time spent with some gorgeous ancient art was just what I needed.