ATHENS ON THE RUN

Today started early. After a relatively good night’s sleep, Tina and I had a wonderful breakfast which included fresh squeezed orange juice. Our bus came to pick us up at 8:15 and we were off for a day of sightseeing.

First we went to the Acropolis to see the Parthenon. I was surprised that I made it up there. I have named the hike up the hill, The Acropolis Grind. But we did make it up and had a wonderful look around. It is quite amazing to think that it was constructed in 447-432 BC. Walking on slippery marble all day it was hard to imagine the number of slaves and oxen required to push, pull and drag all these enormous pieces of marble to these hilltops to construct these monuments. Our excellent guide was very informative and loved telling the mythology to explain how the times were back then. The design even took into consideration that the columns, many of which are still standing, had to be curved into a bulge in the middle in order for the structure to look straight and not crooked from the city of Athens down below …. wayyyyy down below!

We went to the Acropolis Museum that only opened its doors in 2009. It is an incredible structure built on columns so that the architects can continue to excavate the ruins that lie beneath the building. As you walk to the museum, you walk on glass panels and can view the work that is going on down below.

Lunch was included in the tour and we had a sampling of all things Greek – it was delicious and quite filling – then it was off to Sounio to see the Temple of Poseidon also built around the same time as the Parthenon. More stunning ancient architecture….and another hike up a hill.

We came back to the hotel to relax for a bit and then took a taxi to the Plaka (touristy shopping and eating area) – Tina popped out of the cab and bought a pin from the Athens Hard Rock Café and in the Plaka we walked and shopped from about 8:00 until 10:30. Athens is such a bustling place at all hours. Now we must go to bed. We need to meet our driver who will take us to the airport for a short flight to Crete (Heraklion) for the next 3 days.

Lesson from today – make sure when you get in a cab that they are not going to gouge you – we had to get out of one in the middle of the street cause he was going to charge us 3 x as much money to get home as it took to get there! He’s probably still looking for us!

Talk again tomorrow from Crete …