Day 3 - Athens

Saturday was the first real day of our tour. We all met for a nice breakfast at the hotel, being the first night in a foreign land not everyone slept well. Apparently Jean was up at 1AM and in the shower, she was still on East Coast time and thought it was time to get up and get going....too funny. 

We met Nadine at the bus at 8AM and also met our local specialist for our morning tour, Averkios. Averkios was not born in Greece but grew up in Athens and is not only very knowledgeable but a great teacher.  As he says "you all know quite a bit of Greek and I will prove it to you". Of course he did, pointing out how much all languages are based upon ancient Greek.  

There are 15 of us (counting Nadine) on a bus that seats about 50, we have plenty of room. 

Our driver Christós navigates the streets and June closes her eyes. The bus rides better than any luxury automobile, it is quite amazing. 

We stopped at The Panathenaic Stadium where the first modern Olympics were held in 1896. The stadium itself dates back to 330 B.C. but was renovated with new marble in 1896 and pretty much looks today like it did then. Today it is used for concerts and other entertainment events. It seats almost 50,000 but those seats of hard marble have to be uncomfortable. 

We continued our tour until we came to the tomb of the unknown soldier, due to the light traffic we were able to stop and watch the 'Changing of the Guard'. The tomb is guarded by the Evzones, a special unit of the Hellenic Army, also known as Tsoliades. They guard the Monument of the Unknown Soldier in front of the Hellenic Parliament and the Presidential Mansion. Through the historical movement of Greece, the Evzones have become symbols of bravery and courage for the Greek people.

We continued our tour to the parking lot at the bottom of the Acropolis or as Averkios would call it the 'Sacred Stone'. It is quite a hike up to the top of the Acropolis and is not for anyone who can not walk but the views from the top are very rewarding. The weather was just perfect and we were all quickly shedding our coats. 

As we made the ascent a group of young Evzones trainees were coming down. The young man in the picture is the youngest member of our group, Harry is 11. Harry is an expert on the Greek Gods, when Averkios asks a question he almost always has the answer.

The most sacred temple on Acropolis is Athena's temple. It also includes the tomb of Erichthonius, it is a long story, ask Harry if you are interested. :-) 

On top of the Acropolis you can see 360 degrees of Athens, the views are stunning to say the least. 

The Parthenon is about 2500 years old and still standing. Bob was here in 1978 when he was in the Navy, back then you could roam the grounds. Things have changed. 

We spent a few hours on the Sacred Rock, we took many pictures of the temples and the amphitheaters that surround the Acropolis where many celebrities have performed like Frank Sinatra, Elton John and Sting.

The weather was just spectacular and we took more pictures than I can post. The girls had a good time. 

As we left the Acropolis we walked to our next destination, the Acropolis museum. We walked through an affluent section of Athens, it was very nice with music on the streets.

As you enter the Acropolis Museum the floor is glass and you see archeological findings from Roman times below the floor. They found these during the museum construction and preserved them as part of the museum. 

One cool display in the museum is a Lego representation of Acropolis, the detail is amazing. 

The museum itself is built to the same dimensions as the Parthenon. It is massive and contains both original pieces and plaster replicas. It is a very big sore spot with the Greeks that much of the artifacts, mostly marble sculptures, from Acropolis reside in a British National Museum in London. They were taken by the Scottish nobleman Lord Elgin, who stripped them from the ancient Acropolis in Athens in 1801 and sold them to the British government in 1816. When asked why the British will not return them, our guide said because if they did they would be left with nothing of interest in the British Museum. It is an ongoing spat with the Brits. The display of the girls guarding the tomb in Athena's Temple is missing one of the six sculptures and it is not represented by a plaster replica.  It is a way for the Greeks to remind the world that the sculpture exists, it is in Britain and needs to come home to her rightful place. 

When we exited the Museum we parted ways with Averkios. We very much appreciated his time. 

After the museum we walked to the Plaka neighborhood of Athens which has many shops and restaurants. We had lunch at the Acropol Cafe.  The food was good but the waiter was a disaster, he pretty much messed up everyone's order. 

After a late lunch we walked back to the hotel for a Siesta, we had walked a lot and needed the break. After our nap Ed and I walked the streets of Athens and located the hotel we will move to on Friday, it is an easy walk. 

For the evening we took the bus to the neighborhood of Psiri. We had a very nice Greek meal at The Lithos Tavern. It was a nice way to end our evening.

After dinner we walked a bit and then took the bus back to our hotel. It is the Greek Easter, so at 11PM there is a mass followed by fire works and a big feast. June and I went to the roof top at midnight to watch the fireworks but the viewing was not good and they were a long way off, so we just went to bed. It was a full day. 

Today, Easter Sunday, we will board the coach for Thermopylae and Kalambaka.