Athens, 7/12/13

After two days at sea, it was great to get on solid ground.  Not that our trip has been rough - it definitely has been very smooth - it's just nice to walk somewhere other than the ship halls for a while.  Sea days can be pretty wild, too (lots of people taking up the lounge chairs, drinking a lot, sexiest man contest, biggest belly flop contest, etc.  The guy from Georgia won the belly flop, BTW.  He looked like he should probably stay away from the buffet a little more. Oh my!)

When we arrived in Athens, we had instructions from Athens Walking Tours to go down to the port entrance at 8:30 a.m.  (I decided to do another "non" Royal Caribbean excursion.)  The taxi to take us should be there by 8:45 a.m.  I got a little anxious at about 8:35 that our driver wasn't going to make it, so I called the office.  He came at 8:42.  Hmm...

The driver took us to the subway stop near Zeus' temple and told us our guide would meet us downstairs.  I thought that was strange, but we go underground to the subway station to meet our guide, Kostas.  Picture a short, skinny, young, cute Greek guy with a fedora-style hat.  He is a certified Athens guide who majored in anthropology at the University of Athens.  We met with 13 other people - none of whom were on our cruise - an interesting fact since I found this tour on the Internet and all the reviews were great.

Kostas, our guide, showing us artifacts in the subway station.

Why did we meet in the subway station?  Well, apparently, this station (and others?) was built for the 2004 Olympics and when they were digging for it, they found/excavated ancient artifacts.  There is a museum in the subway.  Kostas showed us a wall which displayed the layers of the city - from 500 B.C. to 1st century A.D.  At one section - in the 4th century B.C. part - there was a grave of a young girl.  In another part of the station, there were displays of water vases, items found in graves, and grave stones.  It was fascinating.  

When we went out of the subway station, we walked to the front of the parliament building where Kostas discussed the history of the building, the tomb of the unknown soldier in front, and the famous evzone guards and their uniforms at the tomb.  Every part of the uniform has meaning - the red cap (blood in the war), the tassle (tears), the 400 pleats in the back of the coat (the years the Turks ruled Greece), etc.  We were able to see the changing of the guard, too.  Very cool.

We then walked through the National Garden (used to be the Royal Garden, but since there isn't a royal family, the name has changed.)  There, Kostas told us about the trees and plants Queen Amalia (wife to the Bavarian King Otto, who ruled after the Ottomans were thrown out of Greece) planted in the garden almost 200 years ago.

 Amid the garden is the Zappion Exhibition Hall where certain important events are held. This is a modern building - not much significance, if you ask me.  I think it was just a good place to rest in the shade before we went to Zeus' Temple.

Zeus' Temple was our first look at Ancient Greece.  Of the 104 original corinthian columns, there are only 15 that remain standing.  We've discovered there was a lot of "recycling" in these ancient cities - marble from one monument/temple used for the construction of another monument/temple/church/mosque.  The height of the temple was very impressive - 56 feet high.  

Next was Hadrian's Arch.  The Roman emperor Hadrian had this built in 132 A.D. in celebration of the completion of Zeus' Temple.  It also served as a dividing line between old Athens and Hadrian's new "Roman" city.  As are most of the ancient monuments and buildings, it is pretty dirty with pollution today.

We walked through a little of the Plaka (the neighborhood to the east of the Acropolis which has a great deal of shopping and restaurants) to get to the the path going up to the Acropolis.   Kostas told us a little about the new Acropolis Museum built here - how amazing it is - before we went on the path.  (We didn't have a lot of time in Athens, so I didn't get tickets for this museum.  Hopefully, we'll come back some day.)

Walking up to the Acropolis, we visited the Theater of Dionysus.  Probably the basis for our theater culture today, the likes of Sophocles and Alexander the Great watched "shows" here.

The path to the Acropolis.  

Next along the trail was the Odeon of Herodes Atticus - where there is musical entertainment (even today.)  Many would call this a "theater", but it is known by the Greeks to be an Odeon.  This was built in A.D. 161 by Herodes Atticus, a Greek with Roman citizenship.

Finally, we trudged (yes, by this time we were trudging - it was HOT!) up the hill to the top of the Acropolis.  (I do need to praise Kostas here, as he was very aware of the heat and stopped occasionally to tell us about the history of this and that IN THE SHADE!) We walked through the impressive gate (the Propylaea) to the top where the Parthenon and the Erechtheion are in full view.  WOW!  I could write a book about this place and the view, but I couldn't do it justice.  Daniel's reaction to the Parthenon?  "Eh."  He's joking - really.  We've seen SO MUCH on this trip that each big thing is like, "How do I react to this one?"  Kostas was wonderful in his explanations of everything.  He gave details we wouldn't have known had we tried to do this on our own.  However, it was already 12:30 p.m. and the kids (and Tom) were hungry, hot, and tired.  We listened to Kostas, thanked him, took a "few" pictures, and separated from the group (our tour was over anyway.)

The stairs up to the top of the Acropolis.

The view (and Kostas.) 

At the top.

The Parthenon.  They are trying to restore it to a point.  

The Erechtheion.

Bad decision on my part:  try to find a restaurant you heard about online that has authentic Greek food with 3 hungry, hot, and tired people trudging behind you (especially when you walk by several restaurants along the way.)  Hmm... Anyway, we ate at a restaurant called Paradosiako's on the edge of the Plaka - but too far from the Acropolis (especially for Clare.)  Thank goodness the food was good.  We started off with water (thank you, Lord!), beer for Tom, bread and tzatziki (garlicy, cucumber and yogurt sauce.)  Then came the REAL Greek salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, olives, capers, olive oil, vinegar, and a big slab of feta cheese on top.  YUMMY!  For the main course, I had baked eggplant stuffed with tomatoes, onions and herbs.  Tom and Daniel had a dish with spaghetti and beef with tomatoes.  Clare didn't have anything except salad and bread, because...  She still wasn't happy with where we landed for lunch.  We topped it all off with baklava from a sweet shop in the Plaka.

REAL Greek salad. (Yes, that's a slab of feta on top.)

Baked stuffed eggplant.  Oh, how I love eggplant! 

Beef in tomato sauce with spaghetti. 

Pondering feta.

Oh, how we love tzatziki.  

Oooey, gooey, baklava.  YUM!

Selfie.

Taking silly selfies.

We did a little shopping (Tom hung out in a nice "cool" shaded park) in the touristy shops.  Clare was happier now and bought a couple of things for herself and her friends.  (She still can't figure out what to get the boy "friend."  :))

We (finally) met up with the taxi (all set up by Athens Walking Tours) and went back to the ship.  Clare and I spent a good half hour in the port building with FREE WiFi, while Tom and Daniel went back to the stateroom.   Tom went directly to the gym and I went to get a margarita.  :)  

What a day!  Great city, amazing guide (and tour company), awesome food!  Goodbye, Athens!  Ephesus, here we come!