Our first full day in Athens began with breakfast from the buffet
along with orange juice
as Ben (who had decided to give up the incognito bit)
Suzanne
Sarah
and I
enjoyed the views of the Acropolis at all resolutions knowing that this would be today's destination.
We walked through the public gardens
before stopping at the conference center for a break
and then moving on to this hero
before stopping at the baths
that were dug up during the subway construction
and made some in our party feel like they'd like to be in a cool bath
rather than continuing the journey past Hadrian's Arch
which could be viewed from the side
before we saw the sign giving our destination
and began the walk
pausing to look back
while proceeding
taking the obligatory phone booth picture
and noting the Church of the Metamorphosis
while continuing to keep our eye on the rock
and sometimes the barely visible (and possibly not captured) moon in the blue sky
as we passed the theater of Herod Atticus
as we made our way up
to the steps
that led to the splendor
as Ben and Suzanne took a break
before we entered the temples that were ancient Athens
|
until Sarah and Suzanne broke away from tour groups
and I could focus on taking many pictures of the parthenon at varying levels of detail
|
before we looked out at the hill where we were living
and then Sarah
Sarah, Ben and Suzanne posed
and led us through the other temples
|
pausing occasionally for family photos
from which point we could watch the reconstruction of the Parthenon
leading to a block being lowered in place
even as we wandered past the next temple not yet realizing how much a pillar cost
|
and we were careful to follow the signs (and so didn't touch the marble even if Lord Elgin had)
as we made our way down
and got our first view of the Agora
and the remarkable temple of Hephastos
and then climbed the rocks
to get a better view of the agora
though we couldn't read this sign
while this sign sent us in the right direction
and so we climbed the very slippery rocks
to get back to views of the acropolis
and the agora
before heading down to the Agora
and obeying the instructions
before entering the Panathenic Way
and the Ancient Stoa
where we posed with many of the people who were memorialized there
|
including this elegant photo of Suzanne and her counterpart (my 2 goddesses)
and this capital
while meanwhile we looked out at a fire brewing in the hills around Athens
which wasn't going to affect the current view
but the fire kept raging
|
even as we admired the temple of Hephastos (perhaps he needed the fire for his forge)
|
which was described as follows
and then we said good bye to Hadrian
and admired the Brazilian pepper tree
before heading to lunch at savvas in the Plaka where this was the menu
|
as Ben
Suzanne
me
and Sarah
enjoyed our Greek salad
tsatsiki
fried cheese
and pita
as the souvlakis came
and then we began the walk back past this Greek Orthodox church
with its founder
and then back at the hotel, I took some picture of the room
and of Ben reading
until the battery died and the day ended.
|