Athens

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Our day tour of Athens began with an 8.30 pick up and we did a drive through of the CBD and past the major central attractions. Then we walked to the top of one of the seven hills overlooking Athens to see the Acropolis. Our guide, Marianna was very informative and while the place was quite crowded, it was still possible to see the views and appreciate the amazing feat of human design and engineering.
Then onto the Acropolis museum which is located down the hill from the original and houses what is left of the antiquities that had not been stolen by Lord Egolin-60% removed over a six year period in the 1800s (the British have a lot to answer for)
Lunch was in a little cafe in Plaka (an old part of the city) and just around the corner from our hotel. We sat with a father and daughter from Belgium. She was heading for Thailand next to holiday with her mother and Dad was going home and back to work. The others at our table were a mother and son from Washington DC who are on the same Mediterranean cruise as us. And 2 middle school teachers from the states.
After lunch we were driven down the coast 70 km to Cape Sourion past the Greek equivalent of the French Riviera. Every bit of the coast was inhabited by people sunbathing and swimming. At the cape we saw the ruins of the Temple of Poseidon and heard about the history of the area including how the Aegean Sea was named.
I am writing this on the bus as we return back along the coast to our hotel. There are still lots of people on the beach at 6,30 on a Tuesday night but we have been told that this is a major holiday season and local Athenians would be staying along the coast for their holidays.

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