Athens Day 3

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This morning I had only a rough plan for what I would do today, so I have been going from one thing to the next as the spirit has moved me. I walked through the National Garden which is sort of like Athens' Central Park. From there I took a taxi to the top of Lycabettus Hill, the tallest in the city. It is east of the Acropolis and in the morning there is an especially nice view. Then I took the funicular down the hill and walked to the National War Museum. They do a nice job there and I found it interesting to learn more about Greek military history. Also, they had scale models of the Acropolis and of the Walls at Constantinople, so I took pictures of those to see what those places looked like in their prime. Then I went next door to the Byzantine Museum. It turned out to be a history of Christian religious art in Greece during the Byzantine Empire (~300 AD to 1453 AD). I like to look at icons as much as the next man, but frankly there were more in the museum than I cared to see. As I walked from there toward the Metro station, I passed by the parliament building. There was a tiny demonstration going on with what appeared to be about eight protestors, an equal number of newspeople, and around thirty policemen, many of them in riot gear. I took a picture. Then I went into the elegant Hotel Grande Bretagne and went up to the 8th floor bar where I had a glass of German Riesling and enjoyed the view of the Acropolis with the Aegean Sea in the background. I have plans for tonight, but I will wait to blog about it tomorrow.

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