Geo: 37.9792, 23.7166Happy birthday to our darling Tom - the gentle sweet-natured boy turns 14 today!After birthday hugs and a Juventus shirt, we headed out on the Metro towards the Ancient Agora, having breakfast overlooking the Agora (marketplace). Greek scrambled eggs with tomatoes and oregano were delicious - and Matt was delighted by his toasted cheese sandwich which came with chips!Twenty years ago, Steven and I looked in at the Roman Agora, which then was derelict and full of feral cats. Now, it looks slightly better although still feral cats - but we didn't realize that there is a second, larger and older Agora - the Ancient Agora. Photos we have seen since indicated we had missed something special! The ancient Agora was wonderful - so many large and small buildings, in different states, and great ... read more

Geo: 37.9668, 23.7295What an incredible day! We went across the road from our wonderful hotel to the Acropolis Museum, which opened in 2009. The museum itself is built above the ruins of a Classical Greek street and early Byzantine street, visible through glass floors. The new museum has so many wonderful artifacts from the period when the Acropolis temples were built (500BC). There is evidence that the Acropolis has been inhabited since 6000BC - don't that make your head spin! The top floor of the museum has been built to the same size and proportions as the Parthenon, with the remaining marble frieze (and presumed replicas) displayed around the museum. The marbles that Lord Elgin bought (or, as they say here, "looted") are replicated in stark white, so everyone can appreciate how well they fit with ... read more

Geo: 37.9668, 23.7295For us Australians, London to Athens doesn't seem so far. But somehow, it took the entire day to get here. We got up, packed up our great apartment at 11D Bedford Pl, Bloomsbury, and carted our bags through the tube system (so many flights of stairs when you have 3 large suitcases!) to Victoria Station, where we negotiated the return of the Oyster cards and straight onto the Gatwick Express. An easy trip to the airport, followed by an almost comedic airport security check (make everyone put all belongings in trays, zoom trays off before people go through scanners, freak over trays without people attached (who are still queuing at scanners), summons people for special checks, freak when their possessions are still in trays, and as a special touch, separate the kids from the ... read more

Geo: 51.5205, -0.123871What a wonderful day! We started late, wandered over to Southampton Row and found a cafe that did a full English breakfast - in fact, a "mega full English" with hashbrowns, sausages, bacon, beans, mushrooms and toast - was a little surprised when the bloke next to us also ordered a side of fries to add to it!Then off to the British Museum. Steven has long espoused the notion (correctly) that when we lived around the corner, we didn't visit for long enough. Frankly, you could visit for an hour a day for the remainder of your life and not see enough. We were there by 10am opening, and only managed to see 10 things on the "Don't Miss" list plus the things that caught our eyes as we wandered by. Here's some highlights:* ... read more

Geo: 51.5205, -0.123871Today was about the divine and the materialistic. We started the day at St Paul's Cathedral - which should be the divine part of the day. We had never entered St Paul's, either when we lived here or in 2010 - I think each time, the exorbitant entry (£50 for the family!) put us off. When we entered, it is clearly a beautiful church, and the dome is very impressive (second largest in the world). We wandered around for a while, looking at the graves of famous people. Then up, up, up 300 odd stairs spiraling up to the Whispering Gallery, which runs around the "bottom" of the dome. No surprises that it wasn't Tom's idea of fun. We struggled for a while to get he "whispering" happening, but eventually had it working (people ... read more