Ancient Athens

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Though we were terribly homesick by this point, we pushed ourselves to complete a half-day tour and make the most of our time in Athens. The guide took us past Hadrians Arch, the Temple of Zeus, and the Olympic Stadium now hosting the Special Olympics. We even saw the large torch burning in the sky. In Syntagma Square we saw protestors and police in front of the Parliament building. Incidentally, Greece claims to be the first democratic government. We then drove past the famous British hotel, the University of Athens, Academy of Athens, and the National Library - all of them neo-classic architectural wonders. We learned that Greece is 96% Orthodox Christian - a rather amazing statistic considering this is the origin of polytheistic pagan mythology. We then ascended up to the Acropolis and took a full walking tour of the temples and monuments currently being reconstructed there. We saw the theatre of Dionysos, the Parthenon, a Temple to Athena Nike, and a large rock ourcrop where Paul once preached. We also toured the new Acropolis museum where the old statues and replicas from the Parthenon are on display. The museum building itself is very interesting with a layout that mirrors the Parthenon. We learned quite a bit of history here and appreciated the movie that played on the top floor. We walked back to the hotel through Palaka after lunch and then ventured back out for more ruins, temples, and the Roman Agora. While we roamed around we heard gun fire off in the distance from the police shooting tear gas into the crowd of protestors. So, we decided to pick up two gyros to go and enjoy them back in our hotel room.
Lord God, please protect us and get us home safely to our home country tomorrow. Amen.

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