getting to know Athens

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we awoke and made ready for our 1st day of seeing Athens . . . . with our friends Ken and Bobbi Hunter. they called to say they'd hired a tour guide and a shuttle bus and would pick us up around 10am. Betty, our tour guide, has been a professional guide for 15 years with a major in Art History and a masters in German from Heidleberg and a native Athenian. she speaks several languages and English very well. we were so lucky that Ken made the effort to hire her as she showed us everything from the museums, markets, good cafes, the Acropolis and Greek/Athens history to parks and just getting around Athens from the comfort of an airconditioned van. once we completed the "around Athens show" the bulk of the tour was at the Acropolis. for some crazy reason, today was a free entry day to this amazing place which Betty simply shook her head at as she pointed out that with her country in need of revenue, letting people see the Acropolis for free is crazy, especially when most of the people are tourists from cruise ships who in all probablity have paid the full fee to the cruise line for the entry fee who in turn simply pocketed the money at the country's loss. that point aside . . . let's just say that you can read about it and look at pictures of it but nothing beats being there and having someone explain what everything at the Acropolis means, it's more than the Parthenon. after 90 minutes of hiking around the Acropolis, we toured through some market areas and ended up at a nice cafe for some authentic Greek food. Betty left us and we decided to head back to Ken and Bobbi's hotel to freshen up before going to visit the Acropolis Museum. for 5 euros you get into a 5 star quality museum with 3 stories of artifacts and history of the Acropolis. we spent almost 2 hours there then came back to the Grande Bretagne Hotel for dinner at the rooftop restaurant with a commanding view of the Acropolis and a full moon rising!

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Photos

Filapappau Hill
from where the Parthenon was bombed in 1648 by the Venetians

Erechthelion
near the Old Temple of Athena

Propylaia
the entry way to the Acropolis

meat market
we also visited a fresh fish market and fresh fruit and vegetable market

view from the Grande Bretagne
rooftop restaurant

full moon rishing
over the Parliament Building in Syntagma Square