Welcome to Athens!

The walk up the Acropolis provided some nice views.

The Temple of Athena Nike

Sometimes it gets tiresome waiting on me.

The first view of the Parthenon...slightly disappointing, only because it's hard to see through all that scaffolding.

The lovely Aurelia and the Parthenon.

Thank you random lady for leaning INTO my picture. WTH

Get Ready!

Black and White Parthenon

The view from the flagpole, no scaffolding ruining my view.

It's a great day for a fan of Greek mythology.

Some of us, once again, aren't thrilled with history.

Weird to be in the sun though.

Our favorite person from Ephesus.  He wasn't in our group today but we still got to see him entertain himself.

So happy to be here.

The Temple of Zeus.

The Temple of Hephaestus in the distance.  Isabel laughed because, of course, it's still standing. 

The Panathenaic Stadium.

No idea but I don't want to walk up.

The Porpyleae, entry gate, if it was nothing more it was certainly crowded.  Actually, I guess, from this angle it's the exit gate. The first picture is the other side of the gate.

The Erechtheion, a temple to both Athena and Poseidon...The Athenians didn't want Poseidon to be too angry that he wasn't chosen as the city's patron god. 

The last angle I'll bore you with of the Erechtheion.  I didn't know there was more here than the Parthenon.  An education vacation, well worth the money.

This will always be an active archaeological site.  Even what has already been restored needs constant attention.  Quite a few of the pillars were wonky from the last earthquake.

Athens and the Sea from the Acropolis.

Ready to go!

The view from below.

The Panthenaic Stadium, home of the first modern Olympics.

Isabel was the only kid willing to leave the bus.  

I think this guy didn't do well, look how he throws the discus.

 Part of our excursion was a driving tour of Athens.  Hold on to your hats, it wasn't that exciting.

Athens Academy, a private school, not too shabby at all.
We also got a lot of blurry pictures, I won't bore you.

There was a 3 hour break in the tour to go it on our own. So, we did.

The Temple of Zeus.  Put back together by Hadrian.

If you touch anything, accidentally or not, these people ferociously blow their whistle at you.

A grateful Athens re erected this gate as a thank you to Hadrian for the Temple of Zeus.

The temple complex includes, you guessed it, more ruins. 

Stupid whistle blowers, this is such a great place for the kids to be statues.

A small church on our way to the Plaka, old town shopping area, for lunch, and yes, shopping.

YAY shopping!

The Athenian, Greek and Euro Zone Flags.

 Back on the Bus

Athens was wonderful

Good sites, food, and shopping.

The girls all dressed up in their Greek dresses for dinner. I'm in a dress I brought with, not quite Greek but close enough for this girl.

Lincoln wanted to dress like a Greek boy, the shirt was as close as we could get.

Patrick got a shirt too, but in Santorini, so it's cooler.