June 24 - Acropolis

We made up for our leisurely day today. We hit the ground running and didn't stop until we boarded the ferry this evening. My Fitbit recorded 29,560 steps! I'm sure most of that was because we didn't have a bus for most of the day. After breakfast and check out we headed down the street to pick up the tram to take us into town. We met up with our guide for the day: Nico, who was a delight.

He first took us to the park which houses the Temple of Zeus. Throughout our time with him, he was a fountain of information. He explained how the temple was built by different people, and how that influenced the structure. He also told us that it once contained many more columns, but over time many of them were pilfered by residents of the city.

We could see the Acropolis and Parthenon from the park, which was pretty exciting. It wasn't long before we were headed to the Acropolis. I can tell you, that as exciting as it is to see the Acropolis and Parthenon up close, I wasn't looking forward to the trip up.

Four years ago when I was in Greece, I thought the climb up to the top was going to do me in. It was long. It was hot. It was steep. And it took me forever to get there! But somehow, Nico avoided all that. For one thing the weather was better. It wasn't quite so hot yet, and there was a breeze. He also took us up a different way I'm sure. And as we climbed, we stopped at intervals while he explained what we were seeing all around us. Before I knew it we were top!

Just before we went into the Acropolis area, he pointed out the rock where Saint Paul had preached. That was really neat! We had time to explore a little and take some pictures before we headed to lunch.

We ate at the same little restaurant I had four years ago. It is so cute and has a great view of the city. And the people that are so friendly! We had a delicious lunch of chicken, Greek salad and orzo.  Yum!

After lunch we were treated to a special opportunity  that not even all People to People groups  get to experience. We went to the barracks of the Presidential Guard and learned about the history of their uniforms and how they are made by hand. Then we visited the areas where they make the shoes and the uniforms. So much work goes into each uniform. The shoes are made from leather and hand sewn and cobbled. The uniform weighs about 16 pounds and contains much embroidery, wool, and silk. I can't imagine how hot does uniforms are in the summer.

After our tour, we headed to the changing of the guard. All of it was very impressive.


We then had some time to spend shopping in the Plaka. There are so many diverse and interesting shops. We all scored a bargain or two there.

Dinner was not too far from the Pkaka. It consisted of pork kabobs, rice, Greek salad, and zucchini balls with dill sauce and the best french fries I've ever tasted.

All that was left was to take the bus to the ferry and board for our overnight trip to Crete. When I say ferry, don't think of a little boat like the Jet Express.  This is more like a mini-cruise ship, complete with pool and dining areas. We were all ready to hit the sack, as we have another long day tomorrow.

(Obviously, this is late.  I apologize.  I'm having difficulty with technology.  I will add pictures to this ASAP, but I want to at least get the written form out to you. I'll catch up on the other two posts on the bus tomorrow. )