Bob and Ann in Greece 2008

Please visit May 12 slideshow

Athens - Scene from Lycabettus Hill - Acropolis

We had some free time this morning, so we decided to walk over to and go up Lycabettus Hill. This is one of the highest hills in Athens and it has wonderful views of the city. Our time was limited, so instead of walking up the path to the top, we took the funicular up and down.

Our walk back to the hotel took us down one of the priciest streets in Athens. There were lots of name-brand shops and classy restaurants and apartments. We got lucky as we passed the parliament building and saw the changing of the guard - a very colorful, choreographed ceremony with guards dressed in traditional uniforms.

Zeus (or Poseidon - No one knows for sure)


Athena

Once we reached our hotel, we met the rest of the group and lit out for the National Archeological Museum. This involved taking the underground, walking and riding a bus. We made it together although I had some doubts with some of our less experienced members on mass transit. The museum didn't open until 1:00, so we had time for lunch in a garden cafe in front of the museum. Most of us had club sandwiches. I had an espresso freddo with mine.

There were lots of treasures in the museum. This is the largest museum of antiquities in Greece. Our 2-hour guided tour took us to the highlights.

Ann wanted to find a CD of ancient Greek music, so we left the group after the museum and walked back to the hotel, visiting three CD stores until we found the right one. We now have some ancient music that was copied from some really old stones in Delphi.

Our farewell dinner was at Taverna Vizantino that we had been to twice before. The highlight of the meal was lamb cooked in lettuce (there was lots more than just lettuce in the sauce). Baklava was our final dessert.