ATHENS (Greece) – we arrived at the port of Piraeus and shortly afterwards boarded another big bus for another big day touring Athens, the Acropolis and the Plaka. A nice drive through Athens and we spotted the Acropolis in the distance, our first stop – WOW!! We climbed about 80 easy steps (well some bigger than others and also very slippery marble steps) to the marble-columned Parthenon, the Erectheion and the Porch of the Caryatids -- all this beautiful marble -- simply amazing! These structures didn’t disappoint, and were of course, far bigger in real life than they look in pictures. There were magnificent views of the whole of Athens and we got some good pics. We then did a city tour of historic buildings and interesting sights and enjoyed driving through the streets lined with orange trees laden with fruit (the Greeks are not keen on citrus, they are more for decoration) – traffic not too bad due to the holiday season. We ended up at the Plaka – a market area with rows of streets full of cafés and souvenir shops and chose a nice shady little café for lunch where we devoured a fabulous Greek salad, washed down with a very enjoyable Greek beer!! Bought some souvenirs and headed back – still not able to find stamps or a post office (well we eventually did but you had to take a ticket - we shook our heads as it all looked far too hard with the lingo etc.!!!!)
Sadly we received the news that Colin’s Mum had passed away in England – we were just 2 weeks off seeing her again….
Photos: Acropolis in the distance; view of Athens; Colin with Parthenon in background; steep hill with St. George’s Church atop (some of our fellow passengers actually got to the top!!); tourists everywhere; a real Greek salad & Greek beer in the Plaka; the Plaka
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