Tourist day! I spent the morning at the Acropolis. It’s a walk up with great views, and lots of people.
Monument of Agrippa and Propylaia. The entrance.
Temple of Athena Nike from behind with Athens below.
Porch of the Caryatids at the Erechtheion.
Old Temple of Athena Polias.
And its other side.
The Parthenon.
It’s hard to convey how big it is.
It is possible to get a photo without people from certain angles.
It’s old, so it’s always under restoration.
There were people working on it.
And lots of stones on the ground.
The restoration work was done with marble. The new marble is brilliant white, while the original has darkened.
There isn’t much shade, and the sun was brutal.
Where there was shade, you could find people.
It’s up high with great views of Athens and the surrounding hills.
The way in and out was through an ancient doorway, that served better as a bottleneck for traffic.
Not everything was atop the hill. Walking up and down there were lots of other things to see.
Odeon of Herodes Atticus.
Theater of Dionysus, where you could enter and sit.
I hadn’t realized how much of the top had been built up. That’s the Parthenon on top of the hill fortified by the huge wall.
There is a museum with most of the sculptures in it, but a few remain outside.
I got there early before there were any lines. On my way out a line had formed.
Then lunch. Pork gyro. I asked the guy in the restaurant why I didn’t see lamb anywhere. He said there are a few places that serve lamb gyros, but generally it’s chicken or pork.
A little walking around the tourist shops before taking a taxi down to the marina to see about setting up a scuba trip for tomorrow.
They were closed! I’d been trading emails with the shop for a couple days. I thought popping in would make things easier. Guess not. So I emailed them again.
A long walk from the marina through a shopping district (very little english on the signs) and a metro ride back to the Airbnb.
My host had to get in to fix the shower door.
A chai at a nearby coffee shop.
Relaxing for a bit, then a short walk to a nearby restaurant… that was closed for the week while they remodel. So I wandered, looking for food.
Stumbled across some sort of march, and watched a homeless guy “help” the police divert traffic.
Stopped at the first place that had take away souvlaki and ate at the Airbnb while going through all the photos I’d taken.
A phone call to the dive shop, another couple emails with them, and I now have a dive trip setup for tomorrow. I think I ended up with a private tour. The whole “solo traveler” thing has not been very helpful when communicating.
So a full day out in the most touristy parts of Athens. What do you think I wore? A Nebraska Huskers t-shirt, obviously.
Not one person stopped me.
I don’t think that’s ever happened before.
I guess Nebraskians don’t find their way to Greece as much as elsewhere in the world.
Travel 