“Greece” is the Word! Unbelievably, the city of Athens looks a lot like…Detroit: full of cars, smog, and graffiti. Due to the rain, lots of tourists were deterred from site seeing, and the place was not wall to wall people. As always, we hired a private driver to take us around and again that turned out to be a great decision.
First, we climbed the Acropolis even though it was drizzling. When we got to the top Zeus must have been smiling upon us, because the rains dried up, and the clouds cleared away. The Acropolis was really fabulous, and I highly recommend it.
Olivia however, was supremely unimpressed. She ignored everything, and instead opted to spend her time jumping puddles and singing “Party in the USA” for the entire tour.
From there we travelled to the Presidential Palace for the Changing of the Guard Ceremony. This involved some good looking soldiers with highly complicated choreography, and pom pom shoes.
Then we just messed around, saw some other famous stuff, and just enjoyed the city. I feel like we must be the laziest tourists on the planet, but we still had fun!
The National Theatre kind of reminds me of the Colosseum.
It’s drizzling and slippery to get to the top.
Europeans are so matter of fact about safety. I love how fatal death drops only have a piece of string to warn you of the danger.
Traveler’s Tip-Do not wear cute “Greek” sandals to climb the Acropolis-they are worthless against the slippery marble.
Unlike what you actually see on TV, the marble is not white. It’s very yellow.
So far the Greeks have spent over 100 million Euros to renovate this. And those cranes have been present inside the temple for over 50 years.
Olivia blithely ignoring one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
The views are spectacular, but see the city behind? You can imagine how crowded Athens must be.
Changing of the Guard-fascinating and weird at the same time.
Olivia asked, “Are they wearing elf shoes?”
Horsing around and shopping a bit.
Olivia running amok – really! Where are her parents?
The Temple of Zeus. Usually it’s very crowded but the gray skies made all the sites nice and open.
So lovely…
An homage to Paige who taught Olivia this pose for so many of our family pictures. Thanks honey!
Goodbye Athens! You are a lovely country with excellent food.