Today we find ourselves in the lovely (and smoggy) city of athens. We were very fortune with the weather today, as it is typically very toasty this time of year. We had a slight drizzle as we hailed a cab heading for the Acropolis, but it had stopped by the time we hit the parking lot. I had been prepared to drive through a bustling city on the way but I hadn't expected to see so many street dogs. They slept on the streets and groups of them actually were sleeping in a grassy median. When we arrived at the acropolis a black lab greeted everyone with a steady bark. Later we saw him at the top of the hill. Apparently he didn't have to pay the 12 euro to get in! It made me sad to see all of these homeless dogs, especially since we miss Maddie so much when we are gone. Later in the day though I noticed a lot of bowls outside of homes and many Greeks who came up and patted the dogs and played with them. So maybe they are just cared for in a different way.
We had been warned that it is 80 steps and a number of different ramps to get to the top of the acropolis and we weren't sure how well Pat and Renate would do. Luckily we were just ahead of the crowds and could take our time heading up the hill. Everyone did great! It was amazing to wander through these ancient ruins that we have seen in history books our whole lives. The view from the top is commanding and you can see other ruins on neighboring hills peeking out from behind the overgrowth of trees. We wandered through the ruins of the Parthenon. They are currently doing some restoration work so we can see how they struggle to get the building materials in place with modern technology. I just can't fathom how this was done in ancient times. We made our way down the hill, stopping at the theatre of Dionysus imagining how it would have been to be there in it's heyday.
Then it was on to the Plaka for some shopping and lunch at a charming restaurant with multiple terraces looking out over the city. The best part was the tzatziki- seriously delish! We'd like to thank Rick Steves for the recommendation.
The last place we wanted to visit was the ruins of the old Agora by way of a hidden, narrow pathway among Greek homes covered in flowers and oozing charm. The Agora was fun to wander through, seeing buildings in ruin, and engraved columns just strewn about. The most surprising part of the day though had to be the tortoises we found just wandering around the ruins. I didn't see that in any guidebooks!
After returning to the ship we engaged in our new Liebthal obsession-trivia. They have trivia competitions like 3 times a day. Mark and I went yesterday on a lark and our team barely lost. What we needed was more firepower! So we enlisted Al and Jen and we all joined the afternoon game. Again we barely lost. If you know us at all, you know we love games and we are competitive. So because we returned to the ship in separate cabs this afternoon, I called Al and Jen to let them know we were back. The first thing Al said is that there was trivia again at 4. So all thoughts of showers and naps vanished and we headed to the explorer lounge to do battle. We barely pulled off a narrow victory thanks to knowing that Neptune was the last planet discovered in the 19th century and that George Lazenby was the man who played James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (thanks to Marji that I know that!). We won fabulous princess cruise flashlights! Maddie will be so excited!
Anywho, time to finish my drink, and prepare for Ephesus, Turkey tomorrow.
Linda
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