Greece in March

Well, I am only a month behind - still haven't finished my posts on Rome but decided to go with Greece while it's fresh on my mind.  Originally Jay was going to go on his own to do some work at Corinth but the more I thought about it the more I couldn't stand not joining him.   So, we took the girls out of school and headed there by Swiss Airlines on the 12th.  (Dayna captured some pretty cool views of the Alps from the air.)  The trip  ended up being voted one of our favorite trips so far (our trip to Switzerland is still ranked #1).  We stayed the first 3 nights in an apartment at the Greek Bible Institute, a school run by a DTS grad in a suburb of Athens.  They gave us the royal welcome and we got to live like a local - riding the bus into Athens, going to the market etc.  The girls enjoyed interfacing with the students there from all over the world and also made a new kid friend - Erastos - the son of one of the professors.  He coached them on the finer points of soccer there on the school grounds.  Dayna also participated in a ladies quilting group at the school with some of the local Greek women.  She ate up the attention afforded a little blonde girl in a country with all dark hair!!

We spent our first full day in Athens at the Acropolis.  It wasn't crowded at all and the weather was pleasant and partly sunny.  We enjoyed a picnic lunch overlooking the city - a crowded and dense panorama.  We are so spoiled with space in the U.S.!!  A hike up to the top of the neighboring hill - Filopappos Hill provided some great views of the Parthenon.   We found Athens much nicer than when we were there in 1988.  A lot of improvements took place for the Olympics in 2004 including the nicest subway stations we have seen-complete with ancient artifacts displays.  Other than the stray dogs EVERYWHERE (which were there in '88 as well!) we felt safer walking all over the city.  They have really made the area around the Acropolis and Agora very friendly with outdoor cafes, pedestrian only streets and even a playground!  It's amazing that the Athenian kids grow up playing in the shadows of such famous
monuments!!

Our second day of touring Athens included a trip to the National Archaeological Museum which was chock full of some incredible artifacts.  It was pretty amazing and overwhelming.  It really is an incredible museum and you could spend days there.  After that and lunch at McDonalds (Jay gets his American style coffee and the girls get their burgers) we went to the newly opened Acropolis Museum which holds many of the original items from the Parthenon.  Architecturally the building is amazing and is designed with incredible views of the Parthenon.  (You can see the modern museum in the background of the picture above with Dayna) The top floor is a re-creation of the Parthenon using many of the original pieces that have been recovered.  It was pretty interesting and sad to see how many pieces are missing to the British Museum!  Unfortunately they don't allow photography in the Museum so we can't bore you with any pictures!



We ended the day with the all important souvenir shopping (hey, they have to have some payback for putting up with touring ruins and antiquities!) and ice cream (NOT to be compared with Italian gelato!).  Jay was yearning for American coffee after he endured a cup of Greek coffee with its 1/2" thick layer of grounds at the bottom.  Although it was a quick tour through Athens we were ready for some open space - the allure of the city had worn off...on to Corinth.