August 30 - Sept 2 Athens Greece

 We arrived in Athens in the middle of the night. The transfer from the airport to the hotel was an adventure in itself. However, in the morning this is the view from breakfast on the top floor.

 

 

We walked about the Plaka area of Athens, viewing the old things.

And there was opportunity for shopping

Hadrian's Arch

On the next day we transferred to the hotel for the Oceania pre-cruise tour (it had not been available for our arrival days).  Although sightly farther from the Acropolis, it still had a great view from the rooftop bar.

 

Our Oceania tour began with a city tour. The Parliament Building

 We visited the Acropolis.

 

which required climbing a number of steps

The Parthenon. It's always in repair when we visit.

 

and after a summer of unrelenting heat, it began to rain -- just enough to be annoying

 

 

 

We retreated from the rain and went to the Acropolis Museum, built, like the rest of Athens, on top of ancient ruins.

They have lots of fragments from the Acropolis and surrounding temples. At least the ones that the British didn't plunder.

The top floor of the museum has this great view of the Parthenon, and the floor is laid out as an exact replica of it. The marbles salvaged from the temple are display as they would have been on the original temple.

Alexander the Great

 

Drive by of the Olympic Stadium

As part of the Oceania tour a dinner at Varoulko was arranged. The restaurant has a Michelin star and is highly regarded. However, for the Bradleys, its menu of all seafood did not sit well. We nibbled around the edges for the most part. And climbed 100 steps from the seafront to the bus afterwards.

We did, however, enjoy the view. A great tour of Athens.