November 8, 2008

Piraeus to Athens

Once docked in Piraeus, we got ready following the same routine and had the same breakfast. We then took a shuttle bus from the port to our tour bus, and once everyone was on drove through the streets of Athens. Our new tour guide's name was Mahi. She was very informative and funny. As we drove through the streets she gave us all kinds of background information. Our first stop was at a stadium in Athens. Tomorrow it will be used as the finish line for the Marathon to Athens marathon.

We then continued onto the National Archaeological Museum. Before Mahi was a tour guide she was an archaeologist. While in the museum she showed us her find from her dig in Mycenae. Talk about cool. She then continued to show us and talked about other important exhibits before giving us a few moments to explore the museum. We even saw a couple of sculptures that have not been published yet. There was not enough time to look at everything. The museum is huge and has tons of exhibits.





From there we walked to a restaurant across the way for lunch. We had pasta, salad, and a veggie sandwich for me. Everyone else had chicken and rice. It was fruit for dessert. Once full, we hopped back onto the bus and drove to the Acropolis. We started the steep ascent up to the Parthenon. Wow those slaves must have worked hard. The views on top were so cool. We walked around the Parthenon, the Erechtheion with the Caryatids, Odeon, and the Theatre of Dionysus.









Russ, Pam and I also did a really quick hike over to a hill known as Areopagus, next to the Acropolis, where the Apostle Paul preached.



From there it was back to boat the same way we got there. Once on the boat we took the free time to pack before heading to Heinrich's last lecture on Athens Civilization - Pros and Cons. Then it was time for dinner. Our closing dinner did not have much in the way of vegetarian options. Even the green salad had ham. So I had rice with cabbage, some spinach puffs, and apple pie. It was a good thing I had a very large and very good lunch.

We then hung out with Pam for a while before heading back to our room to go to sleep. We all are so going to miss hanging out with her.