Athens

Greece was the one country I wanted to make sure that I visited before leaving England.  With one long vacation left on our England exchange, I made sure to tack it on to Jesse's plan to see Italy.  

I am so glad that I can now say that I have see the Acropolis with my own eyes! I grew up enamoured by historic sites and was very excited to visit the 2500 year old ruins of the Parthenon. 

The new Acropolis Museum gave us a vivid picture of what this shell of a temple used to look like. The exhibit displays the recovered statues and reliefs that used to decorate the Parthenon. Unfortunately, some of the friezes, metopes, and the pediments are represented by plaster casts since the originals are currently being held in other museums around the world. The Greek government has requested to have them returned but the British Museum has refused to return the national treasures to Greece. 

The Erechtheum was my favorite until I read that the Caryatids holding up the roof were remakes with the originals in the museum. What a disappointment! 

The Temple of Hephaestus is right next to the ancient Agora of Athens where Paul argued with the Greeks in Acts 17:16-34. 

The Temple of Zeus has not withstood the test of time. So much for false gods! 

The statue remains of the Roman Emperor Hadrian.  

We loved the souvlaki with tzatziki from Thanasis so much that we went there twice! It reminded us of our favorite restaurant back home, Moby Dicks, but better!

We had been looking forward to Greek cuisine and were eager to try local delicacies.