----- Athens, Greece ---------------

Athens is a large crowded city, but with many parks and peaceful areas that seclude you from the madness of this bustling city. In the center is the world famous Acropolis surrounded by Filopappas hill, the Ancient Agora and many other monuments and sites. There is so much to see in this city. People who come for a day or two will barely scratch the surface of all that Athens offers.

Before coming to Athens I had heard all these horror stories of how crowded and dirty it was, but seriously I was pleasently surprised that it wasn't so bad. I actually like it when people bring down an area because then when I see it it is so much more appealing. Then again I kept in the areas of the Acropolis and its many surrounding parks and monuments. I loved hanging out at Filopappas hill in the tranquility of the trees and ruins. The ancient agora is great to visit with its winding paths and Temple of Hephestus the best preserved temple of Classical Greece.

I loved walking through the Plaka amid its many shops and restaurants. I found this little store that had the best little filo dough honey infused laced with chocolate sweets that were absolutely addicting. I actually brought 18 of them for my return home. They can last up to a month and well they are almost gone at this point. The food in Athens was great! I found this restaurant on the corner outside the Ancient Agora that was cheap and delicious. For dinner I would have a lamb or pork filled pita loaded with tomatos, tzatziki and other goodies, plus a 500ml Greek beer for only 5 Euros! All the pretty restaurants with the canopies and plants that attract the tourists were pretty expensive, but no better then the cheaper places I found.

For an interesting side story, when in the metro 3 guys tried to rob me. They got on the train and squeezed around me in a corner. They all stood talking amongst themselves but I could feel the hidden hand of one of them very slowly unzipping a pocket on my sandbag pack. As I felt this I was thinking "what does this guy think he's doing"? Seriously, I could feel it so i stepped away from them and they didn't try anything. My zipper was half undone, and even if they robbed me they would have gotten a great prize of hand sanitizer. LOL

Ken the Thinker	Ken the Redeemer	Super Ken over Athens
Arches below the Acropolis	Statues at the Temple of Athena	Temple of Athena at Acropolis
Athena Statues	View of the Acropolis	Athens as seen from the Acropolis
Late afternoon shot of Acropolis	Me at the Temple of Athena	Acropolis from a distance
The Parthenon	Close up at the Parthenon	More Parthenon
Corner shot of the Parthenon	Statues above the pillers	Theatre of Dionysus
Very steep angle	Tomas and I hanging out	Acropolis from the Agora
Church in the Agora	Face in the Agora Museum	Theatre of Hephesteus
Labors of Hercules	Odeon of Agrippa	Pillers in the Agora museum
Best preserved classical temple	Afternoon in the Ancient Agora	Agora museum and church
Acropolis from the Areopagus	City view from the Areopagus	Hillside leading up to the Areopagus
Acropolis between the trees	Site of Paul's famous "Men of Athens"	Local Athenian home
Graffiti	Hadrian's Arch	Lykavittos hill in distance
MTV week in Athens. Free concerts!!!	Building in the National Gardens	Street with Acropolis above
Tower of the Winds	Temple of Zeus	Massive pillars
Church at Filopappos hill	Observatory of Athens	City & Sea viewed from Lykavittos hill
The towering Lykavittos hill	Stairs leading up to Lykavittos hill	Crescent moon at the observatory
Lykavittos hill at night	Parthenon at night	Syntagma square at night