Athens, Greece

We caught the ‘Hop On, Hop Off’ Athens Tour Bus at the port for a ride into town and a visit to the Ancient City.  The crowds were pressing (literally!) while waiting to get in to the Parthenon, the temperature hot, the humidity high, the sun scorching, and patience short.  We made it inside the gate and were favored with seeing the Propylaea, the Erechtheum temple and the Porch of Caryatids in the distance.  The Acropolis is 230 feet above the city and the view below is worth the climb up the hill.   Ongoing restorations efforts have been underway for over 20 years, twice as long as it took to build it in the first place.  We walked through Constitution Square and saw the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace, the Temple of Zeus.  On the bus we saw the Olympic Stadium. It is a busy city and until the 1990s, the most polluted city in Europe, which has caused major erosion of the marble buildings and statues.