Athens day two

Well today was an early day, we started at 7:30am a city bus tour of Athens, I should have known better, this type of tour is for people who do not travel much and who are nervous about going about town on their own, afraid to get lost.  I have been to Athens many times and I know the city so I had tried to tell the Travel Agency I did not want this tour but it was part of the package. Anyway not good value for money, I should have gone on the on off bus which stops in front of our hotel. We did go to the New Acropolis Museum and to the Acropolis, I never stop being amazed by what I see in the museum and at the Acropolis. Since 1992 the Greek Government with the help of UNESCO and the European Union has undertaken a large program of stabilization and reconstruction of the Acropolis, Parthenon, Erechtion, Temple of Athena Nike and Propylae. The results are stunning, it is very slow work but now you can see what 18 years of efforts have achieved. The Acropolis is more beautiful than it has ever been, the Pentelic Marble stone has been cleaned, new marble blocks have been inserted where they were missing, titanium rods have been used to attach blocks replacing the old corroded steel rods.

                                                     Dad in front of the Parthenon, Acropolis

The Acropolis looks majestic, visitors are kept at a respectable distance from the temples so no further damage can be done by the hordes of visitors.

                                           Restored Temple of Athena Nike, Acropolis

The New Acropolis Museum is beautiful and I find it is best to visit it first before going to the Acropolis itself.

You get a very good perspective of the site and its history by going first to the Museum. My Dad enjoyed it too more for the fact that he never thought that he would see Athens during his life time. He walks very slowly and I was careful to make him rest, drink water and return to the hotel for more rest period.  Luckily our hotel is next door to all the sites. We had a good lunch and tonight we will stay in and have dinner at the hotel.

                                          Parthenon, South wall of columns restored with new pentelic marble (white)

We also visited the Athenian Agora which is on the South side of the Acropolis in the Monasteraki area. Dad really liked the rebuilt Stoa of Attalos and the Temple of the God of Fire which is intact due to the fact that Christians mistakenly believed that a frieze showing Theseus founder of Athens was in fact something to do with Jesus. Then the rain started and it was a downpour with a cold wind. Luckily we snuck inside Café Metropole which is in front of the Orthodox Cathedral of Athens. I always like going there, the staff are very friendly, mostly old waiters, food is very good, drinks are good too and prices reasonable.

Tomorrow morning we have a really early start, we take a taxi at 6:15 am to go to Piraeus (port of Athens) to take the ferry to Mykonos, forecast more rain for the next 3 days. I just hope the weather clears. In Mykonos at this time of the year there is nothing to do, so we will read and just relax.