Athens, Greece

 Port number two was Athens, Greece!  We were all very excited to stop here!!!  We took a bus from the port and stopped off at the Acropolis!  We wanted to see this amazing site as soon as possible!  

 The boys are standing at Mars Hill where Paul spoke to the Athenians in Acts 17.  

Acts 17: 22-23  So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. 23 For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you

 The Acropolis is under major construction.  There was so much scaffolding.  

 Looking down at Mars Hill from the Acropolis. 

 We downloaded Rick Steve's free Acropolis audio guide.  

This is part of the Parthenon with no scaffolding.  

 The panels above the columns are in the British Museum.  We are definitely going back to the British Museum to get a better appreciation for this spectacular site.  

 Theater under the Acropolis.  

 Temple of Olympian Zeus.  

 The Acropolis and Arch of Hadrian.  

 Syntagma Square is Greece's Parliament area.  This place was filthy and full of pick pockets.  We zipped through here to get to the subway station.  

 Athens worked on their subway for the 2004 Olympics and found layers and layers of history.  Inside the subway station, they displayed some of the history.  It was really cool.  

They even found tombs.  

 We stopped at a recommended restaurant for the most wonderful Greek lunch.  

The salad was fantastic.

 But this was the BEST!  I have been craving it ever since.   

 These cute girls came by and serenaded us during lunch.  

 Our last stop for the day was the ancient agora (market place).  We had another free audio guide.  

This place was the where all the action was during ancient times.  Socrates and Plate walked these streets.   It dates back to the 6th century BC.  We were all overwhelmed by the history of this city.  

Olympia, Greece

 Our very first port was Katakolon, Greece.  It is about 30 minutes away from Olympia.  

We made the Archaeological site our first stop.  

As soon as you walk into the site, you saw the archaeologists digging.  

 We lucked out and were one of the first people at the site.  

We hired a driver who drove us there (really fast).  

 These are the thermal baths that the Olympic athletes used.

 The site was massive and not well marked.  We spent (literally) 30 minutes trying to get our bearings.

 This was a pillar at the Temple of Zeus that they re-erected for the 2004 Greece Olympics.  

 This is the base of the statue of Nike.  The top was in the museum next door.  

 Entrance to the Olympic stadium.  

 This is the track that the runners ran on at the first Olympics!  

 On your mark (Lincoln got a head start), get set, 

 GO!!

Gold, Silver, and Bronze.  

 This is where the Olympic torch was lit.  

 Our next stop was at the Archaeological Museum.  These figures were found near a metal altar.  

These are thousands of years old.   

Some of the statues recovered from the outside site...and some silly faces. 

Our driver took us to a restaurant for lunch and then back to the port.  We had hours to kill so we walked around the little village and ate some baklava!  YUMMY!!