Greece

Athens! If I thought that Eastern Europe was old - well.. Athens is older. Athens was in its prime in 400 b.c. and Greece is arguably the first great civilization in all of Europe. We had a great time in Athens and then went to a small town which Homer refers to in his Odyssey with king Agamemnon and such (Troy, Trojan horse, etc.).

The Parthenon. The mighty Parthenon (around 400bc) sits above Athens and is THE thing to see here. Athens itself is a bit dirty, crowded and congested. 2004 Olympics helped clean it up a fair amount.



This statue (say, 450 bc) by my count is only missing 4 of his 11 digits. Which is far better than most statues from 2500 years ago. Unfortunately most of the statues are missing their 11th digit (ouch).



I came across this striking statue just outside the Acropolis. Looks like some kind of explorer. Note his confident pose and dominating stature. I did a count, and yes he has all of his digits.



So far this trip we have been eating really well and cheap. Markets supply most of our food although sometimes we make mistakes. I had the pleasure of eating yeast in Romania (it's not butter). A heaping handful of Kalamata olives? 1 euro.



I like this shot on the grounds of the Acropolis. It looks like each column is smoking. Which is appropriate, because pretty much everyone in Europe smokes like it's going out of style. The Greeks are particularly bad - smoking is apparently a course during all meals.



Napflio, Greece. This was voted Lovestead's best site of 2007 so far. We had an awesome room with a great view. A castle and good food. Lots of Greeks here running about. The big thing is the sun glasses that George Michael (born Greek, Mikeolakis Georgogakisapolis) made popular in the 80s.



Big ass stadium. These are all over the place. Which in itself isn't that interesting. But this one is in mint condition and is from 300bc. Seats 17,000. Old. etc. (Tara says, "Greece = old and ruined")



Ah the citadel. I am in love with these places. 1007 steps (Tara counted of course) to the top of Palamidi Fortress. This place is a masterpiece of military defense. Totally impregnable (without modern weapons) except one achilles heal, no water. It sits way above the town and makes for a hell of a workout.



This is a shot of our hotel (just kidding). A shot from the fortress. That's the town below and just on the right side of the photo is our hotel.



Just a photo to make everyone jealous. This is our hotel for 3 nights. We planned 1, we stayed 3. We absolutely love this little town (Napflio). It costs us 30euro a night (a bargain).