(Note: Click on small pictures to see a larger version)

It took a little while to go through the formalities of disembarking in Athens, but when we did, we boarded a bus for a quick tour of the city. Athens is another city built on hills. Foremost among these, while not the highest, is a large mesa called the Acropolis.  This was the site of the temple of Athena, goddess of wisdom and protectress of the city, and a few other temples from ancient times. The rest of the city starting from the ancient commercial center, the Agora, started out around the base of the Acropolis , and, in recent times, has sprawled for miles around, becoming Greece's capital and largest city.

	Views of Athens
	Climbing the path to the summit of the acropolis you first pass through the massive gateway and steps, the Propylaea ,
	and then emerge facing the perfect proportions of the temple of Athena, the Parthenon.
	Nearby is the Erechtheion , a temple dedicated to Poseidon, god of the sea, and Athena,
	and famed for the surviving porch  where the columns have the form of young women called Caryatids.

Acid rain caused by modern day pollution in Athens has started to melt the marble remaining on the Acropolis, so the remaining Caryatids and other important items have been replaced by replicas and the originals have been moved into the Acropolis museum, tucked into the edge of the hill.

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Down in the modern city we saw the sights of the rest of the city, some of which were in neo-classical form . Interestingly the temple of Zeus, father of the gods, is a less important site in Athens.

After a nice lunch in a place near the hotel, we decided to set out on our own to see the Archeological Museum of Athens, were many important pieces are kept. I bought four (tessera) 100-drachma city bus tickets from the newsstand, and we set off cross town. Disembarking near Omonia Square, we asked directions to the museum, arriving only to find a couple of American students sitting on the steps bemoaning the fact that their guide book hadn't mentioned the shorter winter hours either.

We decided to walk a little to see the city, and ended up walking all the way down to the Acropolis, and then over to our hotel. We got a wonderful feeling for Athens, which reminded me a lot of Paris.

Lycabettus

When we returned from our trip to Delphi, it was the last evening of our vacation, so we decided to go up to the Church of St. George which we saw from our hotel window atop the highest hill in Athens. The hill, Lycabettus, is a high outcropping with a small top housing the church and a restaurant. We used our remaining bus tickets to head off in the general direction, and then realized that we were out of Drachma to pay for the funicular which would take us to the top. We stayed on the bus a little longer, driving past some sort of a demonstration replete with man marching with flags, and riot police, and then got off in Koloniki, the upclass shopping area of Athens, sort of like Rodeo Drive.

We soon came across a CitiBank ATM which honored our ATM card, and walked back to the street which led up to the funicular. The street soon changed to stairs, like San Francisco, and we arrived, huffing and puffing, at the foot of the funicular which was built inside the hill.

All the effort was worth it when we emerged on a platform with a magical view of the city lights.  We were disappointed to find that the Parthenon was not illuminated at night.

The little Church of St. George, however, was brilliantly illuminated, and formed a bright landmark in the sky over Athens.