Good morning from steamy Athens! I’d been here in 2021 for a cruise stop, but have always wanted to come back and explore it in more depth. I’ve had the opportunity to do that over the last couple days.

On Thursday morning, I started by visiting the ancient Agora. This was the central marketplace and seat of government and was known as the birthplace of Democracy over 2000 years ago. With Democracy dwindling in many places around the world, this was a timely visit. 

At the base of north slope of the Acropolis, the site sprawls over a large area. Naturally, most of the buildings are ruins at this point, but it was easy to imagine yourself during a time where it was bustling. 

A couple of testaments to Ancient Greek democracy can be found – a “voting machine” in the Agora Museum and the ruins of the Tholos, the original meeting place of the assembly. It’s reassuring that this form of representative government still exists to this day (for now). 

Amusingly, the Metro runs right thru a part of the Agora site. 

After the Agora, I trekked up to the National Archaeological Museum. A beautiful building, it houses artifacts of civilization from prehistoric times to late antiquity. The Bronze Age, the Cycladic era and the Golden Era are all represented. It was amazing to see how the art progressed over the millennia. 

To close out Thursday, I hiked up to the Acropolis in its last hour of opening, during sunset. I’d been here a few years ago on the cruise stop but had never seen it quite like this. Also, had never seen it quite so crowded 🤣. The staff started herding everyone out at ten minutes to 8pm, but I had plenty of time to get some great shots.  

For Friday, I started out with a warm walk to the Panathenaic Stadium to close out the Olympic portion of this Olympic adventure. The stadium is over 2500 years old but was reconstructed in 1896 for the first modern Olympic Games. It was a thrill to walk the stadium, go through its tunnel and walk on its track. 

The Acropolis Museum was up next. Built in 2009 to permanently house artifacts found on the Acropolis, it is a comprehensive tour of Greek history. The highlight is the top floor, which has a reconstruction of the “marbles” which adorned outer and inner friezes of the Parthenon. Several are missing as they were taken to the British Museum over 100 years ago and have not been returned. 

I finished up with a walk through the Roman Agora, then dinner

Have really enjoyed getting to know Athens over the last couple days. The final phase of this adventure begins today, with a 7-day cruise including stops in Istanbul (a first for me), Ephesus, Mykonos, Rhodes and Santorini. 🚢