Piraeus & Athens

Woke up this morning to a surprise port. Not to our expected
destination, Athens, but to a neighboring town, Piraeus. We think this
will be a recurring trend in cruises as boats get bigger and
cruise-lines looks for additional sources of money. It was a bit of a
walk to the metro station, where we grabbed a 30-minute train to
Athens.

It was a hot, hot day. We saw the Acropolis, Temple of Zeus, Hadrian's
Arch, Constitution Square, Parthenon, Theater of Dionysos, Odeion of
Herodes Atticus (where they still have concerts).... The ruins were
impressive, but I was not impressed with how little they accommodate
tourists. The marble is very slippery and they just let hoards, I
mean HOARDS of people wander all about. The grounds around the ruins
are not well-maintained, at all, and it costs 12 euros per person to
get in! I plan to further research this later, but, apparently, the
restoration has been going on since 1983. You can tell where they are
making progress on the front side of the Parthenon, but then stacks of
rocks, that I assume will be used later, are just in piles among where
tourists walk around. Oh, and because of the restoration, there is
scaffolding everywhere. Also, there is a ton of graffiti throughout
the whole city.

Me in front of the Parthenon.

A hilarious outfit choice, in my opinion, of someone climbing the
mountain to the Acropolis.

Chris in front of the front entrance of the Odeion of Herodes Atticus.

Us @ Zeus's Temple.

Me doing a CHEESY shot @ Zeus's Temple.