David's Diary: Thursday, June 5, 2003

Parthenon and Athens

Karalee and the kids visited the Acropolis and the Parthenon yesterday, but I wanted to get some pictures of both so we headed back there this morning. We left the boat by 8:15, but by the time we had taken the long bus ride into Athens and walked to the Acropolis, it was after 10:00. We hoped we were early enough to miss some of the crowds, but this morning there were already thousands of people there.

Resting Among the Stones

We walked around the whole site. I got everyone to stop while I took some pictures, then we continued on to take in the views of Athens. Since the Acropolis is located on one of the three main hills of Athens, it provides vistas over the city and towards the Aegean Sea. We then stopped in the shade of a rock wall to take a break.

Descending Through the Pillars

As we left the Acropolis we walked through two ancient marble pillars. With Athens at our feet we could imagine what it felt like thousands of years ago to feel like you were on top of the world. No expense was spared in building the Acropolis and even today the faded, yet majestic ruins, thrill even the most jaded soul.

Starbucks Coffee

We worked our way downhill, then wandered the streets of Athens. We found an outdoor restaurant where we could sit down and have lunch. Afterwards we continued exploring streets, walked to the National Archaeological Museum which was unfortunately closed for two years of major restoration, then continued on exploring and window shopping. We stopped to buy CDs and I arranged for some film to be developed. We even found a Starbucks Coffee shop. One of the few things that I miss about Vancouver is Starbucks Coffee. Karalee and I went inside and enjoyed the familiar surroundings as we sipped on the best coffee we had drunk in a long time.