view on the way yup the Acropolis of Athens

The Erechtheum

mom and me in front of the Erechtheum

On Thursday (July 14), we started off our day with a trip to the Acropolis of Athens and Parthenon in Athens.  We got off of the bus and a few minutes after it drove away, mom realized she had left her camera.  Thankfully I had mine so I wasn’t worried.  Well, once we climbed to the top of the acropolis, my battery died, and for the first time on the entire trip, I had left my extra battery at home.  Can you believe it?  On the last day of the trip!  Thankfully my cousin took pictures, so I was able to get some from her.

mom and me in front of the Parthenon

The acropolis was fascinating, but I have to admit I was quite distracted between trying to get ANY single picture out of the dead battery, holding onto my mom and aunt to try to keep them from slipping, a malfunctioning headset (to hear the tour guide), the heat (full sun, only had shade with my umbrella), and not feeling very well.  It was great to see, but was not very easy to get around with my family.  It was crowded and the marble was VERY slick to walk on.  Walking around some spots, I would hold my mom’s hand on one side and my aunt’s hand on the other because the ground was totally uneven and then it seemed if you touched the marble you would slip.  I even slipped in my tennis shoes!

Panathenaic (Olympic) Stadium

The University of Athens

When we left, we had a bus tour of Athens narrated by the tour guide who had taken us up to the parthenon.  We drove by the Temple of Zeus, the University of Athens, National Garden of Athens, the Panathenaic (Olympic) Stadium, Syntagma Square, Greek Parliament, The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the National Library.

Syntagma Square

They stopped and let us get out of the bus for a few minutes at Syntagma Square to take pictures with the guards.  I was walking over to take pictures when suddenly a man grabbed my hand and poured bird feed into it!  Hardly before he finished pouring the birdseed, my arm was COVERED with pigeons!  Definitely did NOT see that coming.  He had a Polaroid camera and would do that to people then take and sell their picture.

pigeons

After the bus tour of Athens, those of us who didn’t sign up for the Acropolis Museum tour were taken back to the hotel.  Mom and I got some lunch and then went up to the hotel pool on the top floor for a little bit, and then we went to the beach and sat in the water for a few minutes after that.

That evening, we had another little tour and our farewell dinner.  For the tour, we boarded a cute little train at the bottom of the acropolis.  It took us in a loop around the hill and then dropped us off close to the restaurant.

train