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Athens, Greece

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We woke up bright and early for yet another beautiful sunrise in Athens.  Once the ship docked we headed to meet our tour group in one of the theaters.  Upon arriving you get a nice sticker to stick to your shirt that identifies what tour group you are with.  Luckily we both wore blue so it blended in but nothing screams tourist more than a 'B3' sticker slapped on your chest.

Our first stop was Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens.  It is the only major stadium built fully of white marble.  It was originally built with wood seating but was replaced to all marble in 329 BC.  It was fully excavated and rebuilt in 1895 in order to host the first modern Olympic Games.

We then traveled through the city of Athens to the Acropolis and the Parthenon.  It was very surreal seeing something so ancient and well known.  It was disappointing that they were doing excavations on the temple which is why its covered in scaffolding and 'under construction' but I think it will always be under some type of restoration.  The Acropolis is a flat-topped rock which rises 512 feet above sea level in the city of Athens, Greece. The Parthenon was a temple of Athena, built in the 5th century BC on the Acropolis of Athens. It is the best-known remaining building of Ancient Greece, and has been praised as the finest achievement of Greek architecture. In 1687 AD a Turkish ammunition dump inside the building was ignited by a Venetian cannonball; the resulting explosion severely damaged the Parthenon and its sculptures.  The view of Athens, as you can imagine, was great from atop the Acropolis.  Vinny and I somehow got mixed in with a school field trip on the way down...felt amazingly similar to being at Disneyworld.

Our last stop on the tour was a one and a half hour drive to the Temple of Poseidon. Ruins of the Temple of Poseidon, constructed in the 5th century BC over the ruins of a temple constructed in the Archaic Period, are perched above the sea.  It was definitely worth the drive.  Far less crowded and a breathtaking ocean view.  All in all Athens was a great tour even though I was very surprised at how 'deserty' it looked!  The monuments were amazing, the city not so much (though Vinny doesn't agree). 

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