Mhr Mantina Hotel Glyfada

... knocked down in a bad storm a while ago and still lays there showing the many slices of marble that the column had been made of. Ruins of Roman baths are also nearby.<br><br>The Panathenaic Stadium is a little bit further east. It was a Classical marble stadium that was restored and used for the first modern Olympic games in 1896. We only needed to stand at one end of the stadium to see it because it was a giant open U shape. There's rows and rows of marble ...

... have been staged at the Kalimarmara Stadium. The next stop was the Zappeion, a gorgeous creamy yellow mansion given to the city by the wealthy Zappas family. Although the mansion is only open for special events, the grounds outside are for everyone to enjoy. This building too was used in the modern Olympic games in Athens. Beside the Zappeion are the National Gardens, the only really green space in the heart of Athens. A monarchy was ...

Again, I disliked Athens. Moreso this time, as EVERYONE I met in Athens was consistently rude. I thought the checkout girl was going to attack me. She kept slamming things down and looking like she wanted to kill people, obviously hating her job. If you hate your job that much, then leave, don't take it out on innocent customers. I incensed her even further as I didn't know that you have to ...

... showed us how to stick our tickets in to get a validation stamp. Thank the Divine for the kindness of strangers and their patience with stupid tourists. I'm writing out all this detail to try to give you a sense of the time consumption, anxiety, and little bits of courage required just to find the station, buy a ticket, and get on the tram when you're in an unfamiliar place and you don't speak the language. When I got home that night, I fell asleep on the couch for a few hours just ...

... anchored in the bay. We had a massive lunch in the little town and then Maree and I swam back to the yacht which was only 600 mtrs away but with the current and winds we ended up swimming about 1.25km much to the concern of the boys on the beach, who told us off when they got back to the boat. This became a bit of a joke for the rest of the trip. Every time we got in the water we took the mick out of the boys talking about cramps and currents, so the next time we do it ...

... to Athens. When we got in we caught the train into town and found where we are staying. Today (it is 3pm at the moment, 10pm in Melbourne), we have been walking around Athens looking at all the old stuff. Like the Parthenon Tomorrow we might go to their museum and sort out which island to go to first on Sunday.

... to not to interpret as "Don't blame us. Its clear God hates you. Which we find very understandable." And on visiting the War Museum here in Athens you come full circle and read that the Parthenon was destroyed by the savage Turks. No hint of any possible accident, carelessness, nor act of a vengeful, hateful God. On the food front, Athenian gyros also rate very highly. Fearing more of the endless kebabs that dominated our time in Iran and Turkey, we were ...

... on taking a walking tour tomorrow morning, and that basically covers all of the sights that we want to see, and we havent done one yet, so we figure Athens is the place. So yes... more on that later!! And apologies for not updating more... but we are crazy-busy most of the time seeing things... And most of the time, internet is is expensive..so we try to go as long as possible to find the cheapest place! but yes! more to come tomorrow!

It was so good to see some new faces. It was good to see Luke again after we had been texting each other about our annoying travel companions (Allie for me, Meghan for him). We bought some vino and hiked up the Rock of Mars to gaze at the lights of Athens and the Acropolis and celebrate Chelsie's birthday.

... give the impression that Athens is nothing more than the Parthenon and few great museums, let us briefly mention a few of the other sights we took in while in Athens. In addition to a ride on a mass transit system that afforded us views of huge swaths of the Greek capital, we also wandered in the Plaka, a quaint neighborhood packed with tavernas and restaurants at the foot of the Acropolis, to take in some of the local flavors. Greek cuisine was featured on most of the ...