- Once upon a time there was a cute Goddess named Athena. She loved to hassle her brother Poseidon and stir it up with the mortals. One day, she challenged Big Bro for the allegiance of a lovely city on the Aegean Sea. To impress the locals he struck the ground with his trident and up from the rocks sprang water. Athena, always the wily one, knowing the people were tired of wars and hungry, not only for sustenance but peace, struck the ground and up sprang an olive tree. This won over the people who promptly named their sleepy little burg ATHENS in her honor and from that day forward, the olive branch became the universal symbol of peace.
All this took place on the ROCK called the Acropolis where, in the 5th Century BC, Pericles, ordered a temple built in 
Athena’s honor along with several other sacred buildings including the Erechtheion with its porch of the Korai Maidens [Caryatides] balancing the roof on their heads.
Our morning began at 6am. I called our agency for an early pickup to beat the 7,500 tourists soon to swarm the ruins. We 4 were in John’s taxi by 8:15 where I discovered we had a communications failure. John advised he could not accompany us on the Acropolis, it required a licensed guide, and he was only a driver/local guide. A call to the local Rep confirmed our dilemma and I resigned to take it up with our US agent for a refund as we expected a guide throughout the 5 hours. Tickets in hand we began the trek up to the monuments
As we climbed the many steps, traversed the numerous rocky and treacherous paths to observe these Wonders of the world, it reminded me that in Turkey we photographed goats on the mountainside of Caunos; Today we BECAME mountain goats as we explored the Acropolis.
KODAK all around from the Odeion of Herodes Attikus to the smaller Odeion of Dionysos, up the Hill, down the hill and all around the Rock. Early in the tour, the battery on the digital ran out. Illy and I thought the other had the spare. Fortunately Phyllis had a Super SLR 
Digital and she asked me to take most of the pics as I was all over the place, so that on our return to the ship we could take her and Sara’s memory cards and download to the laptop so we had a complete record of the day in Athens.
After 2 hours on the Rock we found John and spent another couple of hours amongst the other important sites, the Ancient Agora [business district], the 
1869 Olympic Stadium the Roman Agora, the changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with the high stepping guards 
in the native costume and of course the all important Shopping stop in the Plaka at the foot of the Acropolis.
Since we only had John for 5 hours, we agreed to be dropped off in the Plaka at 1PM and he meet us at 3:30 to make it back to the ship on time.
Armed with a better map than we had downloaded, we found the recommended restaurant for a quick bite which had great Gyro’s [correctly pronounced gHEEro] unfortunately Chuckie’s throat was still raw and the chicken Gyro a bit too dry… but the beer was good.
For the next 2 hours we stroll the winding streets of the Plaka in search of the ever elusive grandbaby tchotchkies, a little 
more history, and some great KODAK moments. The merchants of the Plaka were much more civil than those in Istanbul and Izmir, content to allow us to stroll in and out of the shops without grabbing an arm or chasing us down the street to “Make a good Price”.
Fearing they were lost at every turn, Chuckie assured his Angels that he was, as usual, in control, and easily led them back to the rendezvous spot to meet John for the trip to the trip back to the ship.
A pass through the “Last Chance Duty Free” for some gift booze and we were back aboard, headed for Pizza and wine, which Chuckie COULD eat. After an exchange of camera memory cards we went off to relax before dinner, which was uneventful and an early crash. The day on the ROCK had worn everyone out.
Tomorrow… the quaint little village of Kataklon, close to Olympia, site of the first Olympics, which is about the only reason we’re stopping there.
Ciao 4 Now,
Chuck and the leg aching, 3 pounds lighter, totally drained from all the climbing, Dragon Lady
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