Athens, has over 3500 years of history. It is the home of the Acropolis and (in another part of the city) the Panathenaic Stadium which served as the birthplace of the modern Olympic Games (worth a Google).
The population of Athens is nearly 4 million. Today it is a maze of unattractive grayish-white 4 to 6 story box shaped apartment and business buildings, traffic congestion, and grafitti with its tourist attracting ancient ruins sprinkled in. For our one and only excursion on this cruise, we took a 3 hour city sight seeing bus tour. The guide was excellent and saved the day with her commentary.
The population of Athens is nearly 4 million. Today it is a maze of unattractive grayish-white 4 to 6 story box shaped apartment and business buildings, traffic congestion, and grafitti with its tourist attracting ancient ruins sprinkled in. For our one and only excursion on this cruise, we took a 3 hour city sight seeing bus tour. The guide was excellent and saved the day with her commentary.
Approaching Athens.
The Panathenaic Stadium as used for the revival of the
modern Olympic games in late 1800s and early 1900s.
A previous stadium at this site hosted anchient
olympic games and later, during the Roman era,
bloody gladiator battles.
The current stadium is built with marble and seats 60,000.
Thrones in the stadium for royalty
with side benches for famiy members
and distinguished guests.
Tomb of the unknown soldier in the foreground.
The people are watching a changing of the guard
similar to that in Arlington.
A street view. Limited parking means
significant use of motorcycles.
A 30 minute bus stop allowed for some pictures
from below the Acropolis. There was a fee of
20 Euro to walk up the hill to the Acropolis itself.
A recent aireal view of the Acropolis
(borrowed from the internet)
An artists concept of the Acropolis
in ancient times.
Athen is a very important city for historians and
archeologists but beyond that it was a city without
any visual charm.
