Acropolis and the Beach, a great combo!

The group at the Parthenon
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We drove from Delphi to Athens in the morning.  Breakfast was great coffee and some sweet breads.  The one I liked the best looked like it had ants baked into it.  Still don't know what those were.

We arrived in Athens and started our day with another tour guide, Maria.  Maria showed us around the Acropolis.  The name comes means "city on a hill".  And we climbed that hill.  I'm pretty sure there wasn't a hill we didn't climb in Italy or Greece!?!  We got a great group shot with the Parthenon.

Playing at the park!
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I took a tour of the museum on the grounds.  It was the only location of original pieces.  The Acropolis is all reconstructed and not the original pieces.  They had some beautiful statues of the kore, young women, and some large panels from the buildings.  It was also air conditioned in the museum and it was in the upper 90's.

After the Acropolis, Maria took us to a gift shop where you could buy a charm that was a greek column with your name spelled in the greek.  A couple people bought them, but I didn't think I'd wear one enough for the value.

Our hotel.
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Maria got on the bus with us and we had a bus tour of Athens.  While it was exciting to be in a new city, many people were thirsty and hungry.  After the driving tour, we headed back to the Acropolis and we were on our own to find lunch.  About half the group dined at a rooftop restaurant with a view of the Acropolis, while others found a quicker meal.  I had spinach pie, orange Fanta, and finished it off with some Baklava.

We got to our hotel around 5:30 and the sun was still shining bright.  A group of us went to the beach.  I went swimming in the Aegean see.  From the water, you could see mountains on three sides.  This was a memory that will last.

Teeter totters!
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Dinner was at our hotel.  They served salad and a similar dish that we ate in Delphi.  It was pieces of pork in the red sauce, but they served it with mashed potatoes and broccoli.  It was delicious.

I had talked to Charlie earlier in the day and he wanted to let Darryl know that it was game 7 for the Spurs.  We made it a mission after dinner to find an internet cafe so Darryl could check the score.  We found a place just around the corner that was billiards and internet cafe.  Darryl checked the score and his bank account.  I attempted to order a cappacino, a Red Bull, and then wine, but the waitress did not understand English.  Finally, I just asked her what to order.  She suggested Coke.  So Chris and I had a Coke.

We (Chris, Darryl, Connie, Abby, Jennie, and I) ended up playing pool for about an hour. Yes, I lost the final game for my team by sinking the cue ball when trying to sink the 8!  After the horrible defeat, we went to play on the playground on the beach.  Chris has some great pictures of this and I'll put them up if I get them.

On the way back, I stopped an picked up a beer at a street kiosk.  It was only 1.30 Euros for a .5 liter of Amstel.  We went to our hotel and played Euchre until 12:30am.  Darryl learned how to play Euchre on this trip, at least we think he learned.