Athens is the heart of the Greek mythology that I was so excited to finally see. The peak of the city was in the 5th century. It has been sacked by many cultures including the Persians, the Romans, and Ottomans. The Venetians accidentally blew up the Acropolis because the ottoman Turks stored gunpowder up there and a Venetians cannonball hit the stash. The Acropolis is still under construction. There aren't audio guides available, but we could have gotten a private tour guide for 100 euro. Nearby is the museum which is mostly empty. We are thinking that the Greeks are hoping to get the Elgin Marbles from the British museum. Those include pretty much all of the frescoes that were around the top border of the Acropolis temple. The city is very cheap and we could eat very well for low cost. Driving from the airport there were many buildings that were partially built and abandoned. It was a sad visual reminder about the Greek economic crisis. We got ourselves a very chatty taxi driver to go from Athens back to our cruise ship port. He told us that the Acropolis and Olympic stadium are not touched by the birds, which is why they look so good. Damon was hesitant to step foot in Greece because of the economic problems, but the history, natural beauty, and cheapness of the place make it vie with Spain as one of our favorite countries.
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