Athens, October 15

Athens, I think it's October 15th, we leave for Turkey tomorrow so that must be right.
Roy is getting our boarding passes printed, we have just returned from dinner.  A bit disappointing as we planned to dine at the restaurant on the roof of our hotel and look at the Acropolis by night.

It is very stunning when illuminated.  Oh well, when we went up at 5:00 it was quite windy which made it cool so we decided to save the big bucks and eat else where.   We had a good Greek meal and it cost about 1/2 but just didn't have the ambience of the roof.  I am in the lobby as there is no WiFi in the rooms.
We toured the National Archiological museum first thing this morning.  I will let Roy add the details. He took lots of pictures.  It was quite something to see the impliments the used 1000'some of years ago and how they seem to be contempory.  Some are a bit crude but most are done with great skill.  We were there for a couple of hours and then caught the metro for Monistriki Square. We are getting to be pretty good at finding our way around Athens.  After lunch in the square, we walked to  the Ancient Agora.  The Agora was the meeting place and shopping mall in ancient Greece.  It was built destroyed, rebuilt, added on by the Romans, and then destroyed again.  It was another amazing experience.  Google it to learn more.

The Acropolis museum was still on our list but we were tired.  After a quick visit to the Roman forum we returned to the hotel and Skyped the kids.  Not the best time ofor day for them as they are busy getting ready for the day but it sure is good to see them and hear their voices.  We did that on the roof so we could show them the Acropolis but it was too far away.

Over to Roy
Not too much to add.  The National Arcelogical Museum has the largest number of Greek artifacts and art pieces anywhere. It is also well set up for visitors.  The first room is of the Mycenes who conquered and ru led Greece the best over 4000 years ago.   Bits of pottery, bronze tools , and weapons from about 3800-2300 B.C.. Leaching that room and going clockwise the artifacts at in roughly chronological order. The statues go from stiff pole like figures to graceful flumotion motion human figures. When GReece was conquered by the Romans, the Romans felt so culturally inferior the save, and copied a lot of the Greek art. The museum really needs 2 or more visits to really get everything you want out of it.