Athens, Greece.

After a tasty, buffet breakfast off the lobby of the Hotel Hera, we met Connie from Florida. She would be joining us on our OAT pre-trip to Crete in a couple of days. We also got to meet our trip leader, Basil, a knowledgable resident of Athens, Greece. Together we hopped into a taxi to head for our first stop of the day, a museum and dome-shaped movie theater. As of this writing, I cannot tell you the name of the place or what I took a picture of inside because there were no English translations for the Greek on the outside of the building, the purchased ticket, or signs with things I took pictures of inside. We did, however, have headphones with an English translation of the narration for the cool 30-minute movie we saw in the domed theater on the building of the best known example of ancient Greek community center called an Agora, which we would visit later in the day.

Then it was off to the Panathenaic Stadium, built for the first modern Olympics in 1896. It can hold 60,000 spectators and is still used today. From there, we visited the Temple of Zeus, Temple of Hephaistos, first constructed from 460-415 B.C., Church of the Holy Apostles, and another temple erected by Attalos II, King of Pergamon, in 159-138 B.C., and other sights. We had lunch at God's Restaurant (recommended by Basil… burger for me, salad for the ladies).

Lots of walking and talking as we took in the local sights through narrow streets, with Basil regaling us with stories and anecdotes along the way.

Quick Photo Links: Dome Theater/Museum | Panathenaic Stadium | Temple of Zeus | Hadrian's Arch | Graffiti | Tower of Winds | Church of Holy Apostles | St. Marina Church | Basil | Orator's Bema | Agora Museum | Temple of Hephaistus