Ancient Athens

This morning we began our exploration of the city of Athens, birthplace of western democracy, in the company of our expert local guide Faye.

We began with a short walk through the Plaka district to the foot of the Acropolis hill, learning about the area as we made several stops on the way.  But our main focus of course was the Acropolis itself & especially the Parthenon, the huge temple atop the hill.

After our tour there was free time for lunch which the group took in the Plaka district, splitting into smaller groups & choosing restaurants or cafes they liked.  After lunch & some free time we all met-up again & rode the efficient & clean Athens metro (subway) system to the National Archaeological Museum where we met our guide again for an afternoon tour of the museum, seeing some of the most famous ancient Greek artifacts.  Amongst the treasures we saw were the fabulous golden mask, the so-called 'Mask of Agamemnon' from Mycenae.  We visited the site where it was found on our second day in Greece & saw photos of it so it was great to see & even better to see the reaction of many of the students - they'd clearly been paying attention & were excited to see it in person.

This evening we enjoyed an evening of Greek food, music & dancing.  As well as many tastes of the country that we've become familiar with (stuffed vine leaves, moussaka, etc) we experience Greek folk songs & dances, & were invited to join in at various times.  Some of our group even got to fulfill their ambition to smash plates!  It was fun night for all.  Opa!