Athens, Greece Oct. 7, 2008

High temperature today was 24c, gas prices were 1.21 Euros per liter

Our plane arrived in Athens, Greece on time Tuesday morning, we cleared customs and picked up all our luggage. We were met by a representative of the cruise line with the news that the transportation union would be on strike beginning Wednesday at 11:00am. So we hit the town running to see all on our list. After a brief stop at our hotel, we went across the street to the Parliament building to view the changing of the guard. This is done hourly. Just some notes: the skirts the guards wear have 400 pleats, their shoes weigh 6 lbs each and the pompoms on their shoes contain small knives.

We then took the metro to the Acropolis stop and visited the new Acropolis Museum. Since it has not officially opened, entrance was free, as many exhibits aren’t finished. We did visit a room with some interesting artifacts, many reclaimed from “illicit excavation” gathered from the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Afterward, we walked to the Plaka, the old shopping area of Athens and ate lunch. I enjoyed fried eggplant and a tomato, cucumber and olive salad and Crystal ordered moussaka, a traditional Greek dish.

Then we headed for the ancient Agora, walked around, viewed the theatre and gazed upon the Parthenon above us.

It was a fast and furious morning, be we headed back to our hotel for a rest before a dinner with other members on our long cruise.

note: having problems uploading photos right now, Will try later