Sunday, May 4

They tried to walk my feet off. The trek up to the Acropolis was almost the end of me! Steep hill about 1/2 mile almost straight up... with steps every 10 feet. OMG. John Caldera (husband of Nan of "Just Nan" design house) warned me that if I did nothing else, I was to spend a month on the stair stepper before I left the States. He was right! But I didn't do enough of it!

Fortunately the view from the top was well worth it. Fantastic. It's the highest point in the city and there are no skyscrapers allowed so as not to block the view of it. Not that they could. The outcropping that the Acropolis and Parthenon sit on is so far above the city that I didn't come close to imagining it from guide book photos. Here are some of the photos I took while up there, starting with the approach to the Acropolis:

And some of the Parthenon:

All of the Acropolis is being renovated. The Greeks believe that the new should be distinguished from the original, so you can see all the new pieces in a lighter marble. This marble ages and in another 300 years or so will be the same color as the original, so all replacement pieces are numbered and dates as well. "But then, this is a very seizmic area so all may again fall down and have to be rebuilt again," said our guide, Myrtos, with a shoulder shrug!