I flew into Athens yesterday and took a walk around the area where my hotel is. After that I stopped for a bite to eat. I really like the feel of eating out in the Eastern Hemisphere. You sit down and they don't rush you to order. They come by every 10 minutes or so to see if you are ready. After you order they serve you after about 20 minutes. Then they don't bother you for anything until after you are done eating, unless you grab their attention for something. After you are done eating they let you hang out. No one is trying to rush you out the door. I don't know why I haven't written about that before, but that is always my experience.
Today I woke up really early, ate breakfast, ran some reports for work, then started a 6 hour hike around the city. I started by going to the National Archeological Museum and spent about 2 hours roaming around there. After that I was just going to wander around and try to find something to eat, but I had walked so far that I decided to stop at the National Library, University and Academy for some picture. They are some of the younger (old) buildings in Athens. Then, since I had walked so far and my hunger had subsided, I decided to stop by Parliment. The building itself isn't that interesting, but the Tomb of the Unknown Solider is there and I stayed to watch the changing of the guard. They don't wear funny hats like the guys in London, but the shoes they wear are terrible. Think Crocs with fuzzy balls at the toe. And big fuzzy balls, not small ones.
Having spent so much time walking down to the area, I stopped at the National Botanic Gardens, then by Congress Hall and Congress Square. Finally I stopped at the Temple of Olympian Zeus. It is an archeology sight and I got some great pictures there.
The Acropolis was closed today in honor of St. Nicholas Day. I will hike up there tomorrow. I assume that one sight will take an entire day just to explore. It will be about an hour walk there and an hour walk back, plus I would guess and hour hike to the top and 30 minutes or 45 down.
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