Sun July 18, 2004:

Left Hotel Poseidon at 8:0 a.m. for the city tour. Cool breeze. Saw stadium (100,000), presidential Palace and changing of the guards (4 guards with traditional costumes. Change every hour). Temple of Zeus (16 columns). Plaka is center of Athens. Technological institute, National Library, Main Square. Went to theatre at om of Acropolis. Theatre of Dionysus is broken, not as intact as those in Jarash, Jordan. It is also smaller. Took bus to the entrance, walked up, but I could not enter because I forgot my ticket in my camera case on the bus. So I walked down to town, quiet streets with lots of street cafes and very few people sitting there. No souvenir shops. Walked back and across the sandy path, across the fields below the Acropolis where there are more ruins, i.e., short broken columns and a temple in the distance. I sat under the trees near the parking lot. It was breezy with an old man in Greek costumes, sitting on a chair and charging one Euro for taking his picture. He would hide his face with his arms if you do not pay him. Women selling postcards, table cloths and other souvenirs stop by and insist that you buy from them. I bought postcards from one. We drove off 11:45 and stopped at the Everest Restaurant, café and shop on the highway for lunch. Started driving 1:45 p.m. through farmland with hills in the background and a lake in the valley between the hills.