Friday, April 10

Another great day. Slightly warmer, but a stiff wind all day. Spent the morning at the Acropolis Museum-- a beautiful new museum designed to house all the artifacts from the Acropolis.  Beautifully laid out with lots of light & space. Artifacts, such as a statue, are pieced together using steel bars to hold what pieces there are together. You really get a feeling for the size of each piece. The frieze from the Parthenon is re-created with actual pieces & plaster subs for the missing pieces. The British Museum in London has many of the missing pieces! Greece is petitioning to get them back! Seems very unfair that England has kept what was basically looted. Bill says their museum would be empty if they gave everything back. Did a lot of walking, explored several neighborhoods & watched a Greek orthodox Good Friday procession with chanting & candles. Then, headed to an upcoming area transitioning from seediness to trendy & had a delicious dinner of stuffed calamari, eggplant/squash & ouzo along with a full house of Greeks coming from Good Friday services! It was 10:30 when we left & families with kids were still streaming in! Tomorrow the wind is supposed to stop & we're planning our Acropolis tour In the morning.  Then, we'll be renting a car & heading north to Lake Plasira. We could have stayed another day in Athens--there is so much to see, do & eat!  More to follow . . .