Athens, Greece - Acropolis (Greek for 'Highest City')

Today is the first day tour day of our Collette 16-day tour of Greece.   

We visited the Acropolis, which is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens.  It is very rocky with ALL marble and sometime very difficult to walk.  Marble is very slippery and when wet can be very dangerous.  Thankfully, we had a beautiful sunny day.  

The Acropolis was the religious center of ancient Athens and is crowned by the Parthenon, considered the pinnacle of classical Greek architecture.  

The Parthenon was a temple dedicated to Athena Parthenos (Virgin).  It is built in the Doric order and made of white Pentelic marble.

Front view Parthenon

Side view Parthenon

Erechtheion

The Erechtheion or Temple of Athena Polias is an ancient Greek Ionic temple on the north side of the Acropolis. Athena is the goddess of the palace who presided over household, crafts and protected the King.  If you notice the 6 Maidens statues, they are supporting the Maidens porch.  They are symbolized as the strength of the Temple.  Three Maidens stand with their left knee bent and three stand with their right knee bent.  Think about how we stand when we want to rest, we bend one knee or the other and stay in balance.  They also do not have any necks as our necks are not very supportive but adding a bigger headdress does and each Maiden has an extensive headdress.  There are various theories about these Maidens but, this is what we were told.   

Temple of Athena Nike

This temple was dedicated to the goddesses Athena and Nike.  Nike was the goddess of victory in Greek mythology and Athen a was worshipped in this form, representative of being victorious in war.

Theatre of Dionysus

The Theatre of Dionysus is the first orchestra terrace constructed on the site around the mid to late 6 century BC, where it hosted the City Dionysia.

Views of Greece from the Acropolis

After our tour, we stopped to have a drink at the oldest distillery in Greece, The Brettos.  The bar is located in the hillside Plaka.  They offer 35 different flavors of liqueur which NONE are available in any liquor or grocery store.   Of course, they also serve Ouzo and several Brandy's.

Plaka has a village feel, with narrow cobblestone streets lined with tiny shops selling jewelry, clothes and local ceramics.  

 We headed back to the hotel for a quick 2 1/2 hr rest. 

This evening, we did a walking food tasting tour of Greece

We went to 3 restaurants in the main district of Greece which was the Monastiraki Square. Our first stop was Zapkaaian known for its Greek delicatessens,

Tsipouro was the alcohol drink which taste worst then Ouzo.  It's like drinking straight rubbing alcohol.  48% Proof.  Johnny drank it but it was not or me.  They served us a Cheese board with Dried Beef, Spicy Beef, Salami and 2 types of Cheese (Feta and Graviera)

Our second Restaurant was very contemporary.  Our drink was a selection of Red or White wine (all you can drink).  They served this with Tomatoes & Caper leaf, Marinated Octupus, Calamari (forgot to take picture), Puréed Fava beans with onion and honey, Sweet fried donut with honey.

Our third Restaurant was just a lot of fun...didn't even take any pictures of the food but, it was all good.  Had plenty of wine.  

As we walked back to the bus, we were taken through an area where a restaurant was decorated in the Disneyland Theme.  It took up both sides of the road and part of an alley.  It was amazing.