Day 7: Today we walked in the footsteps of ancient Athenians...like, all of their steps!!!

 

Traditionally, in this blog, I will provide some type of step count for the miles we've walked. Our pace has been pretty chilly (except for changing hotels) and our feet have been spared. Today, Athena took her toll.  It really wasn't even close the most steps I've taken on tour, but it was by far the most we've taken on this tour.  On the bus ride back to our hotel, I saw 13k steps. Some of the kids reported their devices clocked 8-10 miles. Our feet are sore, lol, but it was all worth it.

We woke fairly early for this tour and went to breakfast. It was open at 6:30, so the real early birds lucked out big time! It was actually my favorite breakfast of the trip. It wasn't the best, but it had pretty cool options. They even had french toast...so I had to try it.

After breakfast, we promptly hopped on the bus and began our trek into the capital city of Greece. It was a long ride through traffic but as we approached the city, we stopped to pick up our guide for the day. Her name was Anathesia.  She told us to call her Nancy.  Like most of the bus/city guides I've had while traveling with kids, Nancy understands the assignment. She was relatable and tried to use humor to get the kids excited about the things we were seeing. The city, as you expect, is filled with history.  I snapped some photos from our ride. I don't remember all of the things we saw though! I am tired, lol.

We got the Guards of the Tomb Of the Unknown Soldiers changing their rotation

I thought I had a picture of the Olympic stadium, but it doesn't seem to be in my camera roll. One thing I remember her saying is that it is built of white marble. It is also built to the same specs as the original one. 

After the bus tour, we began our ascent to the Acropolis.  This is commonly mistaken as the building, but it is the entire thing. The acro translates to edge and the opolis translates to city.  It is on the edge of the city. See how that works! Politics comes from the affairs of the city.  Sometimes the politics of Saugopolis focus less on the affairs of the city and more on personalities, but that's a topic for my retirement book, not this blog. 

It wasn't that bad of a march up the hill, but it was super crowded. I am going to dump a bunch of photos without much comment. My listening device wasn't working well and I missed much of what Nancy said, sorry.  Because of the crowds, I stayed near to the end of our line to ensure no one got totally separated. We had an hour of free time and kids enjoyed every second of it. 

Our next stop was lunch and free time. Half of the kids, including the Canadian kids, seemingly went to McDonalds. My group of 6 went to a spot not far from the Acropolis Museum. It was delicious and another group sat right next to us. I ordered a mini pork souvlaki.  It was three tacos made up with souvlaki ingredients. It was not mini.

Our next stop was the museum and I never saw so many kids geek out for a museum, or should I say greek out. Quite a few of our kids really like their Greek Gods and they loved seeing the artifacts on display. On the third floor, there was a whole bunch of metal columns. They are placed in the exact dimensions of the Acropolis so you can see it in scale. They also show the reliefs that adorned each panel along the way. It was super impressive. As they built this museum, years ago, they uncovered a medieval town. They excavated what they could and you can tour it under the museum itself, how cool!

After the museum visit, we followed Laertis across the city to the Greek Cathedral, pictured above. It is right in the middle of a shopping district that also greeked out most of our kids. We had ample time for shopping, snacking, and people watching. Quite a few souvenirs were purchased and lots of kids had more bags with them than when we left the hotel.  Someone may have even purchased a suitcase for their souvenirs!!!

With free time over and the day nearly complete, we went to a restaurant in the same area. It served open faced gyros with shaved pork and a kebab made of beef and lamb. It was yummy. It was also fun watching a bunch of kids try it, like it, and then eat it all. It was funnier still, to watch them try it and not like it, lol!

We met our bus driver for dinner and went over tomorrow's plan for our final full day in Greece. We will be taking a single days' cruise to three of Athens' islands. It should be an amazing experience, but it is an early departure...so its early to bed for them all. 

I was really happy with today. These long walking days are tiring and can test peoples' nerves sometimes, but these kids passed with flying colors!

Mr. Lavoie, currently sitting in a hotel lobby with very few kids around and enjoying a Coca-Cola Light.