Arrived in Athens late Tuesday afternoon after about a 24-hour trip. In no mood to walk around, but the hotel did have a rooftop restaurant. We had a good view of the Parthenon from our table. A small hotel, and a restaurant only easily accessible by guests, we were the only ones dining. A private table is always nice.
That was it for the day, but the next we walked around and found the hop on/hop off bus. Athens is a modern city like many others, but with antiquity scattered throughout. Many of these are sites one sees from the bus as it drives by, like the ancient Olympic stadium, which we saw for about 60 seconds. That was 30 more than planned, but the bus stopped at a red light lengthening our viewing time.
We were told something interesting about the Marathon event. Nowadays, it is a little over 26 miles. Originally, it was about 3 or 4 miles shorter. When the event was held in London, the royal family wanted it to start at Windsor castle and end in front of the royal viewing box in London. That distance was slightly over 26 miles, so the event was changed to the new distance, and that change was, apparently made permanent.
The picture below was taken at our "hop off" visit to the Acropolis. I will now tell you all I know about this excavation site. Also interesting is that there is a charge to access the walkway seen in this picture. No charge to view it from our location.
Outside the Acropolis are some strange multi-function stores. Not sure what this one specializes in, but I hear that the brownies are the best in Athens.
Today was a short day. Still time-adjusting.