Plan B

Well, I could not get Joe out of bed early enough for a trip to the Acropolis. The cruise ship groups start arriving around 9 or 10, so getting there by 8 is one way to avoid the hoards. So, on to Plan B. Luckily, there is no shortage of things to visit in Athens!

We went to the Ancient Greek Agora, with one gorgeous temple, supposedly the most perfectly preserved of any Doric temple in Greece. We also saw a “jury selection” machine — the citizens put in a credit-card-size engraved stone, and then with some balls rolling around, the jurors are selected. Wonder if it was more efficient than sending letters out to random voters.

After lunch, we went to the new Acropolis museum. Opened about ten years ago, the Greeks had hoped it would be the perfect place for displaying the Elgin marbles, if only the Brits would send them back. Ha, fat chance!

Though I did not retain the details of the many times Athens was destroyed by invaders, it did stay with me that the glory days of Athenian democracy lasted from about 490 BC to at the very latest 146 BC when they finally lost out to the Romans. Some current events lead me to wonder whether Athens will continue in first place or whether the US will hold on long enough to beat the record. As the Washington Post says—democracy dies in darkness.

And we somehow snagged a table at the oh so trendy Nolan Restaurant, which is a Japanese-Greek fusion place and the best meal we’ve had on this trip!Read more