Oosterdam European Adventure, Athens, Greece...

It was a turnaround day in Athens, we decided to take a tour of the Acropolis and highlights of the city. Our guide George picked us up and we left Piraeus for Athens.  Bad decision…the crowds and lines were horrendous at 8am in the morning. We purchased our tickets in advance and there were people inline to buy tickets for the afternoon entry slots…just a nightmare…never again will we leave the ship in Athens on a turnaround day! The Acropolis is known as the high city and is visible from many vantage points in Athens. We entered the grounds via the Dionysus Eleuthereus Entrance climbed up to the south slope of the Acropolis, near the Theater of Dionysus. Once on the temple, I squeezed my way through the crowds, the views were great of the Parthenon, Temple to Athena and Poseidon and in a commanding position and the Temple of Athena Nike. After leaving the Acropolis, we did a drive by to the Temple of Olympian Zeus and stopped at the Panatheniac Olympic Stadium for photos. Erected for the 1896 for the modern Olympics, the Panathenaic Stadium is a modern reconstruction of an ancient stadium built for the Panathenaic Games in 330 BC.  We drove as far as we could up to Lycabettus Hill City. I finished the climb to the top for the best panorama of the city, easily picking out the iconic Athens sites. We drove by the Old Royal Palace on Syntagma Square, a cenotaph for all Greek soldiers to have fallen during war. This square is also home to the Parliament Building and the Grand Britannia Hotel, Athens oldest hotel. We did make a stop at the Academy and University of Athens for a photo. These buildings are a beautiful example of Neoclassical architecture. We actually did quite a bit of driving today and finally stopped at Monastiraki Square. We took some pictures of the square sites and then went to the A for Athens Hotel for a view of the Acropolis. We stayed at this hotel on our last two visits to Athens and it has a perfect rooftop restaurant with great views overlooking Monastiraki Square and the Acropolis. Athens was beyond crowded so we decided to call it a day and returned to the ship…