It's all Greek to me

Making it to Athens was high on my list, so when this trip came up with not only Israel, but also Athens, I was sold. One of the people in our group used their 'no fee' passports, that are issued by the government to employees/military overseas. He was flagged when he arrived in Athens and therefore they wouldn't let him off of the ship. We all decided to wait for him in the dock area. 20 minutes later he showed up being led by security from the Athens port. He was taken in to a small roomed and questioned about what he was doing here. They gave him a hard time about using his 'official' passport instead of a 'tourist' passport. After another 10 minutes they released him and we were able to get on our way.

We walked into Athens to catch the metro to the Acropolis to see the Parthenon, my main destination. Again, a very brisk morning, so the more we kept moving the warmer we stayed. The hike up to the Parthenon was a pretty steep climb, along a winding path. As we approached the entrance we hit the bulk of the crowds. We all funneled into the passage to reach the top of the Acropolis. The wind was very strong on top, so now it wasn't just cold, it was very cold. It literally blew right through you. The Parthenon was under construction so you had scaffolding that obstructed portions of the edifice. There were tons of people milling all around, so getting the right picture was part skill and luck. The view from the top was outstanding as you could look in a 360 degree panorama over the city of Athens. I didn't linger on top because we were all cold and ready to get out of the wind tunnel. As we descended from the Acropolis I wanted to make sure that I was able to see Mars' Hill, where Paul preached to the Athenians about the 'unknown God', referenced in Acts chapter 17. The hill is not spectacular, but is a rocky outcropping from a hill at the base of the Acropolis. There are some steep stairs the led up to the top of the hill and from there you can navigate pretty easily. I stood there and imagined Paul preaching in this very spot, pretty incredible.

From here we made our way to the neighborhoods of Plaka and Monastiraki to do some shopping. These areas are basically shops and flea markets, but not the traditional flea market you would think of if one said the word 'flea market'. We meandered toward Monastiraki square, a very small square without much to see. However, there was a man selling coconut sticks covered in chocolate, there were delectable. At this point there was a small division in what we should do next. Several of our members wanted to go to "Hard Rock Cafe" to have lunch, which is something they do at every one of their destinations in order to eat and purchase a local souvenir. We decided that we didn't want to do that but wanted to go to Syntagma square instead.

As we parted ways and started to head for the square we passed a Gyro shop. They had spinning meat...which made my head spin. I knew I wanted to have an authentic Gyro from Athens. No better time than the present. We stopped and purchased several. Man! They were so good. I needed to remember this moment so I had my picture taken with the guy manning the spinning meat. We walked up to Syntagma square. A natural meeting place for people dissatisfied with austerity measures that Greece is implementing on its residents. This square has been in the news a lot lately, mainly filled with protesters and people clashing with police. I wanted to make it here if it was safe. We wandered up to the square keeping an eye out for anything that may seem dangerous. There were police around but not much activity. For all intents and purposes, it was a normal square and you wouldn't have known that anything had occurred here. The only tale tell signs were saying in graffiti that were out of place, on the backs of benches, on walls etc. There was your usual band playing for money and people milling around. We walked up to the main road and started to take pictures of a government building when something more interesting caught our eye. There was this dog, a mangy mutt that was patrolling the main street in front of the government building. He would chase anyone on a bike or motorcycle and try to bite them. He had most of his success with slower moving vehicles, so bikes and mopeds were his best option. But he was an equal opportunity biter so he tried anything on two wheels. Did not mess with cars, probably learned this lesson the hard way. As we (probably 10 of us) sat there watching him chase, bark and bite unsuspecting travelers, we found ourselves rooting for him to get somebody. I know, it sounds terrible. He would chase somebody and then he come over to us and sit down quietly, not making a sound until his next victim. Once he saw them, he would chase, bark and bite some more. Come back to us, sit down and wait. He was like Jekyl and Hyde. And we cheered him on. He finally was successful, he bit somebody's pant tore the denim as they rode away. We cheered, feeling like he had won, it was time to move on. That could have been the highlight of our Athens visit. We took the Metro back to our starting point and then walked back to the ship.