Athens and Piraeus

We arrived in Athens down the motorway with motorbikes passing each side. Right down to the end and into a small well kept car park in the port city of Piraeus. We parked for 3 nights for €15 a night secure overnight and looked after by a lovely lady. She told us to get a 5-day travel card €8.50 and covered all kinds of transport. On the first evening we had a walk in the city to the docks where more than 20 ships load to go to islands plus a couple of cruise liners. The down to the harbour with restaurants surrounding the yachts and boats up to $150M.

We had a tour booked for the morning and 40 mins into the city to meet the guide. Tour of the Acropolis of Athens. discover the UNESCO World Heritage site through a journey into history, mythology, and storytelling.

Continue with a visit to the Acropolis Museum, which has been ranked as one of the top museums in the world. All the original surviving masterpieces from the temples of the Acropolis are displayed with the use of natural light. Excavations are also visible under glass floors and walkways. Visit Acropolis hill. See the Dionysus Theater, where famous ancient dramas and tragedies were first performed. Walk around the stunning Odeon of Herodes Atticus and the sanctuary of the healing god Asclepius.

On the top of the hill, visit the Propylea Temple of Nike and the Erechtheion Temple. See the Parthenon, which is the symbol of democracy and western civilization. Dating back to the 5th-century, these monuments are testimonials of the glorious ancient Athens and the Golden Age of Pericles. At the Acropolis Museum, explore the ground floor where exhibited artifacts reveal facets of the Athenian daily life. Get to know wedding customs, children's favourite toys, healing techniques, and religious practices.

On the first floor, stand at a breathing distance from the mysterious archaic statues of the 6th century, which once adorned the Acropolis. Be fascinated as you walk next to the Caryatids and huge pieces of the Acropolis entrance.

We had a tram ride down to the beach and had a drink before hearing back to Piraeus on the Tram.

The next day we went to see the Ancient Agora of Athens and the small market shops and the changing on the guard at the at the toom of the unknown soldier. Then a department store for coffee and cake. Onto a Museum of Ancient Greek Technology with water fountains on pump and alarm clocks.

In the evening we watched the sunset over the harbour.

Before we left we headed for the rock where Paul gave his sermon in 51 AD. Out of the Bible out of Acts 17:22-33

Sermon Text.Acts 17:22-33

"So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, “We shall hear you again concerning this.” So Paul went out of their midst." Acts 17:22-33