Ektor and his best bud, Alexandros:

One of Ektor's moms FABULOUS meals!

Us at the beach bar. Yes, starting now Im on a diet!

Pretty blue and white houses in Aegena:



Ektor swimming on the secluded beach we found in Hydra:

A floating fruit market (notice its on a boat) in Aegena:

Sea-through waters in Aegena:

Yum, Greek food!
"our" invention of how to drink lemonade and iced tea at the same time:

Typical street in Hydra:

Me in Hydra:

There are no motorized vehicles in Hydra so they tranport by donkeys. However a donkey ride to a tourist cost 10 Euros (approx 13 US dollars) so I decided to just do it at a zoo instead:

Taxi stand, of the water kind, in Hydra:

view from our ride on the water taxi to the secluded beach in Hydra:

Pretty Poros:
Typical houses in Poros:
The docks in Poros:


Me in Poros :)
A view from the Odeon of Herodus Atticus, an ancient theater on the Acropolis built in AD 161. It is only open to visitors during theater performances which we were lucky to get tickets too. I wish I could have taken a picture during the performance once the sun had set and the stage was all lit up...it was really beautiful:

The theater:
Ektor and me on the cruise boat which took us from Athens to Poros, Hydra, and Aegena...an all day cruise:
My shutters apparently didnt completely open, but a picture of me on the cruise boat:

The cruise and all its tourists:

Typical animal lovers we are, this cat decided to befriend us and follow us half way up the path to the Acropolis:

Before the theater performance as described a few pictures up:

Temple of Athena Nike in the background:

Getting ready for the theater:


An old church in central Athens and me with coconut of course:

These tasty Greek pastries are a dieters worst nightmare! Heavily fried and soaked in syrup, topped with ice cream and cinnamon I admit they are good! This restaurant where they serve these is famous throughout Athens and has been serving pastries since the early 1900's. Ektor remembers going here with his dad when he was little:


I LOVED the nut carts!
What he call cotton candy is called old lady's hair there...in Greek of course I just cant remember how to say it:

View of Athens from the Acropolis (which means high point in the city):

Inside the Erechtheion which houses the much photographed Caryatids statues, the six larger than life maidens that line the southern entrance of the temple to worship Athena. Imagine at one time, around 406BC this was once completely lit up with a dark blue ceiling decorated by painted gold stares, in the middle honoring Athena with a statue of her tying her sandel, a statue that has now been lost in history however a replica stands in a British? museum in the UK.

Sunflowers decorate the path down from the Acropolis:

Tree lined narrow pathways around the Acropolis:

"Welcome to Greece:

Even the handicapped signs are ancient!! The Greeks were able to predict the future too!!!

Greek Pride on top of the Acropolis. During WWII, the Germans replaced this flag with Germanys flag...I think Greece is happy to see the blue and white flying high again.

In front of the Parthenon, considered the most important ancient monument in the western world. Built in 432 BC, it is the largest Doric temple ever completed in Greece made completely (except for the roof) in Pentelic marble. Its purpose was to house the great statue of Athena commissioned by Perciles and also to serve the treasury.

Overlooking Athens from the Acropolis:


Heading up the Panathenaic Way to the top of the Acropolis:


The Parthenon:

Picture of the Caratyds as described above. This temple is archtecturally important in that it was built on several levels to counteract the unevenness of the ground. It is also built on what was considered the most sacred part of the Acropolis and is beleived to be the place where Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and Athena produced the olive tree. This legend is what named Athens.


The Beule Gate, named after the French archeologist who discovered it in 1852.

View of Lykavittos Hill in Athens from the climb up the Acropolis:

Propylaia which formed the towering entrance to the Acropolis in ancient times, 437 BC.
The Odeon during the day:

Athens:

Ancient Greek did not separate their words making it hard for my personal Greek translator to read:

Theater of Dionysos held the most important events during the 5th century BC and was construced in 326 BC.

Sitting were sooo many sat before me. Generally the front rows were reserved for the VIPs, and some historians say that women were confined to the back, while others say Greeks respected their women equally...just depends on what rule was over Greece at the time.

The marble wall surrounding the Acropolis:

Greeks are so laid back that this traffic light has been broken for about a week now, as you can see nobody is in a huge rush to fix it. (i dont know why this text is underlined nor do I now how to fix it)
Waffles and ice cream...

A picture of a picture from the ruins recently found while building the subway:

Athen's streets:

My artisitic shot of Lykavittos Hill from standing on the entrance to Athens Library:


Athens Library:
All the streets in Athens are paved in marble, making it very slippery for me as a flip flop wearer:
US, at a nightclub in southern Athens:

More Greek pastries:

I need to be reminded who this statue is of:


Athens University:
This painting depicts the gods that were brought to Athens to represent the different studies. I dont remember all of them, but I know the one in green (4th from the left) depicts medicine. This painting is at the entrance to Athens University:

At the more popular beach by Ektors house:

The National Monument and the guards of the tomb of the unknown soldier (which unfortunately was being restored while I was there):
I was scared of this guard:
Ektor in front of the national monument:

Downtown Athens:

Eating dinner below the Acropolis (we had a lit up view of it from our table) with Ektors best childhood friend (since age 2) Alexandros and his girlfriend, Dora.

The entrance to Ektor's summer house:


A Greek mailbox. Can you find Ektor's name:

The beach at Ektor's summer house:

Fake seagull attack:

Before going out:


Ektor and Alexandros on the beach:


My favorite pick of us:
From the Odeon theater:

Cotton Candy!

At a beach bar:


Nikos, Ektor, and Me:

Having dinner in Aegena:


before boarding the water taxi (the red boat):

beautiful Mediterranean sea:

Ektor and his dog, Hira:
Ektor and his mom:
eating dinner in Aegena:


leaving the beach in Hydra on the water taxi: