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My Athens tour started with a trip to the National Archaeological Museum, famed to be one of the most important museums in the world, especially because of its collection of greek art. I was WOWED. Most everything in there was from 200 BC and before. It was amazing the level of preservation that was enjoyed by some of the statues, and not so by others. There was even a bunch of statutes recovered from a shipwreck, which were pretty common back in those days. It was a great place, and captivated me for about an hour and half; it wasn't very big, and there were a couple of rooms that were closed. It was no Louvre, as far as size. I then headed all the way up to the Olympic Stadium of the most recent Olympics, in 2004. It was a great sight, and after walking around in the hot sun, my persistence rewarded me in finding that the Olympic Stadium was open for free, and I went in and snapped some photos. Berlin and Rome have been the only cities to be stingy with their Olympic Stadiums; everywhere else, you can walk in for free.
After all of this, I headed to the Acropolis. There were no signs at the bottom to really direct you up the hill to the proper entrance, and after passing the Herodium by accident, I got up to the right place, only to find that it was closed. The most famous tourist site in all of Greece, and perhaps in all of Eastern Europe, was closed on the most common day for tourists to travel, was closed at 2:45 pm on Sundays!
I discovered that there is a hill that offers great views of the Acropolis not too far away on its southwest. I immediately went there, away from crowds, and enjoyed a pretty good view of the Acropolis, and utilized my camera's zoom to get as good as pictures as I could. After that, I went around to some average sights. I visited the ancient cemetery of Athens, as well as the first modern cemetery; the latter was very extravagant; I have never seen so many well crafted head stones in my life, obviously a cemetery for very well to do people. Then, I went to the birthplace of the modern Olympics, the Panathinaikon Stadium. I went in through the back, and there were no real bars to entry, so I went in, and after taking several pictures, I was flagged down and told I needed a ticket; I decided to exit instead, rather than buy a ticket, since I had all the pictures I wanted. It was a very old stadium, but had withstood the test of time, being built of stone. Also, the track was very long, with 150-160s as straights, and a very tight curve. From there, I went to the National Gardens, and got a peak of where the Greek Parlaiment sits… they have done such a great job with the country's economy, I should have given them a round of applause while I was there. I finished out the day with a long trek up Mount Lycabettus, which all regard as the hands down best view of Athens. I timed out my day perfectly, and after huffing and puffing, and climbing up the tallest hill in Athens, I made it just in time to enjoy some great views of the city at sunset. It was well worth the climb.
I've now visited 5 Olympic stadiums in my time here in Europe. Not bad.
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