We made our way to Syntagma Square which proved to be the starting or ending point for most of our excursions. We strolled down a mostly pedestrian street where motorcycles and motor scooters are apparently considered to be pedestrians, if not actually on the hunt for them.
We turned onto another street because we saw what looked like an archaeological site, and were rewarded with our first sighting of the Acropolis. We stayed downhill and visited the site of what once was Hadrian’s Library. 
This was also our introduction to theme of construction and destruction at many of the archaeological sites in Athens: built or significantly expanded by Roman Emperor Hadrian in the early 2nd century, destroyed by the Herulian mob 100 years later. Three successive Christian churches were built on the site between the 6th and 12th centuries. Now all that remains of them are some faded frescoes and pieces of mosaic flooring.
From the Library we walked the short distance to a large site called the Ancient Agora, or marketplace.
The studies of the site show continuous habitation since 3200 BC. The 5th century BC Temple of Hephaistos is the most intact building we saw below the Acropolis from the flourishing of Athens. 
Classical period, presumably because the Herulians didn’t want to climb the small to sack it. They spent their energy instead on tearing down the Stellae of Athos, a colonnaded market building which was rebuilt in modern times and now houses the Agora Museum. 
We didn’t have time to see the museum, so we concluded with a visit to the Church of the Holy Apostles, built in the 11th century and restored in the mid-1950’s. 
That evening we took a bus tour of the nearby port of Piraeus and some other sights in Athens, and ended the tour with dinner in the Plaka district of the city center. We joined a couple of hundred other tourists, as well as locals, in a taberna for live bouzouki music, folk dancing, and a great lamb dinner.
We were initially skeptical about how entertaining it would be, but the evening passed quickly as the audience became more involved in the singing and dancing. Imagine DisneyWorld’s Whoop-dee-doo Review in Greek. Part II to come...
This was also our introduction to theme of construction and destruction at many of the archaeological sites in Athens: built or significantly expanded by Roman Emperor Hadrian in the early 2nd century, destroyed by the Herulian mob 100 years later. Three successive Christian churches were built on the site between the 6th and 12th centuries. Now all that remains of them are some faded frescoes and pieces of mosaic flooring.From the Library we walked the short distance to a large site called the Ancient Agora, or marketplace.
The studies of the site show continuous habitation since 3200 BC. The 5th century BC Temple of Hephaistos is the most intact building we saw below the Acropolis from the flourishing of Athens. Classical period, presumably because the Herulians didn’t want to climb the small to sack it. They spent their energy instead on tearing down the Stellae of Athos, a colonnaded market building which was rebuilt in modern times and now houses the Agora Museum. We didn’t have time to see the museum, so we concluded with a visit to the Church of the Holy Apostles, built in the 11th century and restored in the mid-1950’s. That evening we took a bus tour of the nearby port of Piraeus and some other sights in Athens, and ended the tour with dinner in the Plaka district of the city center. We joined a couple of hundred other tourists, as well as locals, in a taberna for live bouzouki music, folk dancing, and a great lamb dinner.
We were initially skeptical about how entertaining it would be, but the evening passed quickly as the audience became more involved in the singing and dancing. Imagine DisneyWorld’s Whoop-dee-doo Review in Greek. Part II to come...
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