Athens - Parthenon

Once again we hired a guide to show us around Athens.  Our first stop was the Parthenon.  If we were lucky, our early departure would be rewarded with less crowds fighting for tickets/room on the small path up. 

Here is one of the theaters (in ruins) around the base of the hill.

This temple is on the same grounds, but we did not tour it.

Cory and I standing at the entrance of the Parthenon area.  You can see a little of Mars Hill behind us.

Check out everyone with headphones.  We tried to listen to Rick Steve's audio guide while we toured the top of the hill.  Unfortunately the kids don't like to manage the headphones very much, so this can be tiresome.

Cory really enjoyed the ruins.

Family pic - unfortunately the cranes were in almost all pictures.  They are slowly rebuilding the temple to it's original form using local marble.

The bright white pieces are the replacement marble.

More cool shots of the Parthenon.  

 Much of the reliefs and statues are scattered around museums (not in Greece).  We were able to see some of them in London when we visited last Thanksgiving.

 This is the temple of Zeus as seen from the top of the hill.  You can also make out Hadrian's Arch (at the 7 O'clock position).  We visited this site after leaving the Parthenon.  You can't really tell, but the columns on Zeus' temple are much taller than the comumns on the Parthenon.  The Parthenon's columns are designed to trick the eye into appearing much taller than they really are.  

 Look tall columns on the Parthenon.

 This gray rock with people scattered on top is Mars Hill - Paul preached here.  In Acts 17 you can read the story of how he informed the Athenians that he knew the name of their "unknown" god.  

 The kids loved climbing on Mars Hill.  They watched a video (drive through history) and already knew it as a reference point before we visited Athens.