Day 01: 20 May ATHENS Meet and assist and group coach arrival transfer
On arrival in Athens, we are met and escorted to our coach and transfer to our hotel. Athens is the off-and-on capital of Greece and has had many incarnations over several thousand years. The city received a major facelift for the 2004 Olympics and is looking better than ever, with buildings and monuments cleaned and renovated, and newly created pedestrian areas near the Ancient Agora and Acropolis. This evening a welcome dinner is served at the hotel. Overnight (3 star) Golden City Hotel (or similar) Meal plan: hotel dinner
Day 02: 21 May ATHENS Full day tour: Acropolis, Acropolis Museum, Parthenon, the Plaka
Following breakfast, we depart on a full day tour of Athens to visit the Acropolis, the new Acropolis Museum, the Parthenon and the Plaka. Most visitors to Athens head almost instinctively for the Acropolis. Once fortified, it was virtually impregnable, although defenders were hampered by a lack of water. Many of the temples built on the Acropolis were shrines to the Goddess Athena, as is The Parthenon, the temple which sits atop the acropolis today. Its predecessor, the massive Hekatompedon of Peisistratus, was located slightly to the north of the Parthenon, beside the present Erechtheion. The Hekatompedon (also known as the "Old Temple of Athena"), was burnt in the Persian sack of Athens in 480 BCE. Its foundations remain on the Acropolis, and are the only remnants of the buildings pre-dating the Persians sacking the city. Fortunately, many of the buildings erected by Pericles a half century later, have survived, and it is the Periclean Acropolis that we visit today. Of these buildings, the most famous is The Parthenon (447-32 BCE) flanked by the temple of Athena Nike (427-24 BCE) and the Erechtheion (421-06 BCE). In addition, Pericles was responsible for the building of the Propylaia (437-32 BCE) the monumental entrance way to the Acropolis. We tour the acropolis and visit the recent addition to the site, the Acropolis Museum. After our visit, we visit the Plaka, where we first take lunch in a local restaurant before exploring the oldest neighborhood of Athens, which stretches around the base of the Acropolis, the oldest and more picturesque part of Athens. Narrow streets and alleys, single story houses, neoclassical villas, taverns and cafeterias and many tourist shops. After our tour we return to the hotel. Dinner is served at the hotel. Overnight (3 star) Golden City Hotel (or similar) Meal plan: breakfast, restaurant lunch, hotel dinner
Following breakfast, we depart on a full day tour of Athens to visit the Acropolis, the new Acropolis Museum, the Parthenon and the Plaka. Most visitors to Athens head almost instinctively for the Acropolis. Once fortified, it was virtually impregnable, although defenders were hampered by a lack of water. Many of the temples built on the Acropolis were shrines to the Goddess Athena, as is The Parthenon, the temple which sits atop the acropolis today. Its predecessor, the massive Hekatompedon of Peisistratus, was located slightly to the north of the Parthenon, beside the present Erechtheion. The Hekatompedon (also known as the "Old Temple of Athena"), was burnt in the Persian sack of Athens in 480 BCE. Its foundations remain on the Acropolis, and are the only remnants of the buildings pre-dating the Persians sacking the city. Fortunately, many of the buildings erected by Pericles a half century later, have survived, and it is the Periclean Acropolis that we visit today. Of these buildings, the most famous is The Parthenon (447-32 BCE) flanked by the temple of Athena Nike (427-24 BCE) and the Erechtheion (421-06 BCE). In addition, Pericles was responsible for the building of the Propylaia (437-32 BCE) the monumental entrance way to the Acropolis. We tour the acropolis and visit the recent addition to the site, the Acropolis Museum. After our visit, we visit the Plaka, where we first take lunch in a local restaurant before exploring the oldest neighborhood of Athens, which stretches around the base of the Acropolis, the oldest and more picturesque part of Athens. Narrow streets and alleys, single story houses, neoclassical villas, taverns and cafeterias and many tourist shops. After our tour we return to the hotel. Dinner is served at the hotel. Overnight (3 star) Golden City Hotel (or similar) Meal plan: breakfast, restaurant lunch, hotel dinner
Day 03: 22 May ATHENS Full day tour: Nat. Archeological Museum. Wiener Laboratory
Following breakfast, we depart on a full day tour of Athens to explore the National Archaeological Museum, and visit the Weiner Laboratory in the afternoon. Although the National Archaeological Museum is often crowded and can be difficult to view at leisure, the exhibits are spectacular and visitors tend to want to return again and again. Just inside the entrance is the famous Gold of Mycenae, including the gold mask which Schliemann believed to be that of Agamemnon. One proceeds chronologically from the Geometric (9th & 8th BCE) to the Archaic (7th and 6th BCE) to the Classical (5th and 4th BCE) to the Hellenistic (3rd to 1st BCE) periods. Monumental stone youths, or kouroi, give way to monumental bronze statues, such as the Zeus or Poseidon found off Cape Artemision. Funeral stele and portrait busts from throughout Greece, as well as architectural fragments and ornament fill the museum. On the upper floor are delightful frescoes from the island of Santorini (Thera), dating from the Minoan period, and various small collections. Quite simply, the National Museum of Archaeology has the finest collection of Greek antiquities in the world, and should be visited slowly, carefully, and often. After our tour we take lunch in a local restaurant. In the afternoon, we visit the Malcomb H. Wiener Laboratory at the American School of Classical Studies near Kolanaki (details to be confirmed. After our visit, we return to the hotel. Dinner is served at the hotel. Overnight (3 star) Golden City Hotel (or similar) Meal plan: breakfast, restaurant lunch, hotel dinner
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