Zombie Acropolis

Several of our recent hotels, Rome, Thessaloniki and Delphi, as well as Milan have really been great.  (With the understanding that I worked hard on TripAdvisor.com to try to cut the cost and find the best value room in each destination.  That site gives good advice.) 
*  In Milan they let us check in 4 hours early for a shower and a nap - that saved the day. 
*  In Rome the B&B owners had put water, pop, cookies, chips, fruit and champagne in our room for free.  Incredible attention to detail. 
*  In Delphi the breakfast was home-made family recipes, served by the owner with gentle conversation.   

So as we were getting in to Athens, I was thinking "now we are going to a real hotel - not just a B&B".  (On my friend Kerry Lannan's advice I spent the $ for an actual hotel here.)  But we had already had some great experiences so far.  We didn't know if they could top it as we are paying a little more here.

They did.  On arrival the hotel had upgraded our room for free.  We have a 5th floor balcony that has this incredible view of the temple of Zeus across the street.  I thought I was out of wows. 

We started the day with breakfast on the roof.  Emmi - you would love to be here.  This is like breakfast in China - with a view - the restaurant is open air on the roof of the hotel.  After breakfast we headed out for the Acropolis / Parthenon / Erectheon to try to beat the crowds and the heat.

So whose idea was it to build this thing on the top of a hill anyway?  I mean, it is like way up.  Regardless, as 2000 year old buildings go, they don't get bigger or better than this one.  The entire archeological site is quite beautiful and impressive.  We thought there were a lot of people going in - but the real crowds were arriving as we were leaving.  And in the heat of the day, they really looked like a bunch of zombies :-)

We came back to rest before going out again in the afternoon - the temple of Zeus, lunch in the Plaka and Syntagma Square. 

For the evening we just walked the Plaka, talking to people, stopping to browse or have dinner.  It was a very relaxed and fun evening. 

Re Athens - Greece and Athens seem like 2 different places, much like Italy and Rome.  The traffic out of the city wasn't ever bad at all, even in Corinth or Thessaloniki.  But here and Rome, man, it's almost like Asian cities.  Not quite as scary though because if the pedestrian has the crosswalk light, the cars and busses stop here.   

Re Italians and Greeks.  They're all individuals so difficult to generalize - but very open, happy, friendly, kind people overall.  Many, many are enthusiastic smokers though - that part is sad. 

Re Europeans in general. They ask "where are you from?" We answer, "USA." They ask, "What part of USA?" We respond, "Right in the middle - Kansas City." Every. Single. One. Replies: "Oh, Kansas!"  Apparently everybody has seen the Wizard of Oz, and nobody has ever heard of Kansas City or Missouri.