Our last day.

The early morning sentry is out making his rounds.

Thursday, October 1, 2015

After breakfast, Ginny and I walked up to the Museum of the Acropolis.  WOW!!!  The museum is built over ruins that are being excavated.  There are open viewing areas and glass sidewalks so you can view the work being done!  It is incredible!

The Acropolis Museum entrance.  

This massive building stands on pillars, with ost of the floors in transparent material so that visitors may observe beneath the structure where the remains of buildings that occupied the area until late antiquity can be viewed.

The museum itself is amazing.  There are artifacts that are thousands of years old.  Quite mind boggling.

The ground floor houses scale models of the Acropolis.

Material discovered in the sanctuaries and in the prvate houses on the slopes of the Acropolis is on display along the slanted ramp that goes from the ground floor up to the first floor.

On display in a loggia are the Caryatids  that used to belong to the ancient loggia on the southern side of the Erechtheion.

 The museum itself is amazing.  There are artifacts that are thousands of years old.  Quite mind boggling.

Laser treatment is used to clean the sculptures of decades of pollution.

There is a Leggo sculpture of the Acropolis!

Only got a few photos… some signs say no photos, some say no flash.  Sometimes got in trouble for taking photos… anyway, it is a place you can spend hours and hours.  We were there for three hours and really just looked at things, didn’t try to read the descriptions.

Got a cool book that has overlays, photos of the ruins with an overlay of what the structures are thought to look like when originally built.  Very cool.

Visitors can see the sites of ancient dwellings.

These are the little bistros and businesses on the ground floor.  The apartments are above.

Entrance to our apartment building.  We can use the spiral staircase or one of two lifts.

The Theater of Dionysos

After lunch Marion and I did a little more shopping then I decided to go back up to the Acropolis.  By then it was after 4pm and the crowds were gone.  It was fantastic!  Only a couple of hundred people up there compared to the several thousands that were there the other morning!  It was a much more satisfying visit.

Ornate scroll work on the marble benches.

The figure of Silenos

Local resident!

Temple of Asclepios

The Odeion of Herodes Atticus

Still used for productions today!

Shrine of Athena

Erechtheion

Some closeups of the details

Each of the ladies had a slightly different dress, stance and hair style.

 We met up with Jessica again for dinner.  Then back to our apartment for our final packing.  We are leaving at 3:30am for the long trip back.  Time for a fast sleep!

Good buy Athens!  Hope to see you again soon!!

A local resident enjoying the afternoon sun.