Greece Photos and Travel Notes - May 2007

Images from our trip to Greece from May 16 to May 28. We visited Athens, Delphi, Meteora, Mykonos and Santorini. Click on any photo to see it larger, of course. If you're short on time, the best images are here.

We arrived late in Athens on a Thursday, so our first day mainly consisted of going to Taverna tou Psiri for dinner.
greece athens
Exhausted after 13 hours of flying time. The time difference is 7 hours ahead of us.
greece athens
Our first meal: calamari, lamb and briam. Regular Amstel is available, unlike in the US.
greece athens
The outside of Taverna tou Psiri. Left of the entrance is a mural of a drunk hanging on to a lamp post.
greece athens
More restaurants in the Psiri area. Can you believe it is close to 1AM on a weekday?
greece athens
We woke up around noon after our first night in Athens. We took the metro to Monastiraki and hiked up the hill to the Acropolis. We bypassed Ancient Agora on the way and unfortunately, returned too late to see it.

One of first things we saw was the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. This theater is just outside the Acropolis walls and is still used for performances today.
greece athens acropolis
greece athens acropolis yan
The Parthenon, still under renovation. The Parthenon's roof was blown off by a cannon shot by the Venetians while it was occupied by the Turks in 1687. The cannon shot ignited the gunpowder the Turks were storing in the Parthenon.
greece athens acropolis
greece athens acropolis
A view of the outer wall of the Acropolis and the city below.
greece athens acropolis
The Erechtheion. It is famous for its six women columns.
greece athens acropolis
The Erechtheion. The six women columns are actually copies. Five of the originals are in the Acropolis Museum.
greece athens acropolis
A wider view of the Erechtheion.
greece athens acropolis
greece athens acropolis
The Acropolis from atop a small hill.
greece athens acropolis
greece athens acropolis
This photo was taken along one of the paths around the north side of the Acropolis.
greece athens yan
The Theater of Dionysus. What remains is much smaller than its original size. This theater is outside the Acropolis on the southeastern side.
greece athens
A detail shot of the front of the theater.
greece athens
The ruins of the Temple of Zeus.
greece athens temple of zeus
greece athens temple of zeus
greece athens temple of zeus
greece athens yan temple of zeus
New soldiers coming for the hourly changing of the guard ceremony.
greece athens honor guard
Inspection.
greece athens honor guard
Relieved.
greece athens honor guard
The Church of Kapnikarea. This church is located on Ermou Street, a big pedestrian shopping district. It is believed that the church was built in 1050.
greece athens
This is a church we passed while searching for a particularly hard to find restaurant called To Steki tou Elia.
greece athens
Graffiti covered the wall of this building that we found while searching for the restaurant. Can you tell that Yan is desperately trying to figure out where we are, by reading the "Lonely Planet Greece" bible?
greece athens yan
Saturday, the day after visiting the Acropolis, we took a bus to Delphi, 4 hours from Athens. It drizzled off and on during our visit to Delphi.

This is the entrance to the Temple of Apollo, where the priestess of Oracle could be found. All the buildings nearby are known collectively as the Sanctuary of Apollo.
greece delphi temple of apollo
A view of the entire ruins of the Temple of Apollo.
greece delphi temple of apollo
The theater.
greece delphi yan
The theater from up high.
greece delphi
The stadium at the top of the Sanctuary of Apollo. Sprinters raced here.
greece delphi
This chariot driver is the most treasured possession of the museum at Delphi. The display in the background shows what the entire sculpture used to look like. This chariot driver was smuggled out of Italy to England and bought back by Greece for $4 million dollars.
greece delphi
This model shows what the entire Sanctuary of Apollo once looked like.
greece delphi
The Sanctuary of Athena. After visiting this site, we walked back to bus station, at least 4 bus transfers later, we arrived at Kalambaka. Kalambaka is one of the nearby towns to Meteora - the home of the several monasteries perched high atop huge rock formations.
greece delphi Sanctuary of Athena
On Sunday, we took a cab to the highest monastery in Meteora, Moni Megalou.

This is Moni Varlaam as seen from nearby Moni Megalou Meteorou. It was built in the 14th century. The only way up is by climbing up the cliffs. Obviously one outdoor activity is rock climbing.
greece meteora monastery
Moni Megalou Meteorou. It is not only the highest monastery, but also the largest.
greece meteora monastery
greece meteora monastery
Another shot of Moni Varlaam from Moni Megalou Meteorou.
greece meteora monastery
A shelf full of skulls in Moni Megalou Meteorou. We think these are skulls of past monks who lived at the monastery. There is a small hole in the door that lets you see the shelf.
greece meteora monastery
Visitors light candles outside of the chapel.
greece meteora monastery
One of the monastery's courtyards.
greece meteora monastery
This room contains the winch and net that was the original means of entering and exiting the monastery. Legend has it as that one visitor asked the monks how do you know when to change the ropes, and the reply was "we change it after it breaks." !!!
greece meteora monastery
A detail shot of the monastery's roof.
greece meteora monastery
greece meteora monastery
greece meteora monastery

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Greece Photos and Travel Notes - May 2007