31st Anniversary in Athens!!

July 10, 2013:  We started our anniversary by having breakfast at the hotel in Vienna with Beth and Ellen, then we three headed to the airport one more time for our flight to Athens.  Everything went smoothly all the way, and we found our hotel easily.  What a romantic Tim is --- breakfast in Vienna, walking atop the ancient Acropolis in Athens by afternoon!!    :-)    

On the walk from our hotel, we passed a hat shop where Tim found the perfect Greek hat to keep the sun off his head instead of his signature baseball cap.  That's the Acropolis up on the hill in the background - WOW!!  

First stop - climbing the hill up to the Acropolis - Tim sporting his new hat!  

Beth was really excited to be with us!!  

There was a lot of restoration work occurring on the Parthenon, so we tried to only take photos of the parts not obstructed by so much scaffolding, cranes, etc.  

The front of the Parthenon.  The perfect classical building!!  

Views from the Acropolis were gorgeous too, and they foreshadowed other destinations we would be visiting later, such as the temple of Olympian Zeus.

This is a high hill in the middle of Athens, as seen from the Acropolis, with a small Christian church at the very top.  It's Lycabettus Hill. 

One of the Greek theaters just below the Acropolis - seen on the way up.  

This theatre is still used today, and it seats 6,000 people.  

There was to be a concert that night, so we got to see some of the stage rehearsal from high above.  They actually had stone-colored seat cushions on all the seats for the performance, which would be much more comfortable for the audience. 

This rock formation and Greek flag are at the far end of the Acropolis.  

Alongside the Parthenon - it's so amazing to think we were walking where the ancient Greek philosophers and mathematicians strolled around on the Acropolis!  

One of the other temples atop the Acropolis.  

We just kept looking around and saying, "Can you believe we're actually in Athens on the Acropolis seeing all this right now???"  The reason we came was that seeing Athens was a lifetime dream of Tim's - check that one off the bucket list!!   

On the way down from the Acropolis, we passed by the front side of the theatre where we watched the rehearsal from above.  We passed by hundreds of people all dressed for the concert walking up the pedestrian way as we left.  

The terrain and vegetation were really neat to see on our hike down the hill too.  

Our first Greek food - frozen Greek yogurt with fruit toppings - YUM!!   This picture is on the square near our hotel - Monastiraki.  It's a bustling tourist area with many narrow streets crammed with shops selling souvenirs.  And yes, that's the Acropolis in the background again.  It's so neat seeing it from most everywhere we are in the city.  

Daddy and his Princess after walking around on top of the Acropolis for the first time!

This is the hill we climbed to reach the Parthenon atop the Acropolis.   

Dinner of souvlaki at a Greek restaurant.  No one eats inside!  The breezes are lovely in the evening at the outdoor tables, though sometimes it's annoying having smokers nearby.  The alternative is sweltering inside, so we just tried to choose a table carefully!  What a wonderful way to finish up our 31st anniversary!!  :-)