Greetings from Athens!

Hey everyone! Greetings from Greece!

I've finally found some time to start a blog about our travels through Europe this summer -- a month split between Greece, Turkey and Italy and then a month in Berlin. Alison and I have been in Athens since Sunday, hanging out with Joe and Suzy Karbowski (Joe and I were at a conference on Monday and Tuesday).

Athens has been great. The Acropolis has definitely been the highlight -- both the views of it from around the city (see pictures above) and the site itself. I was surprised how raw and rugged it feels, despite having a lot of tourists. There is still something romantic and a bit magical about the place. In the future, I plan to put fewer pictures in each post, but since we've been here for many days now... Here are some pictures from the Acropolis:





That last picture is an example of how I now have a much better sense for Athens' ancient layout. Behind me is the road down the Piraeus, Athens port. In the mid 5th Century B.C.E., Pericles built "The Long Walls" down to the Piraeus (5 miles away). It hadn't occurred to me that he could just stand up on the acropolis and see the Piraeus.

Lots of people say that Athens isn't a very pleasant city. I don't think that is quite right, but it is a dirty city and has more graffiti than any other I've been to. There are a fair number of wild dogs and cats roaming the city, although none have seemed dangerous. On the other hand, there are lots and lots of leafy streets with pleasant open-air cafes where you can hang out and have a coffee. The sites are certainly beautiful and there are is lots of green area, as you can see. Some of the streets and architecture is charming. I hear the whole city was spruced up for the Olympics and has been much nicer since.


(Two stray dogs in an empty house.)

I'll end with some pictures from the protests that have been happening every night in front of the parliament.