Once we deplaned and went through passport control which had a huge line but moved fast, we were in the arrivals hall . I got some money from an ATM and then started looking for a tourist info person to get directions for our hotel via the Metro. The tourist info lady was nice, told us how to do the metro ride and where our hotel was and she circled a whole bunch of tourist must-sees and gave us a few other tips as well as a cheat sheet on the essential Greek phrases. We really haven't attempted more than trying to read signs in Greek. I worked out exodus as the Greek word for exit and was so proud of myself.

We had a few false starts trying to find the Metro. I led Kara to the train station but the ticket agent for the metro gave us our tickets and checked my age to see if I qualified for the discount. That was nice. Everyone we have dealt with so far has been exceptionally nice. We were sort of following the lead of a couple that we overheard were taking the same route as we were but they got off at the stop before the one we were supposed to take. Then we got off the right one to transfer to the red line, but went in the wrong direction for one stop, had to reverse and then got out at Syntagma station . We asked a few people and then found our street and our hotel. Our room has a fantastic view of the Temple to Zeus across the street. I want to see it at dusk and dawn. We missed dusk - I will be ready for dawn tomorrow I hope.

Kara is sleeping and muttering in her sleep. Hope she is not having nightmares.

'We were both starving by the time we got to the hotel so our first order of business was a wonderful lunch full of Greek specialties. We tried to find a recommended restaurant. They was one tip to eat at the cafe in the Zappion garden so we headed for the gardens. That restaurant didn't look open so then we went back to the metro station area where we had seen a lot of sidewalk cafes. I made Kara pick one which turned out to be perfect and we shared a spinach pie and a plate of assorted Greek specialties. Kara had white wine and I, a cappuchino. It was good and even though we were tired, we were refreshed and ready to make the most of our first day even though it really was only a half day. By now it was around 4 pm. As we walked back from the restaurant, we stopped into a few shops that had interesting items but figured we should come back later when we could drop any purchases off in our room.

We headed to the gardens and walked around the perimeter, taking photos of some of the trees, the huge pergola and the little zoo - turtles, rabbits and bearded billy goats in the cages . We passed the Zappion again and Kara took the stones out of her shoes. Then we got to the Temple of Zeus. It appears to be one of the few sites that stays open later than mid-afternoon, or so I thought from some tourist info I had seen. We walked around and took photos of the remaining columns and ruins until Kara found that she had lost the key card to our hotel room. She looked around for it and I walked around a bit more. No card. We walked back to our hotel thinking we would take a nap before dinner.

Once back at the room, we discovered it was now around 7 pm so any nap would be a short one. Kara revised our alarm to 8:30 pm when we planned to go to the hotel rooftop restaurant for dinner. We should have made a reservation so we could sit outdoors but our inside table did have a view of the Acropolis all lit up way above us. We had a bottle of white wine from the Peloponnese selected by our waiter that was delicate and very pleasant. I had grilled squid that was very good and Kara had a mushroom pasta dish. We shared a Greek salad with cherry tomatoes, capers and a gob of whipped feta cheese. Everything was very good. While we ate, we chatted but noticed that the couple at the table next to us said little. Kara started a conversation with them about our food selections and then when we had finished eating and were sipping the last of our wine, we started talking with the couple about the US election. They were from Cleveland and Republican but didn't like Trump...needless to say they were not Hilary fans either. He felt that if Trump didn't talk, he would be more easily elected. We then went on to travel talk and other stuff so didn't get into any fisticuffs over politics. They seemed nice. He was in the bar business and I think she was a nurse. They start out early tomorrow so we may not see them again. Oh, I didn't mention that they were on their honeymoon. They had gotten married months earlier, but couldn't get away until now.

After getting to our room, Kara checked her messages and I uploaded my Nikon photos. I had major problems loading my Lumix photos and also had a problem trying to upload a photo for this blog. I am done with today's entry. I think I will write a few words about yesterday and then to bed. No photos attached today. I was disappointed with my Nikon photos of the temple.