Welcome to Greece!!!

Hello from Athens, Greece!!

Our last two days in Cairo were spent wrapping up our time in Egypt by visiting the Museum in Cairo and having a Egyptian Folklore dinner out on the Nile complete with the Whirling Dervish, singing, and bellydancing. By visiting the Museum in Cairo, we laid eyes upon some of the most royal mummies and the treasures of King Tut, like his famous headdress. Later that day, some of us opted to visit Islamic avenue for a look at Islamic architecture. Before we departed, we had a farewell dinner with Amr, our tour director, and the fellow travellers on the Go Ahead tours. We will miss them!!

Lucky for us, we left Cairo at 4:30am to arrive at Athens International Airport at about 6am to secure a full day in Athens. We drove to our hotel, Pan Hotel, to drop off our bags before beginning our Greek exploration. We had a brief brunch and walking tour while we waited for our room to get to know the city. Then we had some much needed rest before our first Greek dinner! (Which was delicious and quite a change from the Egyptian cuisine!)

Today, our historical tour of Greece began here in Athens. We visited the Temple of Zeus, Hadrian's Arch, the 1896 Olympic Arena, the Acropolis (including the Parthenon and Theater of Dionysos), and the Agora. It was amazing to see the iconic Acropolis, where we learned a lot of the differences in architecture such as Doric and Ionic columns by observing the superior structure of the Parthenon.

We covered much of Athens by 3pm. From there, some of us climbed (or gondala-ed) up the Hill at Lykavittos for a magnificent view of Athens (pictures to come). Tonight we ventured our separate ways to enjoy small dinners, shopping, and more exploring.

Tomorrow, we head to Corinth to begin our tour of the Peloponnesse. We will be staying at a hotel overlooking a harbor..so we are in for some good seafood and scenery!

Keep checking back for pictures and updates!

Sarah and Nicole