Theater of Dionysus & Temple of Zeus
(Athens, July 5)

Our ship did not sail until evening, so we had a while to kill on Saturday. We started early again to beat the heat and the tourists, and headed out to the Theater of Dionysus and the Temple of Zeus. Little did we know the heat had decided to get up early, too.

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The Theater of Dionysus is located under the south side of the Acropolis. Used in the festival of Dionysus, it saw original performances of plays by Euripides, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Aristophanes. It was rebuilt many times in its history by both Greeks and Romans.

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Little remains of the temple of Zeus, and a big piece of that is also currently surrounded by scaffolding. Still, very impressive. The nearby Hadrian's Gate was completely obscured by scaffolding.

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By now the heat was getting pretty intense. We decided enough outdoors and visited the Museum of Cycladic Art and the Benaki Museum, about the only remaining museums of ancient artifacts that weren't closed for renovations before the 2004 Olympics.

After Museums and a late lunch, we retrieved our bags from the Hotel Attalos and made our way to the port of Piraeus to board the Star Flyer for the start of the Aegean phase of our trip.