Climbing the Acropolis

I know it is Rosh Hashonah, but the tour schedule is the tour schedule. This morning we climbed to the top of the Acropolis to see the Parthenon. The climb wasn't a problem.

The thousands of tourists from the cruise ships docked in the harbor, piling out of the dozens of buses, and descending on the Acropolis the same time as we did - that was the problem.

If you are into people watching, it was a hilarious scene to see the German, Italian, Spanish, and of course, American tourists. It was easy to pick out the nationalities without even listening to them speak. The Italians were all dressed in designer fashions (including the women in high heels) and seemingly oblivious to the 90 degree heat. Most of the Americans were overweight and dressed like slobs, but comfortable slobs. The Spanish talked nonstop, and the Germans dressed with no eye for color coordination or style.

The Greeks need to do a much better job restoring all their ancient sites. The only way they are going to expand their economy is with tourism, yet the historical sites aren't that impressive.

The new Acropolis museum was the most interesting thing we saw. Just completed a couple of years ago, it does a nice job of displaying the history of the Greek civilization. Too bad the British "stole" some of the best pieces back in the early 1800s (including chunks of the Parthenon) and now display them in the British Museum in London. Good luck trying to get the British to give them back to Greece.