12 May 2012: We set off via bus and metro into Athens, first to the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the biggest temple in Europe or at least the remains of it. It used to have 16 remaining columns but one fell down recently. Views of the Acropolis can be seen high in the far distance:

This is the Temple of Olympian Zeus from the Acropolis clearly showing the fallen column:

We climbed slowly up (it is 28º today) and joined the crowds of tourists taking photos of the various relics. Thank goodness we are here in low season, it is hard to imagine the heat and the crowds in the high season.

Lykavitos is the tallest hill in the foreground as seen from the Acropolis showing the endless sprawl of Athens.

After checking out the temple of Athena, the Parthenon, the Herodes Atticus Theatre we made our way down to the Plaka where we ambled about and had lunch.

Back on the Metro, we made our way to Piraeus and bought our ferry tickets (a startling €164 one way for us both and the van) for a 5 hour voyage to Paros in the Cyclades leaving at 0725 tomorrow morning.