Jan Bono’s Blog

Not a fig leaf in sight

The "new" Acropolis Museum opened in June, 2009. It is built literally in the shadow of The Acropolis, and houses over 3,000 artifacts. It is located on the archaeological site of Makrygianni and the ruins of a part of Roman and early Byzantine Athens. It is truly a...

The Acropolis of Athens

I got all goosepimply as we drove the short distance from our hotel to the parking lot below the most famous of Greek citadels. And yes, as we climbed the uneven cobblestone walkway to the top of the rock outcropping, I wiped away tears of joy, thrilled that later on...

And away we go!

After a more-than-hearty breakfast, and enough caffeinated coffee to float the Titanic, we gathered in the hotel lobby and were pointed toward our assigned buses. As I get ever-so-horribly bus sick (a fact I hid from my students for 30 years), I always opted to board...

The most important meal of the day

"Breakfast" was included every day of our tour. I'm not a big breakfast fan, preferring to delay any food intake until around noon, but lunches were "on our own" and breakfast was already paid for, so I altered my food schedule enough to fully participate in the...

Were we “safe” on the streets?

One of the first things we noticed on our initial "walkabout" was a plethora of police presence. Every street corner seemed to be stationed with armed men in uniform. A little investigation (no one will ever accuse me of being too shy to ask questions) revealed that...

Window Shopping in Athens

Between our arrival, and our welcome dinner, Pat and I decided (ok, I twisted her arm) to walk a few blocks over, and a few blocks down from our hotel, and get our general bearings while exploring the sights and sounds of this area of the city. The first thing we...