When we first arrived in Athens, we took a train to the center of the city to see the ancient Acropolis. The Acropolis sits high on a hill, and most people take a bus to the top, but we wanted to make our way up on foot. The area was pretty but the first thing we noticed was the abundance of stray dogs wandering around. They were even hanging around on the ruins, waiting for tourists to feed them. 
The Acropolis was built in the 6th century BC, and includes a number of ancient ruins including the famous Parthenon. The first ruin we saw was the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, a beautiful theater which was once enclosed by a wooden roof, but is now open on top and offers a beautiful view of the surrounding ruins and tree topped hills in the background. The theater holds about 5,000 people and we were told they do still have concerts at the theater.
The next ruin we saw was the Erechtheion, which was a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena. It is easily recognized by it's famous Porch of the Caryatids (maidens), which has 6 beautiful maiden statues lining it's entry. In 1806, Lord Elgin of Scotland took two of the statues to decorated his castle in Scotland, but they have all since been replaced by exact replicas. The real statues were moved to a museum in 1979. 
At the time of our visit, the Parthenon was undergoing renovations to repair the damages done in about 480 BC. The Ottoman's had taken control of the Acropolis, and were using it to store ammunition which was ignited by a Venetian bombardment. The explosion did extensive damage to the building. Even with all the renovations going on, it was still very impressive to see and it was hard to believe that a building built so long ago that has been through so much, could still be standing today.
The view from the top of the Acropolis was beautiful, and we could see our next stop down below, which was the Temple of Olympian Zeus. In the 3rd century AD, the temple fell out of use after barbarians pillaged it, but its size is what's impressive. During Roman times, it was the biggest temple in Greece.
After seeing the ruins, we were tired and didn't have much time left in the day. We did a little bit of shopping in a charming little neighborhood called Plaka, right below the Acropolis. We ate gyros on the patio of a small restaurant and watched all the kids walking home from school. Just like in many of the other cities we saw, we felt there just wasn't enough time in one day to see everything Athens has to offer.
