What a glorious day to see a temple on the top of a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Today was our first time out of the hustle and bustle of Athens—at least for the morning.

Starting off early, we drove along the coast southward to Cape Sounion. At the very tip of the peninsula is the temple of Poseidon, standing tall over the water and watching the ships sail inland towards Athens. It was here the the ancients made land holy to the god Poseidon. It was also here that Theseus, while sailing back from Crete, forget to change the sails of his ship, and his father, believing his son dead, jumped from the craggy cliffs into the sea. All these stories and the stories of the Romanticist Lord Alfred Byron were the topics of our lectures. Lord Byron wrote many poems about Greece and Sounion and even carved his name into one of the temple’s column.

We spent about 90 minutes there then drove down to the beach for lunch and dip. This beach trip is new to the excursion and worked well. I think we will keep it! After a couple hours of sun, we found ourselves heading toward Athens and our Acropolis tour. It was late in the day and the sun had made us a little sleepy, but visiting the Acropolis in the afternoon was tour “home run”. Very few visitors, great angle of the sun for pictures and, most important, no lines! Our poor students got a double dose of lecture. First from our guide, Maria, then from me for the course. Yikes! Lots to say and remember.

Home by 7PM and dinner at 7:30. Two successful day in Athens, with many points of history floating about in our heads.

Tomorrow, travel to Olympus, with stops along the way.