I slept, surprisingly well, for about 5 hours, awakening just off of the east coast of Spain , north of Mallorca . I had an aisle seat so I couldn't really appreciate the world below as we flew over Corsica, the toe of Italy , and on to Greece .

Traveling with experts in a new area makes life easy. After landing in Athens , we took Bus 95 to Syntagma Square and walked a block and a half downhill to the Pan Hotel. Most of the students were already there. Bob, Anne, Drew, and I ate lunch at a sidewalk take-out place on the square and then found the office of our travel agent, Anna Dimogotsi, and paid the rest of our tab (about $2600). Bob and Anne also made arrangements for their post-trip travels to Egypt . Next, we returned to the hotel. Everyone seemed to be there so we walked to the top of the Hill of the Muses. The day was fairly clear, for Athens , so we could see the mountains that ring the city and cause its tremendous air pollution problem.

We had a tremendous late afternoon view of the Acropolis. Bob showed us the wall of which surrounded the Ancient City . We could see Piraeus and Bob described the walls that led from Athens to the port to keep Spartans out during the Pelopennesian War.

We then walked back toward the hotel and stopped at a typical Athenian restaurant and ordered the variety dish for all. I sat with Heather, Kristin, and Sara enjoying the meal as Kristin and Sara tried foods they never tasted before. I capped off the evening with a shot of ouzo.At some point during dinner we realized that Zack was not among us. No one had seen him yet so we assumed he was having travel problems.

Everyone was beat by the time we returned to the hotel. I found an internet café and wrote to Joan. I went to bed after a shower and was immediately asleep.