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Soon after arriving in Athens, I found the Benaki Museum, a treasure of Greek heritage
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Antonis Benaki established and endowed the museum in 1930
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The museum is housed in the Benaki villa, their fortune came from the Alexandria cotton industry
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The view from Friday's dinner on Tripodon Street which originally led to the Theater of Dionysus and was lined with tripods, the trophies from theatrical performances
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Dinner was on a balcony of the well-regarded Scholarhio
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After Saturday's breakfast I went to see the view from the roof of the hotel
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The Plaka neighborhood, where I'd soon be heading
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Early Saturday morning in the Plaka
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Lysicrates Square, where Byron wrote part of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage
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Lysicrates Square, where I would have dinner later that day
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Ah, this is familiar from my first visit! We walked up to the Beule Gate from here, the Odeon of Herodus Aticus
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Looking towards Filopappou Hill topped by a monument to the eponymous Roman consul; also where Theseus battled the Amazons according to Plutarch
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The pedestrian street goes around the Acropolis and the many ruins are signposted
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On the SW side of the Acropolis are Mars Hill and Pynx Hill and fields of ancient ruins
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Then you come into the neighborhood of Thissio where an outdoor cinema offers a view of the Acropolis
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Looking towards the Stoa in the Ancient Agora and Lycabettus Hill
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I wandered through the colorful streets of Thissio
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Take away the graffiti and posters and it could be Alexandria
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Arriving at the Agora, now walking along Adrianou Street in Monastiraki
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About Athens' Ancient Agora
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The Temple of Hephaestos
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The Church of the Apostle Phillip was one of the few I went into
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This year the Easter wreath was also the May Day wreath
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The Monastiraki restaurants next to the Agora were all packed
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More of the Roman Agora with Fethiye Mosque and the Tower of the Winds in the background
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The Tower of the Winds, decorated by wind deities, was topped by a weather vane in antiquity
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A May Day wreath
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"It's owned by the church," Paulus told me
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To the immediate south of the Cathedral is the little Church of St. Eleftherios also called the "Little Mitropoli."
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The Easter vitrine
