May 10 Athens It is Ok, we are all alive. These people drive like maniacs. We have a very nice driver, I guess. I can only understand 20% of what he says but he laughs a lot and we all shake our heads up and down as we fain understanding. We have a big black Mercedes ,12 pax coach that our driver thinks is a Ferrari. As pedestrians jump for their lives and motorcyclist yell and glare, we make great progress through this city and its 5,000,000 people. They all have cars and they are all in them all the time. Our driver, his name I think is Corsa, 0r that may be only 20% of his name, took us to the Acropolis this morning where he arranged for a tour guide, Elaina. She spoke at light speed and I think she knew a lot about the Acropolis but my comprehension dropped to 10%. She was a no nonsense woman with a challenged since of humor. Not good with our group. The Acropolis is really amazing. These ancient architects were into the effect of light on structures and how it alters the perception of shape. Perspective and foreshortening were the tools of the trade. Their use of these concepts, resulted in a perfectly beautiful structure. You can’t see the full affect because of the scaffolding and cranes, but you can see enough to know that these people were brilliant at this technology 400-600BC years ago. Then a rip across town in our Mercedes chariot of fire to the National Museum. The building and the landscaping is a little apologetic but it is what is inside that counts. This collection of Greek antiquities counts a lot. The art, religions and life styles of ancient Greece is displayed here with English subtitles. We all probably marveled at these early cultures during our student years from our textbooks. See it in person before you die. It is worth it. We are getting hungry and we make the mistake of telling our driver so. He stepped up the pace a bit. I don’t think we hit anybody directly, but some guy carrying a sheet of plywood did get a little upset when we ran him off the road. I don’t think we hurt him but clearly we were not stopping. Lunch was wonderful. The Greeks know how to cook! I am coming back loaded with new culinary ideas. We are off to Istanbul Turkey in the morning. Our ride to the airport is with our driver, Corsa. God be with us. More later Mercer