Mount Lykavettos

Tonight after our orientation meetings and trip to the hospital for TB tests and chest x-rays (so much fun that was!), we walked up Mount Lykavettos (very near the American School) from which I saw the real Parthenon for the first time!

My first-time view of the Parthenon: the picture isn't great because the sky was very hazy but I wanted to share anyway. Professor Miles who led our walk said that the sky is much clearer in November and I plan to go back and get pictures then.  It was a pleasant ascent with a very nice path.  At the top there is a little church dedicated to St. George (and the Prophet Elijah because nearly all mountains in Greece have a little church dedicated to the Prophet Elijah) and a bell tower flying the Greek flag.

Professor Miles also mentioned that people run the paths around and up Mt. Lykavettos which I wasn't really interested in because of the incline and dog poo, but then she pointed out the Panathenaic Stadium.

The stadium, which is free and open to the public, has a track around the top which is shaded by palm trees.  I'm very excited to run there soon.  

P.S.  I picked up this "souvenir" on the trek up the mountain.