Kouklis Ouzeri in VS .NET

Generation Code 128 in VS .NET Kouklis Ouzeri

$ Pl ka Kouklis is the best Pl ka joint for mez des of all shapes and sizes Pick and choose from the dozen presented on the platter or go all out and splurge on the whole shebang See map p 539 Odos Tripodon 14 (between Flessa and Thespidos) % 210-324-7605

$$$ Pl ka This series of beautiful flowering terraces, complete with a band playing traditional Greek tunes, may look contrived, but this place is the genuine article Locals come to this ancient taverna for good food and a rousing good time singing along with the music Prices are a bit high, but think of it as cheap admission for the floor show Try to book ahead See map p 539 Odos Lissou 26 % 010-322-8722

$ Pl ka Thanasis sells great souvlaki with a pita for just 145 ($165) Get the food to go or eat at an outdoor table amid the throngs at this bustling corner of the Pl ka Good fries, too See map p 539 69 Odos Metrop leon (just off Monastir ki Square) % 210-324-4705

The congested, sprawling, and polluted appearance of Athens today can t hide the fact that it was once the center of Western culture The world-class sights located here are a testament to the city s history as the seat of European civilization, and they mustn t be missed

Located right in the heart of Athens, the Acropolis Hill is where, mythology tells us, the gods Athena and Poseidon squared off to see who could take better care of the local citizens and thus become the city s guardian and namesake (Poseidon produced a saltwater spring from the ground; Athena topped him by inventing the versatile olive tree) The Acropolis is part of Greece s identity, a landmark that symbolizes the country itself At the top rests the mighty Parthenon, a temple that rises nobly above Athens, reminding the modern city of its ancient heritage Allow a good two to three hours to tour the Acropolis and its museum You enter by climbing stairs to the Beul Gate, built by the Roman Emperor Valerian in AD 267 The cute little Ionic temple of Athena Nike (built 424 BC, rebuilt AD 1940) is perched on your right as you climb The world has bigger and better-preserved ancient shrines, but the Parthenon still remains the poster child of Greek temples Between 447 and 438 BC, the Athenians spent lavishly to build this shrine to their patron A 40-foot statue of Athena (a small Roman copy of it is in the National Archaeological Museum) once graced this all-marble temple The structure is perfectly proportioned, and a few architectural tricks make it appear flawless to the naked eye To compensate for the eye s natural tendency to create illusions, the horizontal surfaces are bowed slightly upward in the middle to appear perfectly level, the columns lean slightly inward to appear parallel, and each is thicker in the middle so it looks like a textbook cylinder to you and me The Parthenon remained virtually intact through the Middle Ages It became an Orthodox church in the sixth century, a Catholic church during the Crusades, and an Islamic mosque when the Turks occupied the region But its luck ran out when the Venetians attacked the Turkish city in 1687 The Turks stored ammunition in the old temple, and when a Venetian cannonball hit the stockpile, the armaments exploded and blew the Parthenon to pieces Although the temple was once covered almost entirely with sculptures and ornamental carvings, only a few sculptured spots remain on the Parthenon today British Lord Elgin collected almost all the other sculpted friezes and pediment pieces from the rubble destroying many in the process and shipped them to England from 1801 to 1811 These bits of the original Parthenon remain in the British Museum, even though the Greek government has asked for their return many times British officials have repeatedly refused, citing Athens s lack of a suitable museum in which to display the marbles In response, Athens has begun to construct such a museum at the foot of the Acropolis Although the hope was that it would be completed in time for the Olympics (and the Greeks could use the international attention to once again pressure the Brits), the structure is, as of this writing, still just a construction site