Trying to remember what happened in August of 1990 is not easy for me. I remember fleeting details. I do not remember the flights to Europe or into Athens at all. Not even a minute of it. The flight home is another matter of course, and we’ll talk at length about that when the time comes.

I remember breakfast in our hotel, basically in the shadow of the Parthenon really. We were all eager to get out there and explore! Walking up the Acropolis was intensely hot. The temperature was close to 100 degrees, and we simply had no experience with that. We hurried to the meager shade the olive trees provided as we made our way up the winding path. We pretended to eavesdrop on the various guides just to catch our breath and cool down.

Once we reached the summit, we couldn’t catch our breath for entirely different reasons. I’ve never seen anything like it. It still resonates all these thousands of years later. The Parthenon is an exquisite work of art, a magnificent symbol of freedom. The lines are wonderful, flowing, graceful. You long to see the friezes, wonder at their intensity.

Wandering around the summit you are treated to amazing views out over the city of Athens  – over there is the Temple of Olympian Zeus, barely a few columns left as a testament to its glory. Look the other way and see the Temple of Hephaestus, a kind of “Tiny Temple” version of the Parthenon. Turn once more and see the Areopagus, where murder charges were brought and discussed.

It’s simply dizzying. Look another way, and see the jail where Socrates was held, entertained his friends and ultimately died in the most tragic failure any democracy has made. The Plaka is just over this edge, a bustling market of nearly anything you can imagine.

The museum at the “back” (really the front) of the Parthenon was just opening when we arrived and all the exhibits were not in place. It was still pretty fascinating. I have had a fascination with Ancient Greek culture ever since I saw the Elgin Marbles in London England when I was 12. It was truly a seminal event in developing one of my lifelong interests.