Ruin-ed Out

I met my mom at the airport, and the first thing she asked me was, "When are you going to stop traveling? When are you going to start working?" Damn it. I was VERY annoyed. And this came up every single day... How fun, huh?!
Well, it was OK when she wasn't saying these things. It was nice to have a travel companion and someone to enjoy the sights & food with, even though there was some nagging!

This wasn't my first time in Athens – I've been here with my friends back in college (wow, LOOONG time ago!). So to be honest, I didn't care much about the sights here. But since it was the first for my mom, we went EVERYWHERE over the next 2 days!

Starting with the Acropolis. It never hurts to see it twice! But I have to say that it seemed more ruined than last time...if that's even possible. Not much of the originals left, and STILL undergoing major renovations. I doubt it's ever going to be complete. They even had train tracks there, which I don't remember seeing before.
Like my previous trip, the next stop was a downhill walk to the ancient city of Agora. More Acropolis-like temples and remaining columns.
Followed by the archaeological museum (why can't they clean the place up?! I did enjoy their ceramics collection and frescoes though), more ruins (in the form of Hadrian's Library, Roman baths, temple of Olympian Zeus, etc), and a funicular ride to the top of Lykavittos Hill for a 360 degrees view of Athens.
My mom loves walking, and I think we even managed to see some ruins that I previously missed (like the huge cemetery complex of Keramikos – lots of wandering turtles!). We also went to the central market to drool over the fresh seafood (too bad hotels don't have self service kitchens) and buy some yummy figs : )

Before leaving Athens, we decided to take a day trip out to Delphi. By then, we pretty much had enough of Greek ruins, but we wanted to get out of the city a bit. Meteora would've been ideal, but it was too far...next time!!!

Delphi is about a 3-4 hour bus ride from Athens. On the way, we passed by a cute little town in the mountains (I think it's a ski resort during the winter – lots of Rossignol, Solomon, etc. stores). At times like this, I wish I had a car...the luxury of stopping anywhere (including toilets!). Anyways, the town of Delphi, completely tourist-oriented, is about a 1km walk from the ruins & museum. I have to say that the only difference I perceived between Delphi and the ruins seen in Athens was the location. Delphi is located in the mountains, surrounded by olive fields. No buildings nearby. Otherwise, they are similar complexes (although maybe a bit smaller in scale) with a temple, theater, and residential/storage areas. Oh, and there was a cool gymnasium complex at Delphi, except that you couldn't get close enough to get a good view.
I think it's still part of Delphi, but further down the road is another temple. Of Apollo, I think, but could be totally wrong. (Waning memory) Doesn't this look like some sort of army building?!
I'm sure that the darker portions are the originals. But with so little left, I'm always amazed at how archaeologists can figure out what the complete structure looked like before falling apart. Well, I guess that's the requirement for the job...