The Panathinaikon stadium, aka "Kallimarmaron" which means "Beautiful Marble Stadium". It was built in the 4th century BC. It has been restored twice and its capacity is 70,000 spectators. In 1896 the first modern Olympic games were held in this Stadium! In the 2004 Athens Olympics, the stadium was also used Olympic sport of archery and the finalisation of the Marathon race.

Photos overlooking the Zapion Exhibition and Congress Hall.

I stayed at the Grande Bretagne (yes it means Great Britain) Hotel in Syntagma (aka Constitution) Square on 29th and 30th May - as the Hilton Athens was fully booked. Not a bad choice as an alternative location for a hotel, being slap bang in the middle of the main hustle and bustle around of Central Athens. Gave me a good opportunity to venture around and allowed me to return to the hotel with ease!

The GB Hotel was very a former royal palace and is offers an splendour and elegant atmosphere - totally different from the Hilton - which is "all things modern". I stayed on the Butler floor - but still have difficulty about the role of room service vs. a butler in a hotel. Anyway, it was thoroughly enjoyable albeit "different"!!

These photos are of the surrounding areas. From my Executive Room (on the 11th floor) in the Hilton Athens, I had an amazing view of this - waking up looking across at the Acropolis and looking at it at night was truly an amazing site!

The Theatre of Dionysos is the oldest of the three architectural complexes on the southern slopes of the Acropolis (the others being the Odeion of Herodes Atticus and the Stoa of Eumenes).

The Acropolis of Athens is the best known "Acropolis" (High City, The "Sacred Rock") in the world.

Although there are many other Acropoleis in Greece, the significance of the Acropolis is such that it is commonly known as "The Acropolis" - and everyone knows which one you are referring too!!

The Acropolis is a flat-topped rock which rises 150 m (512 ft) above sea level in the city of Athens.

The Agora was the heart of ancient Athens, the focus of political, commercial, administrative and social activity, the religious and cultural centre and the seat of justice.

The Temple of Olympian Zeus (Olympeion) was an enormous structure, the largest temple in Greece, exceeding even the Parthenon in size.

The 104 columns, each 17 meters (56 feet) high, of the temple were made of Pentelic marble. Only 15 of the Corinthian columns remain standing to give a sense of the enormous size of the temple which would have been approximately 96 x 40 meters (315 x 130 feet) in size.

The Arch of Hadrian was erected in honour of the Roman emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century A.D. The arch was built over the line of an ancient road that led from the area of the Acropolis and the Athenian Agora to the Olympieion and southeast Athens.

May-Day (1st May) is still seen as the day marked for political, social and labour protests and celebrations. It's often known as International Workers' Day - and is celebrated in many European countries (except the UK!).

These photos were of the demonstrations that came down Vassilissis Sofias Avenue and pass the Hilton.