Do you like lions?

Lions of the Rimondi Fountain in Rethymnon, Crete. Fresh spring water, ideal for filling water bottles.

Lion sculpture found during excavation for a highway - Athens airport.


So one of the coolest things about Greece is that you can be right there in the present day...having an ouzo-with-lemon at a cafe in Rethymnon, or heading to the departures terminal at the airport...and you turn around and stumble over something so old, it's mind-boggling. There is so much history there and it's smashed right up against the present. In Athens, you can look up from wherever you are and the Acropolis is looming:

Or you can stroll into the Metro station and see what they found during its excavation:

As you might imagine, every time you dig anywhere in Athens you're likely to find something of historical significance. But things like the Metro need to be built...so instead of halting the project, they preserved what they found...including this glassed-off wall showing layers of Athenian history dating back to, I don't remember, the 5th century BC? There is even a grave complete with skeleton, how cool is that? "Oh, my train is late, no worries, I'll just be over here perusing ancient human remains."

I know that Neena has some great shots of this stuff as well, so hopefully she can continue the story. More to come!