HI, I'M RICK STEVES, BACK WITH MORE OF THE BEST OF EUROPE.

THIS TIME, IT'S ALL GREEK TO ME.

AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHY WE'RE HERE.

IT'S ATHENS.

THANKS FOR JOINING US.

ABOUT FIVE CENTURIES BEFORE CHRIST, ATHENS WAS THE CENTER OF THE WESTERN WORLD.

AT A TIME WHEN ROME WAS JUST A VILLAGE, IT WAS HERE THAT THE FOUNDATIONS OF OUR WESTERN CIVILIZATION WERE LAID.

AND TODAY, IN THE MIDST OF ALL THIS RICH HERITAGE, THE VIBRANT CAPITAL OF GREECE STILL THRIVES.

WE'LL ENJOY THE MAGNIFICENCE OF ANCIENT ATHENS, MARVEL AT THE WONDERS OF THE ACROPOLIS, SAVOR SOME TASTY GREEK STREET FOOD, AND CHECK OUT THE PREMIER COLLECTION OF ANCIENT GREEK ART.

THEN WE'LL POKE AROUND THE PLAKA BEFORE ESCAPING THE BIG CITY TO CONSULT AN ANCIENT ORACLE AND RELAX ON A CLASSIC GREEK ISLE.

IN THE EXTREME SOUTH OF EUROPE IS GREECE.

ITS CAPITAL IS ATHENS.

FROM THERE, WE SIDE-TRIP TO THE ORACLE OF DELPHI, THEN CRUISE FROM ATHENS' PORT OF PIREAUS TO THE ISLAND OF HYDRA.

WE'LL START UP THERE AT THE HISTORIC CULTURAL AND LITERAL HIGH POINT OF ANY TRIP TO ATHENS -- THE ACROPOLIS.

LIKE OTHER HILLTOP SITES IN THE ANCIENT GREEK WORLD, ATHENS' ACROPOLIS, OR "HIGH CITY," WAS BOTH A PLACE OF WORSHIP AND OF REFUGE WHEN UNDER ATTACK.

CROWNED BY THE MIGHTY PARTHENON TEMPLE, THE ACROPOLIS RISES ABOVE MODERN ATHENS, A LASTING TESTAMENT TO GREECE'S GLORIOUS GOLDEN AGE IN THE 5th CENTURY B.C.

GRAND PROCESSIONS FOLLOWED THE PANATHENAIC WAY, WHICH WAS A CEREMONIAL PATH CONNECTING THE TOWN BELOW AND THE ACROPOLIS.

THEY'D PASS THROUGH THIS IMPOSING ENTRYWAY AND UP TO THE RELIGIOUS HEART OF THE CITY IN THE PARTHENON.

THE PARTHENON WAS PERHAPS THE FINEST TEMPLE IN THE ANCIENT WORLD.

VALIANTLY BATTLING THE ACIDIC AIR OF OUR MODERN WORLD, IT STILL STANDS, WITH THE HELP OF ONGOING RESTORATION WORK.

IT WAS CONSTRUCTED IN THE 5th CENTURY B.C.

AND DEDICATED TO THE VIRGIN GODDESS ATHENA.

SEEING IT TODAY IS AWE-INSPIRING, BUT IMAGINE HOW STRIKING IT MUST HAVE LOOKED WHEN IT WAS COMPLETED, NEARLY 2,500 YEARS AGO, IN ALL ITS CARVED AND BRILLIANTLY PAINTED SPLENDOR.

THE ADJACENT ERECHTHEION IS FAMOUS FOR ITS PORCH OF THE CARYATIDS -- SIX BEAUTIFUL MAIDENS FUNCTIONING AS COLUMNS.

DEDICATED TO ATHENA AND POSEIDON, THIS WAS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT RELIGIOUS BUILDINGS ON THE ACROPOLIS.

THIS, RATHER THAN THE PARTHENON, WAS THE CULMINATION OF THE PANATHENAIC PROCESSION.

AT THE FOOT OF THE ACROPOLIS, THE ANCIENT AGORA, OR MARKETPLACE, SPRAWLS OUT FROM ITS SURVIVING TEMPLE.

THIS IS WHERE, FOR 3,000 YEARS, ATHENIANS GATHERED.

WHILE THE ACROPOLIS WAS THE CENTER OF RITUAL AND CEREMONY, THE AGORA WAS THE BEATING HEART OF ANCIENT ATHENS.

FOR SOME 800 YEARS, STARTING IN THE 6th CENTURY B.C., THIS WAS THE HUB OF COMMERCIAL, POLITICAL, AND SOCIAL LIFE.

VISITORS WANDER THE REMAINS OF WHAT WAS THE CITY'S PRINCIPAL SHOPPING MALL AND ADMINISTRATIVE CENTER.

EXPLORING THE AGORA, IT'S FASCINATING TO PONDER THE WORLD OF PLATO AND ARISTOTLE AND THE AGE WHICH LAID THE FOUNDATIONS FOR WESTERN THINKING ABOUT ECONOMICS, DEMOCRACY, LOGIC, AND MORE.

THE STOA OF ATTALOS, FROM THE 2ND CENTURY B.C., WAS REBUILT IN MODERN TIMES TO HOUSE THE AGORA'S MUSEUM.

WITH SO LITTLE OF THE AGORA STILL STANDING, THIS RECONSTRUCTION MAKES IT EASIER TO IMAGINE THE SITE IN ITS ORIGINAL GLORY.

CROWDS WOULD GATHER IN SHADY PORTICOS LIKE THIS TO SHOP, SOCIALIZE, OR LISTEN TO THE GREAT PHILOSOPHERS OF THE AGE.

IN FACT, SOCRATES SPENT MUCH OF HIS LIFE RIGHT HERE, PREACHING THE VIRTUES OF NOTHING IN EXCESS AND URGING THOSE AROUND HIM TO "KNOW THYSELF."

THE TEMPLE OF HEPHAESTUS, ONE OF THE BEST PRESERVED AND MOST TYPICAL OF ALL GREEK TEMPLES, DATES FROM ABOUT 400 B.C.

LIKE THE PARTHENON, IT'S CONSTRUCTED IN THE SIMPLE DORIC STYLE.

IT HOUSED BIG, BRONZE STATUES OF HEPHAESTUS -- THE BLACKSMITH GOD -- AND ATHENA, PATRONESS OF THE CITY.

GREEK ARCHITECTURE EVOLVED IN STAGES.

THE CAPITALS, OR TOPS, OF THE COLUMNS, WERE BOTH FUNCTIONAL AND DECORATIVE.

WHILE JUST THE TIP OF THE ARCHITECTURAL ICEBERG, THESE ARE HANDY INDICATORS, HELPING US IDENTIFY THE THREE MAIN ARCHITECTURAL ORDERS, OR STYLES.

THE EARLIEST STYLE, DORIC, HAS FLAT, PRACTICAL PLATES AS CAPITALS.

IN THE NEXT ORDER, IONIC, THE CAPITALS ARE DECORATED WITH UNDERSTATED SCROLLS.

THE FINAL ORDER, CORINTHIAN, POPULAR LATER ON WITH THE ROMANS, FEATURES LEAFY CAPITALS, BOLDLY DECORATIVE, WITH NO APOLOGIES NECESSARY.

HOW TO REMEMBER ALL THESE?

AS THE ORDERS EVOLVE, THEY GAIN SYLLABLES.

DORIC, IONIC, CORINTHIAN.

BUT FOR MOST TRAVELERS, THE AGORA IS MORE THAN AN ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW.

STROLLING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF SOCRATES IS YOUR BEST OPPORTUNITY TO COMMUNE WITH THE EPIC GREEK PAST.

LIKE SO MANY GREAT CIVILIZATIONS, ANCIENT GREECE PEAKED AND THEN FADED.

200 YEARS AGO, ATHENS WAS JUST A SMALL TOWN SURROUNDED BY BIG RUINS, SITTING ON LOTS OF HISTORY.

THAT 19th-CENTURY ATHENS IS TODAY'S PLAKA.

THE PLAKA DISTRICT PROVIDES TOURISTS WITH A MORE INTIMATE ATHENS -- NO CHAOTIC TRAFFIC, LOTS OF COLORFUL RESTAURANTS, AND THE BEST SOUVENIR SHOPPING IN ALL OF GREECE.

AND FOR A QUICK, INEXPENSIVE BITE TO EAT, DROP BY A CORNER GYRO AND SOUVLAKI STAND.

GYRO MEANS "TURNING," REFERRING TO THE SLOWLY SPINNING ROUND OF MEAT -- ROASTED PORK OR CHICKEN -- SHAVED AS NEEDED.

AND SOUVLAKI IS MEAT ON A SKEWER, SHISH KEBAB STYLE.

MY FAVORITE -- A GYRO PITA.

SLICE UP THAT MEAT, TOSS IN A LITTLE SALAD... TSATSIKI -- A GARLIC YOGURT SAUCE -- AND SPICES, ALL WRAPPED IN A HANDY CONE OF TOASTED PITA BREAD.

ENERGIZED BY A TASTY GYRO, HIKE TO THE TOP OF THE PLAKA AND EXPLORE THE CHARMING VILLAGE OF ANAFIOTIKA -- LITERALLY, "LITTLE ANAFI."

IT WAS BUILT IN THE 19th CENTURY BY PEOPLE FROM THE TINY CYCLADIC ISLAND OF ANAFI.

THEY CAME HERE TO THE BIG CITY, LOOKING FOR WORK.

IN THIS OASIS OF TRANQUILITY NESTLED BENEATH THE WALLS OF THE ACROPOLIS, THE INTENSITY OF ATHENS SEEMS MILES AWAY.

WEAVE THROUGH NARROW PATHS LINED WITH FLOWERS AND DOTTED WITH CATS DOZING IN THE SUNSHINE.

OBSERVE THE PEACEFUL RHYTHM OF DAILY LIFE.

AND WITH A LITTLE LUCK, YOU CAN MAKE A FRIEND AND BE INVITED IN.

OR IN THIS CASE, UP ONTO THE ROOF FOR A PLEASANT CHAT AND A CUP OF STRONG GREEK COFFEE.

[ BELL RINGING ] ATHENS IS GETTING MORE AND MORE PEOPLE-FRIENDLY.

THIS ELEGANT WALKWAY IS A POPULAR PEDESTRIAN BOULEVARD ARCING AROUND THE BACK OF THE ACROPOLIS.

AS THE SUN GOES DOWN, IT'S BUSY WITH LOCALS AND VISITORS ALIKE.

AT THE END OF THE WALK, PRIME ACROPOLIS-VIEW REAL ESTATE IS DEDICATED TO THE FINE ART OF CAFE-SITTING.

SIPPING A DRINK HERE PUTS YOU RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF A LIVELY GREEK SCENE.

IN ATHENS, IT SEEMS ALL ROADS PASS THROUGH SYNTAGMA SQUARE.

TODAY, PEOPLE POUR OUT OF THE CITY'S BUSIEST SUBWAY STATION INTO THIS CAFE-FILLED SQUARE.

SHADY TREES MAKE IT A BREEZY AND RESTFUL SPOT.

200 YEARS AGO, ATHENS WAS JUST A HUMBLE TOWN OF ABOUT 8,000, HUDDLED AT THE BASE OF THE ACROPOLIS.

BUT WHEN THE GREEKS WON THEIR INDEPENDENCE FROM THE OTTOMAN TURKS IN THE EARLY 1800s, THEY CHOSE LITTLE BUT HISTORIC ATHENS TO BE THEIR CAPITAL.

THIS STATELY SQUARE WAS PART OF A GRAND PROJECT DESIGNED TO TURN THE TOWN INTO A SUITABLE CAPITAL FOR THE NEW NATION.

THE ORIGINAL SQUARE WAS ESSENTIALLY A BIG FRONT YARD FOR THE NEW ROYAL PALACE.

THE COUNTRY'S LEADING FAMILIES BUILT MANSIONS HERE TO BE CLOSE TO THE KING.

THESE MANSIONS SURVIVE TODAY AS GRAND OLD HOTELS, EMBASSIES, AND MUSEUMS.

IN 1843, A RIOTOUS CROWD JAMMED THIS SQUARE, DEMANDING A SYNTAGMA, OR CONSTITUTION.

THE KING GAVE A SPEECH FROM THIS BALCONY, GRANTING HIS PEOPLE -- WHOSE ANCESTORS INVENTED THE CONCEPT -- DEMOCRACY.

THIS PLACE HAS BEEN KNOWN AS CONSTITUTION SQUARE, OR SYNTAGMA SQUARE, EVER SINCE.

TODAY, THE ROYAL PALACE HOUSES THE GREEK PARLIAMENT.

THE PALACE AND THE TOMB OF THE UNKNOWN WARRIOR ARE GUARDED BY THE MUCH-PHOTOGRAPHED EVZONES -- THESE FLAMBOYANT SOLDIERS WITH THEIR DISTINCTIVE STRUT CHANGE AT THE TOP OF EACH HOUR.

THEY'RE CLAD IN THE TRADITIONAL PLEATED KILT AND POMPOM SHOES MADE FAMOUS BY THE EVZONES.

THESE MOUNTAIN FIGHTERS BATTLED FEROCIOUSLY IN GREECE'S EARLY-19th-CENTURY WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.

THEY CLAIM THE SOLDIERS OUTFITS HAVE 400 PLEATS -- ONE FOR EACH MISERABLE YEAR OF TURKISH OCCUPATION.

AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT.

BUOYANT AFTER WINNING FREEDOM FROM ITS TURKISH OVERLORDS, THE NEW CAPITAL CITY FLOURISHED.

SOME OF THOSE FIRST GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS, BUILT IN THE PREVAILING NEOCLASSICAL STYLE, STILL SURVIVE TODAY.

THEY STAND AMID TODAY'S BUSTLING METROPOLIS.

IN THE 20th CENTURY, WITH AN INFLUX OF REFUGEES AND INDUSTRIALIZATION LURING WORKERS IN FROM THE COUNTRYSIDE, THE POPULATION OF ATHENS EXPLODED.

THE FLOW OF PEOPLE INTO THE SPRAWLING CITY CONTINUES.

AND 4 MILLION PEOPLE -- ROUGHLY ONE OUT OF EVERY THREE GREEKS -- CALL ATHENS HOME.

AND RECENTLY, THE CITY HAS CURBED POLLUTION, CLEANED UP AND PEDESTRIANIZED THE STREETS, SPIFFED UP THE MUSEUMS, AND INVESTED IN ONE OF EUROPE'S BETTER PUBLIC TRANSIT SYSTEMS.

DESCEND INTO ATHENS' SLEEK AND COOL UNDERGROUND AND YOU'LL ENJOY A TRANSIT SYSTEM AS EFFICIENT AS ANYTHING IN EUROPE.

WITH ALL ITS TRAFFIC CONGESTION ABOVE AND NEARLY A MILLION ATHENIANS ZIPPING SMOOTHLY UNDERGROUND EVERY DAY, THE SYSTEM IS A GODSEND.

ERMOU STREET, LEADING AWAY FROM SYNTAGMA, IS A THRIVING PEDESTRIAN MALL.

JUST A FEW YEARS AGO, THIS STREET WAS A CAR-CLOGGED MESS.

ONCE AGAIN, WHEN IT WAS FIRST PEDESTRIANIZED, MERCHANTS WERE UPSET.

NOW IT'S A HIT WITH EVERYONE.

THE ONE MUST-SEE SITE OUTSIDE THE CENTRAL TOURIST ZONE IS THE NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM.

THIS EXTRAORDINARY COLLECTION LETS YOU FOLLOW THE SWEEP OF GREEK ART HISTORY FROM 7000 B.C.

TO 300 A.D. A TROVE OF FUNERARY ART FROM THE ROYAL TOMBS OF MYCENAE SHOWS TREASURES FROM A SOCIETY THAT THRIVED AROUND 1,000 YEARS BEFORE THE DAYS OF SOCRATES AND PLATO.

YOU'LL SEE FINELY DECORATED WEAPONS AND SHEATHS...

EXQUISITE GOLDEN JEWELRY... AND THE DELICATE VAPHIO GOLD CUPS, REMINDERS OF THE SOPHISTICATION OF THAT 15th-CENTURY B.C.

CIVILIZATION.

THIS WARRIOR VASE FROM THE 12th CENTURY B.C.

SHOWS WOMEN GATHERED TO WAVE GOODBYE TO A GROUP OF WARRIORS HEADING OFF TO WAR, SPORTING FANCY ARMOR, WITH DUFFEL BAGS HANGING FROM THEIR SPEARS.

THESE MYCENAEAN SOLDIERS, WITH THEIR YELLOW-RIBBON MOMS, ARE A TIMELESS OFF-TO-WAR SCENE REPEATED EVERY GENERATION IN THE 3,000 YEARS SINCE.

ANCIENT GREEKS CELEBRATED THE HUMAN BODY.

TO THEM, IT WAS THE EMBODIMENT OF THE ORDER FOUND IN NATURE.

ALL THE PARTS WERE THERE -- IN GEOMETRICAL, IF NOT BIOLOGICAL -- PERFECTION.

NO INDIVIDUAL FEATURES.

EVERYTHING WAS IDEALIZED.

IN FACT, THESE ARCHAIC STATUES WERE NAMED SIMPLY KOUROUS, MEANING "BOY," OR KORE, MEANING "GIRL."

STATUES FROM THIS AGE, AROUND 600 B.C., ALL HAD THE SAME STANDARD FEATURES.

WEIGHT SPREAD EVENLY ON TWO FEET, ARMS RIGID AT THE SIDE.

STIFF, BRAIDED HAIR.

ALMOND-SHAPED EYES, HIGH EYEBROWS, AND THE SAME QUIRKY LITTLE GRINS.

ARCHAIC STATUES ALL LOOK LIKE COUSINS.

DURING THE ARCHAIC PERIOD, ALL THE PARTS WERE THERE.

BUT IF IT DECIDED TO WALK, IT WOULD WALK LIKE A MONSTER, STIFFLY, WITH NO UNDERSTANDING OF THE SUBTLE INTERPLAY BETWEEN HIPS AND SHOULDERS.

BUT GREEK ART EVOLVED WITH ITS SOCIETY.

THE 80-YEAR PERIOD FROM ABOUT 480 TO 400 B.C.

WAS KNOWN AS THE GOLDEN AGE OF GREECE, THE AGE OF SOCRATES AND PERICLES, AND ATHENS WAS THE CENTER.

DURING THIS TIME, THE GOLDEN MEAN WAS "NOTHING IN EXCESS."

IN BOTH LIFE AND ART, EVERYTHING WAS TO BE IN BALANCE.

GOLDEN-AGE SCULPTORS SHIFTED WEIGHT MORE BELIEVABLY, PLACING THEIR STATUES IN A CONTRAPPOSTO POSE.

THAT MEANS RELAXED, WITH HIPS SHIFTED REALISTICALLY AND WEIGHT RESTING ON ONE FOOT.

STATUES LOOKED MORE LIFELIKE.

ANCIENT GREEK TREASURES INCLUDE THE POSEIDON OF ARTEMISION.

THIS STUNNING BRONZE STATUE, CAST IN 460 B.C., DEPICTS THE MIGHTY GOD OF THE SEA ABOUT TO HURL HIS TRIDENT.

ONCE AGAIN, WE SEE THAT CLASSIC GREEK BALANCE BETWEEN STILLNESS AND MOTION.

BUT IN AROUND 330 B.C., ATHENS WAS CONQUERED BY THE MACEDONIANS FROM THE NORTH.

SUBJUGATION BY THE MACEDONIANS UNDER PHILIP II AND HIS SON, ALEXANDER THE GREAT, USHERED IN WHAT'S KNOWN AS THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD.

THE WORD "HELLENISTIC" REFERS TO GREEK CULTURE AFTER ITS POLITICAL CONQUEST.

GREEK HELLENISTIC ART, LIKE GREEK HELLENISTIC SOCIETY IN GENERAL, EVOLVED BEYOND THE ESTHETICS OF THE GOLDEN AGE.

WHILE LESS BALANCED AND COMPOSED, IT WAS A MORE INDIVIDUALISTIC AGE, WITH MORE EXUBERANT AND EMOTIONAL ART.

THE HORSE AND JOCKEY OF ARTEMISION, CAST IN THE SECOND CENTURY B.C., IS FILLED WITH THIS HELLENISTIC ENERGY.

THE HIGH-SPIRITED DETAIL IS ASTONISHING, RIGHT DOWN TO THE HORSE'S DRAMATIC HEAD, AND THE CONCERNED LOOK ON THE YOUNG JOCKEY'S FACE.

THE EVOLUTION OF GREEK ART, FROM STIFF TO REALISTIC TO EMOTIONAL, WOULD BE ECHOED BY EUROPE 2000 YEARS LATER, FROM STIFF GOTHIC TO REALISTIC RENAISSANCE TO EMOTIONAL BAROQUE.

A TWO-HOUR DRIVE NORTHWEST OF ATHENS TAKES US TO DELPHI, ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT SITES IN THE ANCIENT WORLD.

WHEREVER YOU TRAVEL, SEEING THE PRECIOUS ARTIFACTS IN THE BIG CITY MUSEUMS FIRST HELPS YOU BETTER APPRECIATE THE HISTORIC SITES OUT IN THE COUNTRYSIDE.

ANCIENT DELPHI, PERCHED HIGH ON THE SLOPES OF MOUNT PARNASSOS, WAS NOT A CITY.

IT WAS THE SITE OF THE ORACLE OF APOLLO, GOD OF THE SUN.

PEOPLE WOULD JOURNEY HERE FROM ALL OVER THE KNOWN WORLD, TO SEEK WISDOM FROM THE GODS ON VITAL AFFAIRS OF STATE.

TODAY, TOURISTS ZIGZAG UP THE ANCIENT SACRED WAY TO THE TEMPLE OF APOLLO.

THE PATH IS FLANKED BY THE REMAINS OF DELPHI'S FAMOUS TREASURIES, MONUMENTS ERECTED BY CITY STATES IN GRATITUDE FOR THE ORACLE'S ADVICE.

LOCAL GUIDES, LIKE PENNY KOLOMVOTSOU, BRING THESE ANCIENT AND MYTHIC EVENTS TO LIFE.

SO, TELL ME WHY THIS PLACE WAS CHOSEN FOR THE ORACLE.

ZEUS WANTED TO KNOW WHERE THE CENTER OF THE WORLD WAS.

HE LET TWO EAGLES FLY FROM THE TWO OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE UNIVERSE, AND THIS IS WHERE THEY MET, HERE IN DELPHI.

SO HE CALLED THIS BASICALLY THE BELLYBUTTON OF THE WORLD?

YEAH, THE OMPHALOS, YEAH.

THIS WONDERFUL PLACE BECAME THE CENTER OF THE WORLD.

Steves: THE RESULTING SANCTUARY OF APOLLO REACHED THE HEIGHT OF ITS POWER BETWEEN THE 6th AND THE 4th CENTURIES B.C.

THE ORACLE BECAME SO INFLUENTIAL THAT NO GREAT LEADER WOULD MAKE A MAJOR DECISION WITHOUT FIRST SENDING EMISSARIES TO CONSULT THE ORACLE.

Penny: THERE WAS A PRIESTESS INSIDE THE TEMPLE, AND RIGHT UNDERNEATH IT, THERE WAS THIS ROOM WHERE SHE WAS INHALING VAPORS EVAPORATING FROM THE GROUND.

SO SHE WAS IN TRANCE.

SO SHE WOULD BABBLE, AND THE PRIESTS WOULD SAY, "THIS IS WISDOM FROM THE GODS."

EXACTLY.

Steves: BECAUSE THE PRIESTS DEBRIEFED THOSE SEEKING ADVICE ON THE STATE OF THEIR HOMELANDS, DELPHI BECAME THE DATABASE OF THE ANCIENT WORLD.

BECAUSE OF THAT, THE PRIESTS HERE WERE ACTUALLY ABLE TO ASTOUND THOSE WHO CAME WITH THEIR WISE, BELIEVABLY DIVINE ADVICE.

AND, THERE WAS MORE TO DELPHI THAN JUST THE ORACLE.

SO, PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE GREEK-SPEAKING WORLD CAME HERE.

CORRECT, AND APART FROM COMING HERE TO CONSULT THE ORACLE, THE OTHER REASON WAS ALSO BECAUSE, LIKE IN OLYMPIA, THEY HAD THE OLYMPIC GAMES, HERE IN DELPHI, WE HAD THE PYTHIAN GAMES.

YEAH, THESE WERE COMPETITIONS CONCERNING MUSIC, POETRY, SPORT EVENTS, AS WELL.

SO, A BALANCE OF THINGS.

MUSIC AND SPORTS.

YEAH.

EVERYTHING IN MODERATION.

KNOW THYSELF -- THE GOLDEN MEAN, IN EVERYTHING, SO WE'VE GOT THE THEATER, WE'VE GOT THE STADIUM.

Steves: DURING THOSE PAN-HELLENIC, OR ALL-GREEK, FESTIVALS, DELPHI FILLED ITS THEATER, WHICH SEATED 5,000.

AND IT PACKED AS MANY AS 7,000 SPORTS FANS INTO ITS STADIUM.

I LIKE BEING HERE AT THE END OF THE DAY, WITH THE TOURISTS GONE, CHEERS OF THE LONG-GONE CROWD STILL RINGING IN THE COOL MOUNTAIN AIR.

AND THE STARTING BLOCK ALL MINE.

[ STARTING GUN FIRES ] AS IT WAS IN ANCIENT TIMES, PIRAEUS IS STILL THE PORT OF ATHENS.

FROM PIRAEUS, BOATS DEPART FOR POINTS THROUGHOUT THE AEGEAN SEA.

CRUISE SHIPS AWAIT THEIR PASSENGERS, AND HYDROFOILS VIE WITH LUMBERING CAR FERRIES.

IT'S AN EXCITING SPRINGBOARD FOR THE GREEK ISLES.

WE'RE RIDING A FLYING DOLPHIN, ONE OF THE FLEET OF SPEEDY HYDROFOILS THAT ZIP FROM ATHENS TO THE ISLANDS AND FROM ISLAND TO ISLAND.

IT'S FAST BUT LESS SCENIC AS THE PASSENGERS ARE STUCK INSIDE.

I LIKE TO HANG OUT IN THE WINDY DOORWAY.

AFTER A 90-MINUTE RIDE, ATHENS IS A WORLD AWAY, AND WE PULL INTO THE ISLE OF HYDRA.

ITS MAIN TOWN, ALSO CALLED HYDRA, IS HOME TO ABOUT 90% OF THE ISLAND'S 3,000 RESIDENTS.

AFTER THE NOISE OF ATHENS, HYDRA'S TRAFFIC-FREE TRANQUILITY IS A DELIGHT.

I'M GLAD I'M PACKING LIGHT AS I HIKE UP TO MY HOTEL.

HYDRA IS ONE OF THE PRETTIEST TOWNS IN GREECE.

ITS SUPERB HARBOR IS SURROUNDED BY AN AMPHITHEATER OF ROCKY HILLS.

THERE'S AN EASY BLEND OF WORK-A-DAY COMMERCE, FANCY YACHTS, AND LAZY TOURISTS ON ISLAND TIME.

DONKEYS RATHER THAN CARS.

THE SHADY AWNINGS OF WELL-WORN CAFES.

AND MEMORABLE SEASIDE VIEWS ALL COMBINE TO MAKE IT CLEAR, YOU'VE FOUND YOUR GREEK ISLE.

HYDRA WAS A GREEK NAVAL POWER, FAMOUS FOR ITS SHIPBUILDERS.

THE HARBOR, WITH TWIN PORTS AND PLENTY OF CANNON, HOUSED AND PROTECTED THE FLEET OF 130 SHIPS, AS THE GREEKS BATTLED THE TURKS IN THEIR EARLY 19th-CENTURY WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.

THE TOWN STRETCHES AWAY FROM THE HARBOR, A MAZE OF NARROW, COBBLED STREETS FLANKED BY WHITEWASHED HOMES.

IN THE 1960s, THE ISLAND BECAME A FAVORITE RETREAT FOR ARTISTS AND WRITERS, WHO STILL DRAW INSPIRATION FROM ITS IDYLLIC SURROUNDINGS.

ONE OF THE ISLAND'S GREATEST ATTRACTIONS IS ITS TOTAL ABSENCE OF CARS AND MOTORBIKES.

INSTEAD, DONKEYS DO THE HEAVY HAULING TODAY, JUST AS THEY HAVE THROUGH THE CENTURIES.

AND I SUPPOSE FOR JUST AS LONG, THEY'VE TREATED CHILDREN TO RIDES AS WELL.

AT THE TOP OF THE TOWN, THE HUMBLE TAVERNA LEONIDAS HAS BEEN AROUND SO LONG, IT DOESN'T NEED A SIGN.

THE ISLAND'S OLDEST AND MOST TRADITIONAL TAVERNA WAS THE HANGOUT OF THE LOCAL SPONGE DIVERS A CENTURY AGO.

THESE DAYS, LEONIDAS AND PANEOTA FEED GUESTS AS IF THEY'RE FAMILY.

AND TONIGHT, THE PLACE IS ALL OURS, AS OUR ENTHUSIASTIC COOK WELCOMES US INTO HIS KITCHEN.

SO, WHAT ARE WE COOKING?

COOK LAMB WITH ROAST POTATOES.

GRILLED SHRIMPS WITH AN OIL LEMON SAUCE.

CALAMARI WITH A GARLIC SAUCE.

VERY GOOD.

SPANAKOPITA -- SPINACH PIE.

EGGPLANT AND THEN BEETS.

Steves: AND BEFORE WE KNOW IT, LEONIDAS HAS US ALL SITTING AT THE TABLE, AND HE STARTS BRINGING IN WAVE AFTER WAVE OF HIS FABULOUS DISHES.

HERE WE GO, THE SHRIMP.

GRILLED SHRIMPS WITH THE OIL LEMON SAUCE.

YASOUS.

A FLEET OF TAXIS SHUTTLE PEOPLE TO OUTLYING HAMLETS AND BEACHES.

WE'RE CATCHING ONE FOR A WINDY SURVEY OF THE ISLAND, AND TO BE DROPPED OFF FOR A SCENIC HIKE BACK INTO TOWN.

HYDRA IS POPULAR WITH WALKERS, WHO COME TO EXPLORE THE NETWORK OF ANCIENT PATHS THAT LINK THE ISLAND'S OUTLYING SETTLEMENTS, CHURCHES, AND MONASTERIES.

AND IN SPRINGTIME, HIKES COME WITH FIELDS OF WILDFLOWERS.

A DELIGHTFUL WAY TO CAP THE DAY IS TO FOLLOW THE COASTAL PATH TO THE VILLAGE OF KAMINI.

ITS POCKET-SIZED HARBOR SHELTERS THE COMMUNITY'S FISHING BOATS.

HERE, WITH A GLASS OF OUZO AND TODAY'S CATCH, AS THE SUN SLOWLY SINKS INTO THE SEA AND BOATS BECOME SILHOUETTES, YOU DRINK TO THE BEAUTIES OF A GREEK ISLAND ESCAPE.

PERHAPS NOWHERE ELSE DOES THE HISTORIC AND CULTURAL TIMELINE OF EUROPE REACH SO FAR BACK WHILE BEING SO VIBRANT TODAY.

I HOPE YOU'VE ENJOYED OUR LOOK AT ATHENS, THE ORACLE OF DELPHI, AND THE ROMANTIC ISLE OF HYDRA.

I'M RICK STEVES.

UNTIL NEXT TIME, KEEP ON TRAVELING.

AVRIO.