Greece, the birth place of western civilization!
From the fifth century BC until 395, Greece was one of the most important civilizations in the world. They settled their outlying islands - Crete and the Cyclades, as well as colonizing other areas of the world. Then they were conquered by the Romans.
In the sixth century, Greece became part of the Byzantine Empire and in the 1400's it was taken over by the Ottoman Empire of the Turks. Finally in 1827, the Greeks won their independence. It has been an independent country since then.
Here is a picture that I took from my hotel window in Patras (a small town on the south eastern coast of the mainland).
Here is a picture taken from atop of the hotel we stayed at in downtown Athens. You can see the Acropolis in the background.
A couple more pics of Athens.
A few pics of the beautiful landscape of Greece.
