We arrived in Athens on Greek Independence Day. From our hotel we stepped into that iconic gathering place, Stavros Niarchos Park, where we joined thousands of revelers celebrating Greek resistance to fascism during WWII.

From atop Renzo Piano’s architectural masterpiece housing the Greek National Opera and the National Library, we could see the Acropolis in the distance, the Parthenon ready to show us her marble charms and her missing elements in plaster cast, obvious as mismatched tooth enamel.

Our guide and I agree with Lord Byron:“Dull is the eye that will not weep to see thy walls defaced, thy mouldering shrines removed by British hands, which it had best behoved to guard those relics ne’er to be restored. Curst be the hour when from their isle they roved, and once again thy hapless bosom gored, and snatch’d thy shrinking gods to northern climes abhorred!”

Oh, and one more thing for you conspiracy theorists to ponder: What about all those tracks, and cranes wielding appendages that look like they have mouse ears?

Could it be that a major amusement company has big plans for the Acropolis? Sure hope nobody tries to build a massive ballroom on it.