This is a view of the Acropolis in Athens. One thing I enjoyed about Greece is that history is all around you - you might turn a corner and see the remnants of a temple in the middle of a city block. When I walked up the hill towards the Parthenon, I was following a path more than that has been traveled for well over two thousand years - it was quite an experience.

This is the remains of the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. Priests would travel to this mountainside town to ask questions of the Oracle. It was also said that Delphi was the center of the world, and a stone marker shaped like a navel marks the spot.

This is an ancient multi-family dwelling on the island of Delos, the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis. This island was sacred to the Greeks, and in 477 BC Athenians decided to purify the island and forbade people from being born or dying on it. So, the island has been uninhabited and basically untouched for almost 2500 years. To this day, no one is permitted to stay overnight.

This is the Observatory at Chichen-Itza in Mexico. This city was one of the most powerful in the later days of the Mayan Empire, and the area is full of pyramids and temples. No one knows exactly why this great city was abandoned, but by the time the Spaniards arrived, the area was deserted. Human sacrifice was practiced here as part of their worship rituals, and even with all the tourists and the bright sunshine, the place had an eerie feel.

This is a picture of Tulum. This was one of the last Mayan cities, and the only one built on the shore. The guide pointed out a reef off shore, and suggested that the temple was built as a guidepost for ancient sailors - because a break in the reef lines up directly with the temple window. This city was also deserted when the Spaniards arrived, and many of the buildings were dismantled and used for building materials for Spanish settlements.

Coba is one of the older Mayan cities - some of the structures date back to the first few centuries A.D. The pyramid shown here (Nohoch Mul) is the tallest pyramid in the Yucatan - even taller than the Castillo at Chichen Itza. Coba was only rediscovered a few decades ago, overgrown by the jungle, and many buildings are still unrestored. There's a magic in this place, as I wandered through the jungle, I could almost hear the spirits of the ancients. .