In the sixth century BC the Theatre of Dionysus saw the birth of drama. And that was just the fight over the best seats.

Changing of the Guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Each skirt has more than 400 pleats and the soldiers are responsible for ironing them for themselves.

Leaving the ceremony.

Many streets in Athens are lined with orange trees full of fruit right now.

I thought about taking the Happy Train tour around Athens but in order to preserve a shred of dignity I took the double-decker bus tour instead.

Alone in the World

One good thing about flying out of Tel Aviv at 5:30 a.m. on a Saturday: I had all eight seats in the First Class cabin to myself. With two flight attendants assigned to the cabin the attention was almost too much. Almost.

Security at the Ben Gurion Aiport in Tel Aviv was stringent but efficient. They paid a lot of attention to my carry-on bag, inspecting items they couldn't see clearly via x-ray and carefully inspected my laptop. But I said to the security agent what I always say, "thanks for keeping us safe."

Unlike the outstanding experiences I'm having in the air, my frustrations with Hilton Hotels continue. I was greeted at the Athens Hilton and ushered to the Executive Floor for check-in. They told me I had a nice room on the Executive Floor and was welcome to use the Executive Lounge. Then I told them I wanted internet access for free. First they said I could only have free internet access in the Business Center. I insisted that it be in my room. At that point they moved me to an inferior room on the fifth floor and banned me from the Executive Lounge. Thanks for your business, Mr. Green.

I'm ready to start sightseeing in Athens but first it's time for my Oscar predictions. The show begins at 3 a.m. in Athens and I'm going to try and watch it -- we'll see.

Here are my predictions on who is going to win -- not necessarily who I think SHOULD win.

Performance by an actor in a leading role -- Sean Penn -- Milk

Performance by an actor in a supporting role -- Heath Ledger -- The Dark Knight

Performance by an actress in a leading role -- Kate Winslet -- The Reader

Performance by an actress in a supporting role -- Marisa Tomei -- The Wrestler

Best animated feature film of the year -- WALL-E

Achievement in art direction -- Changeling

Achievement in cinematography -- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Achievement in costume design -- The Duchess

Achievement in directing -- Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire

Best documentary feature -- Man on Wire (the only one I saw)

Best documentary short subject -- The Witness -- From the Balcony of Room 306 (a complete guess)

Achievement in film editing -- Slumdog Millionaire

Best foreign language film of the year -- The Baader Meinhof Complex

Achievement in makeup -- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Original Score -- Slumdog Millionaire

Original Song -- Jai Ho -- Slumdog Millionaire

Best motion picture of the year -- Slumdog Millionaire

Best animated short film -- Presto

Best live action short film -- Spielzeugland (Toyland)

Achievement in sound editing -- Slumdog Millionaire

Achievement in sound mixing -- Slumdog Millionaire

Achievement in visual effects -- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Adapted screenplay -- Slumdog Millionaire

Original screenplay -- Milk

Lufthansa opened a new First Class Lounge at the Frankfurt Airport on Friday -- what a thrill to be able to visit it on Saturday. I have to say it gives the Singapore Airlines Lounge in Singapore a run for its money.

Happy Shabat!

As expected, it was a quiet Friday evening in Tel Aviv with most businesses closed.

Fortunately I was able to find a lively restaurant open near Dizengoff Square -- complete with a three-piece jazz band. I can't be sure but I'm thinking it was Palestinian.

Now I'm off to Athens. I'm flying on Lufthansa via Frankfurt. My first flight departs at 5:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. Everyone tells me it may take a while to clear security at Ben Gurion Airport so I'm planning on leaving my hotel at 2:30 a.m. The good news is this is the last extremely early flight of my trip.

The famous Fire & Water fountain in Dizengoff Square. No fire tonight, though.

I went to see "New in Town" in one of the smallest movie auditoriums I've ever been in (other than at the Beverly Center). A cute formula movie but I'm not sure how well they understand the Minnesota jokes in Tel Aviv.

Jackie is Always Right

Four years ago when I was going to Brazil Jackie Steinman suggested is visit Iguazu Falls. I took her advice and had two of the most amazing days of my life. (Photos of which are available in the February, 2005 archives of this blog.)

When Jackie heard I was visiting Tel Aviv she asked if I was going to Jerusalem. I told her I hadn't really thought of it. I like visiting big cities and only had four nights in Tel Aviv. She instructed me to go to Jerusalem.

And, boy, am I glad I did. I took a one-day guided tour to Jerusalem.

What an amazing confluence of three of the worlds major religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) -- all steps from each other and in some cases, on top of each other.

The practice of covering your head is an interesting example -- in some places you remove your hat as a show of respect to God, in some places you must cover your head out of respect to God and in some places they are indifferent. I just watched my tour guide and did what he did.

The Western Wall (aka the Wailing Wall) is the closest Jews are allowed to go to the site where Abraham built an altar in preparation for sacrificing his son to God. The area beyond the wall is now a Muslim Mosque.

Praying at the Western Wall. Slips of paper are slipped into the cracks in the wall.

What a tremendous place to celebrate a bar mitzvah.

Men and women are separated at the Western Wall so women join the bar mitzvah parties from over a fence.

The wooden structure is used by Israeli police to separate Muslims at the gold domed Mosque from Jews at the Western Wall.

It's hard to get accustomed to the sight of young Israeli soldiers carrying machine guns. But it's very common in Jerusalem.

The gold domed Mosque is where Mohammed ascended to Heaven. Previously it was the site of two ancient Jewish temples and is where Abraham built his altar to sacrifice his son to God.

This valley is where the Resurection is scheduled to begin, making it a popular place to be buried.