On our third visit to glorious Greece , my wife and I were accompanied by our son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. It was an effort to stay ahead of the two teenagers, but we wanted them to experience a visit to the cradle of civilization.

In Athens , the path up the Acropolis was as steep and crowded as ever. The Parthenon , dedicated to the goddess Athena, was still covered with steel scaffolding, but its ...