ATHENS THE CITY OF GRAFFITI

WEATHER: Really hot and 35C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Walking around the Acropolis and the Pantheon

BUMMER OF THE DAY: The sun is high and the temps are HOT, HOT, HOT

BUYS OF THE DAY: 2.70EUR for a bottle of water and a small gyro – it was soooo good

WORD OF THE DAY:  

Up for a 9am departure for our city tour this morning.  No Contiki coach, they just hire a bus as we need it for any excursions we have.  Our first stop was at The Panathinaiko Stadium, the only Olympic stadium used in the 19th Century, overflowed with the largest crowd ever to watch a sporting event.  The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, was a multi-sport event celebrated in Athens, Greece, from April 6 to April 15, 1896. It was the first international Olympic Games held in the Modern era.  I have made a visit here before, but the entry fee was not included in the tour to go inside and have a look, so it was photos from the outside, which was quite hard as they were setting up for a special event and there was scaffolding everywhere.  Damn it…..

Our next stop was the The Temple of Olympian Zeus, is a colossal ruined temple in the center of the city which was dedicated to Zeus, king of the Olympian gods. Construction began in the 6th century BC during the rule of the Athenian tyrants, who envisaged building the greatest temple in the ancient world, but it was not completed until the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD some 638 years after the project had begun.  There were originally 118 pillars and now there are only 16 left still standing.

Then the finale of the tour was the Acropolis and the Pantheon.  The Acropolis Hill so called the "Sacred Rock" of Athens is the most important site of the city and constitutes one of the most recognizable monuments of the world. It is the most significant reference point of ancient Greek culture, as well as the symbol of the city of Athens itself.  The main draw card is the Parthenon.  The Parthenon is a temple on the Athenian Acropolis, dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their patron.  Its construction began in 447 BC and was completed in 438 BC and it is a little bit like the pyramids, in moving the marble all the way up the hill was a feat in itself.  It is amazing to see this well-known and pictured building and it is hard to believe we are in GREECE!!!!  Life is fabulous.

We got an hour here to walk around and get our photos before meeting up with the group again.  It was so busy today as they had 5 cruise ships in port all at the same time, so there were people everywhere.  It is also quite tricky when you make it to the Parthenon, as the ground has some pretty shiny, well-worn stones and there were 2 people I saw slip over and multiple of others that did the ‘almost fall shuffle’.  I would hate to see how slippery it would be on a rainy day.  The weather is HOT HOT HOT and there isn’t much shade up there.  So you need to make sure you have plenty of water and a hat, if you want some shade, it really was a sweaty humid hot.  We got some great shots and then went straight to the café and got an icy drink for 4.50EUR which sounds a little on the steep side, but I can tell you it was worth every penny!

We then walked from the Acropolis down to the Plaka.  As soon as you start walking around Plaka's stone-paved, narrow streets, you will have the feeling that you are travelling back in time. This is Athens' oldest and most picturesque neighborhood. The Plaka is a labyrinth and you may get the feeling that you are lost in its maze of narrow streets and alley ways. No need for alarm though. It is easy to orientate yourself: uphill is the Acropolis and downhill are Syntagma and Monastiraki.  When we got to Syntagma there was a demonstration on and there were riot police around on several streets. 

As I walk around Athens, there is so much graffiti around, not in just certain sections but all over the city, and there are a lot of shops and businesses that have closed down due to their economy not doing so great.  My understanding is that when Greece joined the European Union and they changed their currency to the Euro, all their goods and products doubled in cost, but their wages stayed the same, and they have just gone backwards since.  Several countries including Germany have tried to bail Greece out, but they are having a tough time of it and their economy is suffering and I think it really shows.  The city is certainly not as beautified as Madrid or Barcelona but still have a certain vibe about it that makes up for the lack of care for their city.  I think this is what the demonstration was also about.

We had free time, so we took a walk towards to the Flea Market and a little wander through the Plaka, with a stop for lunch on the run.  We stopped at a Gyro restaurant where they had a take away window and ordered a chicken gyro and a bottle of water for 2.70EUR!!  It wasn’t the biggest gyro in the world, but big enough to eat while we kept walking.  We also know we are going back to ‘our’ kebab shop tonight and didn’t want to ruin our appetite for that either. 

We were on a bit of a time frame, as we had a 2 hour window to pick up our washing this afternoon between 2-4pm.  If we didn’t make it, then all 4 of us would be wearing the same clothes for the next 9 days – not good, as every piece of clothing I had barr the clothes I was wearing were at the laundry.  So we caught a cab at 2.15pm and made our way to the laundry.  Now I am not sure if you have been to Greece before, but the driving / drivers here are INSANE!!!!  Our guy was cutting cars off, swerving in and out of lanes and at one point hit 110km on one of the roads we were on!  Poor Jess in the back was having a coronary, but after my taxi ride the other day, I think that is just the way they drive here.  It is crazy, but that is just the way they roll!!!!  Well we did make it safe and for 2.50EUR each, it was a cheap ride with some excitement thrown in for free!!!  Man I just love the smell of fresh clothes!

Free afternoon till 6pm, where we are going to have some pre-dinner drinks.  We have decided to forfeit the optional dinner tonight.  At 42EUR and knowing what we pay down the road, albeit it doesn’t have Greek dancers, it was tough to sway the girls to do it.  There are 9 optional excursions, which I guess is a lot for a 12 day tour, but I am doing everything else except the volcano tour, that had a lot of walking for a whole lot of not much apparently, so happy to pass on that.

We have an early start in the morning as we are off to MYKONOS!  We have to leave the hotel at 6am!!!!  But they don this so we get to the island around lunch time, versus leaving later which in turn means getting to the island later, so I know what I would prefer and it is the only early morning we have ALL trip.  So easy to just suck this one up for the final outcome!!! Sun, Cocktails and Sun....