Athens

August 9th, 2010

We woke early in Athens to get to our half day tour. That meant seven o'clock breakfast buffet, nicely presented in the Callirhoe Restaurant at street level. The we were picked up at 7:40 by a guide and bus. This bus shuttled around a few hotels and picked up others and then we again had to change buses to actually be on a tour. So the tour started at 8:30 or so and the guide describing the scenery had some annoying mannerisms in English often repeating herself and starting off repeatedly saying "I just wanted to tell you...". Anyway we drove a bit around the centre of Athens rather than having a true tour of the city. We stopped at the Marble stadium, the original stadium of the 1896 Games, then the Temple of Olympian Zeus and Hadrian's Gate and then through Syntagma or Constitution Square, in front of the Efzones Guards on parade in front of the Parliament. We then ended up at the Acropolis in the heat of late morning. She then led us up the hill to the Temple of Athena Nike, the Parthenon and the Erechtyon with the Karyatids. There were long explanations about the history with the British Museum and Lord Elgin, and later Melina Mercouri;s role. We also saw theatre of Heredotus and the general views of the Acropolis. The heat was oppressive and so we wandered around for an hour or so, admiring the history and taking video. Finally we abandoned the group and left the grounds to get drinks, much needed in the heat. The views from the acropolis also highlighted how spread out and low rise the city of Athens is. We could see to Piraeus and to the Adriatic despite the haze of smog on the horizon.

From there we went back to the hotel for some cooling off and showers. I wanted to honour my birthday with a run, so I changed and headed out in the midday heat, going uphill back to Syntagma, past the Parliament and eventually into the National Gardens. The shade there helped somewhat but I ran a circuitous route and ended back at the hotel a half hour later, sweat soaked and dry mouthed.  A long, cold shower helped cure those problems.

Refreshed momentarily, we headed to the Metro stop at Syngrou, 3 min away, and then to Monistaraki. There we saw the narrow streets, wooden stairs and flea markets. The prices seem high and the need for most of the goods was low. We then found an alley way full of cafes. They steered us in to an airconditioned room wher we had an express lunch of salads and kebabs, Athens style. Delicious. We then wandered up a long sopping street, named Ermou, back to Syntagma. However we stopped in many clothing stores for mostly women. Didn't buy much for myself, despite birthday. Girls were happy with Zara, H&M and similar stores. Before rturning to the hotel, we watched the guards change with their over-sized shoes and skirts and had a good iced coffee at Costa, the equivalent of Starbucks. Finally back by Metro to the hotel. Crowded trains despite the August holidays. Train cars look like they were made by Bombardier- to be checked.

As darkness fell, we headed out, spiffed up nicely, to a nearby retaurant, Strofi, hoping to get a rooftop table. No luck and so we went a little further up the street to the parking lot of the Acropolis. The Dionysos restaurant was very attractive, under the illuminated acropolis and an olive grove. The crickets serenaded us all evening while we savoured ... more food including delicious cold appetizers and veal stew, seafood risotto and Greek burgers. We laughed and took pictures and enjoyed the meal despite the heat. We were too full for dessert so Guittel settled the tab (merci beaucoup) and we walked back to the hotel. Since the dessert pouch had not been filled, we went to the roof garden restaurant and had coffee and baklava there, again with a pleasant setting and a view of the glorious Parthenon.

A nice day in Athens despite the heat. More ruins and the Acropolis Museum tomorrow.