Day 13 - Acropolis Closed?!

---

Daniel wakes up at 6am to get ready for his meeting. He is giving a talk today so he has to shave and put on a tie. He grumbles about it the entire morning, but we all know that this meeting is what brought us on this fabulous trip together. I can’t fall back to sleep after he gets up so I spend some time straightening the apartment and doing laundry. I decide to wake Rachel up at 7:15am since this is our last chance to see the Acropolis. You can’t go to Athens without seeing the Acropolis. It is like going to Istanbul and not visiting the Grand Bazaar (oh yeah, it was closed when we were there due to a holiday). It seemed that our travel luck continued because the Acropolis was closed too! We heard that the security guards for all archaeological sites and museums decided to go on strike both Saturday and Sunday. Can you believe it?! We were told that Greeks take their strikes seriously and you could tell that by the police and armed forces presence. I had planned to see the Acropolis, and once we got good and hot, visit the air-conditioned National Archaeological Museum too…on to plan B.

I decide that I’m going to visit some old sites not matter what, so I take Rachel to a hill overlooking the Agora and read about the site in the blazing sun. Next, I we walk to Filopappos Hill, which is close by. Luckily, security guards do not staff this place. It is more like an inviting park with native plants providing shade. Birds are everywhere. Rachel sees her first Hoopoe. These birds look like a grade-school child drew it they are so funny looking. I make a note to tell Daniel about it in case he wants to bird-watch tomorrow morning before we leave for home. We walk all over the hill, visiting the various historical sites including the Pnyx. This is the exact birthplace of democracy since this is where the first ever democratic congress met. There are fantastic views of Athens to the sea and especially of the Acropolis from Filopappos Hill.

Rachel and I head home now. It is about 10 and we need some water and the air conditioner. Rachel decides to go back to sleep and I decide to continue with the laundry and packing. We take off about 12:30 to see Athens’ oldest cemetery, Kerameikos, which is just 6 blocks or so from our apartment. Who would have guessed that the cemetery would be closed too due to the strike? Well, I guess all we have left to do is shop. This time we are shopping for me. Daniel wants to buy me a necklace with some Greek keys on it and a blue topaz stone. Rachel and I kept our eyes out for my necklace while we’ve shopped the previous days and nothing really worked stood out. However, it did give us a feel for whether something was reasonably priced. Today the shopping gods take pity on us. I immediately find a necklace that I love. It is reversible, which I’ve never seen in a necklace before. On one side is the 2,000 year old Greek key design and on the other is engraved with a 1,200 year old Byzantine design. It is a bit over my price range. We move on and find a beautiful pendant with the topaz stone and Greek keys for only 30 Euros. I buy it with confidence that Daniel will like it. Since we are just killing time, we continue to shop a bit. Lo and behold, I spot the necklace I fell in love with in the first place in another store…and it was half the price of the first store. All of a sudden, I have two necklaces to remind me of my trip to Greece. I blame it on Rachel’s influence since I never buy things when we travel.

Now it is my turn to nap, so we practiced Mesi Meri and relaxed during the hottest time of the day. Daniel came home with his friend and colleague, Kevin. We visited a bit and then went out to eat at Sardinia, within walking distance of our apartment. Luckily, we went early for Greeks (8pm) since all the tables were reserved for that night. They put us at a table where the reservation started at 10. The food was fantastic. They specialize in fresh fish and create a new menu every night depending on what the fishermen caught that morning. Apparently, the young male waiters are “fantastic” as well.

We get home about 10 and I’m exhausted. I had told Rachel earlier in the day that I thought we could go out for one last hurrah in the surrounding clubs/cafes/bars before heading to sleep. I’m sure to Rachel’s great disappointment, it didn’t happen. I think if we had realized the night before that Daniel would not be attending a conference “gala” this evening, Rachel would have arranged a date with the first guy she met and I wouldn’t have had a choice but to go and sit at a table somewhere nearby. I wouldn’t have been a chaperon, more like a friend giving some privacy along with a safe presence to make Rachel more comfortable to go out with a stranger in a strange country. Actually, if I had to do it over, I would have been thrilled to do that. Instead, my bed was calling and so was Daniel.

---