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We've finally arrived in Athens, the only problem was our flight was delayed for 5 hours. The Israel airport isn't alot of fun and there was no access to the internet. There are only so many times we can play cards. It was pretty painful and no-one even apoligised for it. The problems didn't end there, we caught the bus into the city only to find at 2.30am that the metro wasn't running. Taxi was the only option. We finally arrived at the hostel after passing by some very unattractive greek prostitutes and the hostel still had our beds which we were both pretty pleased to see.
Since our late/early arrival in Athens we had to hit the ground running to see all the sights or so we thought. Our first day we were able to see all the tourist attractions that were open in one day. Being Athens we first headed to the Acropolis. There were heaps of people, lots of guided tours and we even saw a couple of Tigers fans! For those who don't know the Acropolis is an area of many different ancient ruins, most importantly and famously the Parthenon. It was completed in 438BC and
epitomises the glory of ancient Greece. We also had the oppurtunity to see the Theatre of Dionysos, a theatre that dates back to the 6th century and once held 17,000 people. It was massive and very impressive. The only problem with all these sights being so old is that they are currently trying to preserve the sights for the future, which meant a whole lot of scaffolding for us. Another sight to see was the Ancient Agora - a market place and focal point for life in ancient times. Socrates actually spent time here expounding his philosphy. Who knew! Next we headed to the temple of Olypmian Zeus. The temple or what's left of it was Greece's largest temple. The size of the Corinthian colomns are 17 metres high with a base diameter of 1.7 metres.
The city is fairly busy, but nothing like Eygpt. The weather has been great around 28 to 30 degress. The suncreen we brought in Petra has certainly getting a good work out. Accommodation is quite clean in Athens and we've been trying to eat as cheaply as possible. And we found a way - the best 1.70 Euro souvlakis a girl could ask
for. I think this is down to the fact it's the only chance we get to eat meat nowadays. I'm not saying it's the best we've has because all the souvlakis we've had have been soo yummy, not a bad one yet. Even if there not called the same, basically they're the same. And the people are so friendly. What's even better, when I walk into the restaurant and they already know what I'm going to order!!!
Our second day in Athens started with an early start, we made our way to a small Greek town, called Thermopylae. It was there the 300 Spartans fought thousands of Persians. But more importantly, its where Poppa Harris fought during WW2. He apparently blew up a bridge here. I think it really meant something to Stephen. It wasn't too bad of a day as we spent most of the time on the bus but I didn't mind.
We have booked our train to Sofia, Bulgaria. It's an overnight one and it should be fun.
Our last day in Athens was basically a day of killing time as the train didn't leave until 11pm. We saw the university as well as
Thermopyles Pass
This is where the 300 Spartans fought the Persians, all but destroying them. It's also where Poppa Harris fought during the Second World War. changing of the guard. It was good the soldiers wore pom poms on theirs shoes and looked kinda funny. We also found a great fruit and veg market, we brought two bananas, 2 nectrines and half a shopping bag of strawberries for a euro. They were the sweetest strawberries I have ever tasted.
Hope your all well.
Speak Soon.
Love,
Michelle and Stephen.
xoxoxo
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