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Published: June 22nd 2008
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(Scott)
Another day another monumental snap undertaken. A snap is what Clover and I have taken to calling the dramatic changes one undergoes when you board a plane and in an undisclosed amount of time arrive in a totally new totally strange setting. Mind you, for us the "Snap" only occurs when we jump from one region to another, like say going from L.A. to Fiji, or Perth to Singapore, or in this case KL to Athens. One minute your ordering rice and noodles with little sardine fishies on the side for breakfast, the next your getting a gyros (pronounced more like EUROWS) with a thimble full of strong coffee. Still can't understand how to two gulps of coffee equates out to $2.00. Albeit it's nice and strong, but for two tiny sips they'd better be putting crack in my coffee to make up for the world's worst proportions.
So the trip to Athens was long, very very long. Although it's amazing how all it takes is one long ass taxi ride, 3 different flights, two layovers (one spent sprinting across the airport, the other lurking about in Heathrow trying to find something to eat that wouldn't cost two
cows and chicken) and a packed train to get into Athens. But hey, that's the joy of travel.
Athens has the best temperature we've felt in a super long time. Granted I'm fairly hairy along my arms and legs thus I'm more sensitive to hotter climates. Clover likes to call it the hobbit humidifier when I break out in a cool damp sweat everywhere. Sometimes the hobbit humidifier goes to DefCon 5 where it literally looks like I'm taking a shower. As refreshing as it may sound, it's really not. So when we came into Athens and felt a nice cool 70'F compared to what we had before we found ourselves overjoyed. Not once since I've been here has the hobbit humidifier even kicked on.
Of coarse as soon as we could we headed off to see the Agora and the Acropolis. The whole area around the Acropolis and the Agora (Agora just means gathering place) is very nice. Cobbled streets, little tavernas (albeit things are spendy on that side of town) and giant Greek columns that jut right out of the ground next to where the trains are going by. Up on the hill is the Parthenon
which calls to anyone in the area like honey to a bee. What's truly amazing is that the whole area around the Acropolis and the neighboring hillside is all set aside as a park. You can wander around from ruin to ruin until you finally collapse underneath a olive tree for some rest. What's amazing about this that you can almost forget your in a city with a couple of million of people as you lose the traffic sounds and instead notice that there's a very pleasant breeze cooling you off with some spectacular scenery. Granted we've had our fill of green mosquito/leech infested jungles so resting in a nice arid climate while remaining cool has been a treat.
Walking among the more important ruins you'll tend to notice local ladies who more often then naught are wearing makeup and have high heels on. Mind you this is on the side of the hill, or along a dirt path with olive trees. At first you'd think they are there to greet you, kind of like the old ladies in the airports called the airport ambassadors. But nothing could be further from the truth. If you smile and nod at
them they just give you a cool blank stare. But heaven forbid if you happen to cross an imaginary line that exists only in their head, or per chance sit on an old stone that litters the ground everywhere you find out quickly enough that these ladies have another side to them.
Clover crossed over this line to pose near an old churchish building when the whistle started blowing. Up poking her head was the Greek fashion diva whistling loudly for Clover to get out of the area. Or at least that's what we took it for since it was a combination of whistling, frantic Greek, and arm waving. None the less it's not like you cross over a rope, or move around a sign that clearly states not to proceed further. In fact there's nothing around to indicate your about to become the victim of a screeching Greek woman wearing high heels. After a bit we began to catch on that as soon as you spot one of these ladies there must be some booby trap(traps with boobies) boundary nearby, so proceed with caution. As it turned out Clover got yelled at twice, and me once. Our best
technique to avoid the playground whistle blowing humiliation was to wait a while when we spotted a DWB (Diva Whistle Blower). Sure enough within ten minutes or so some other hapless tourist would cross the invisible "do not proceed line" and would sharply become the focus of everyone as the DWB shrieked at them. In the end however I almost had a fleeting moment where I believed in karma. On one occasion we stood about waiting for the DWB to make her boundaries known when a very large group of Asian tourists came trotting along. The DWB began to blow her whistle left and right while screeching in Greek which for the most part was ignored by the Asian tourists. Watching her shuffle left and right never getting a chance to rest as the Asians dispersed all at once across her boundary lines was nothing short of pure karmic justice.
So what makes a proper greek salad you ask? We'll here's how we define. First and foremost you need a very large "slab" of feta to greet you when they bring the salad out. If you have to look for it, or dig around you know right away your
in trouble. So after spotting your large "slab" of feta it's nice to note if it's got seasonings like basil and such on it. Not required but it makes a nice "Hello, How are you today, Don't you wanna eat some yummy feta?" After that you should dig around to try one of the tasty olives. Mind you they should have thier pits in them that way your sure to eat the olives slowly and alone so you won't swallow or chew on the seed. This helps monitor your Greek Salad eating pace (you should never rush through a Greek Salad).
Over all Athens kicks ass. Wonderful open air food markets. Lazy streets to meander about on and get lost on. It is a huge city with a small town feel. It is easy to find a little bit of privacy under an olive tree and think the days over. Hot days and refreshing breezes to forget the passing of time in an ancient city.
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judy strickler
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Hey guys! Looks like you're onto another awesome adventure. Where to next? Yikes, gotta go screaming kid in my background. :( J