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The earth moved for us at 4.55am. A loud earth tremor which sounded like a bomb going off shook the hotel. Carol said, "What are you doing, stop shaking the bed." Now I have been told off for quite a few things over the years but why she would think I would choose our 25th wedding anniversary to start nocturnal furniture rearranging I'm not sure. Things didn't improve though when I told her I wasn't shaking the bed, it was an earthquake. The receptionist later told us this was quite a big tremor for Athens. (IN MY DEFENCE I WAS DEEP IN SLEEP AND IT DIDN'T HELP WHEN TIM SUGGESTED IT MAY HAVE BEEN AN EXPLOSION OR BOMB GOING OFF AND TO BACK IT UP IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARDS THERE WERE LOADS OF SIRENS PASSING NEARBY.)
In the morning after becoming convinced the apocalypse was not upon us we set off for our anniversary trip to the Acropolis. This is now also known as the apocalypse, even on maps, since Carol rechristened it. She has promised to go through the whole day without calling it the apocalypse once.
Whilst in the queue at the ticket office there was nearly an international
incident and we didn't even cause it. A Greek lady official guide asked if the group of 4 Americans in front of us would like to be guided by her. A woman pretended not to understand and asked if she needed guiding. When she explained again the American woman said she probably knew more about the site than the guide. I suppose in America you can get away with the odd caustic put down, but this is Athens. The group suddenly became very quiet as they were instructed that they had an aryan arrogance that was most unattractive to Greeks and how dare they suggest that they knew more about the history of Greece than she did. Unfortunately for them they were not able to get tickets for about 5 minutes and had to meekly take a substantial telling off. We did think of hiring her to follow them around for the entire visit but decided to let it rest.
The acropolis and it's surroundings are simply stunning It is definitely one of those places you just have to see, even though quite a few other people are trying to see it at the same time. The history is
very interesting, but that is a job for Wikipedia. Whilst the Parthenon etc is very impressive, what impressed us the most was that we managed to spot the roof terrace of our hotel from the top.
During the afternoon we visited Hadrian's Library where there hasn't been a lending service for a while. With the levels of history piling on top of each other it is already possible to become quite blase about quite incredible sites. We then tried to find the restaurant I had booked for our anniversary meal later, the Acropolis View. No trace was found, a bit of a worry. This took us up to Syntagma Square and the parliament building, as Carol wanted to see the soldiers with slippers.
This is the scene of much of the rioting in recent times. We tried to drum up an insurrection without success, probably because of the coachloads of heavily armed police. We wanted to take pictures but chickened out.
We watched the guards intricate drill. Very impressive, even if they do wear slippers. (I THOUGHT IT WAS REALLY TOUCHING WHEN THE SOLDIER WITH THE POOR GUARDS WHO WERE DRESSED IN EXTREMELY WOOLLY NATIONAL COSTUMES WIPED
THE SWEAT FROM THEIR BROWS. YOU CAN BUY THEIR UNIFORMS FROM THE TOURIST SHOPS BUT THEY WOULD BE VERY ITCHY.) I had to tell her that. You can imagine what would have happened otherwise.
We then walked down through the national gardens to the Panathenaic stadium, site of ancient games and of their rebirth of 100 years ago. It is a very impressive narrow stadium that can seat 60,000. There were about 10 when we were there. (THE STADIUM WAS THE FINISH OF THE MARATHON IN THE ATHENS OLYMPICS IN 2004.) We wanted to run around the track (which you were allowed to do) but I was in the wrong trousers and Carol was in the wrong bra. We made do by posing on the winners rostrum.
This action packed day then moved onto Zeus' Temple, but unfortunately Zeus had locked up and gone home. A visit for tomorrow.
When it was time for our posh night out we took no chances and used a sat nav to cover the few hundred yards from the hotel to the Acropolis View restaurant It was no surprise we couldn't find it as there was just a small sign directing
you into a nice hotel where you have to take a small lift (cue mild hysteria) to a small roof terrace on the top floor.
They made the mistake of showing Carol the menu with prices, particularly the wine. I had to point out that it would not be appropriate to just have bread and tap water. The food was really good and the host very genial. (HE OUGHT TO HAVE BEEN AT THAT PRICE.)We had a set menu with wine and for the record, in case you are thinking about going, it cost 90 Euros including a bottle of wine. The view of the acropolis is superb, particularly after dark when it is floodlit.
Carol gave me some some very nice anniversary gifts in the morning. This was unexpected as we don't normally give anything other than a card. I apologised for not having a gift in return. Carol said it didn't matter although she later confided she thought the ladies that golf would consider me a right tight wad as it was they who had persuaded her to get me something.
Well, I had decided that rather than an anniversary present I would give Carol
an engagement ring as she had lost the original a few years ago. So I got onto one knee (no mean feat after all that walking) and proposed again. I thought this would go down quite well but Carol burst into tears. (SLIGHT EXAGGERATION TO SAY THE LEAST BUT I WAS TOUCHED AND COULDN'T HAVE WANTED FOR ANYTHING BETTER.) I don't think I will ever understand women. It was all sorted out in the end though and she did like it after all. You may need a magnifying glass when looking at the photo.
Then right at the end of the night Carol told our host at the restaurant how nice the Apocalypse looked. (I'M SURE I DIDN'T CALL IT THAT!!! I HOPE THE GREEK WAITER DIDN'T UNDERSTAND ENGLISH VERY WELL. NO I DEFINITELY DIDN'T SAY THAT...I DON'T THINK.)
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Christine Ashe
non-member comment
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!
Quite an eventful day from start to finish! Good job we persuaded you to buy Tim a present, lovely ring you must be really chuffed. Looking forward to the next instalment!