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Published: August 7th 2007
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Overnight Bus Tales Why do we keep on doing this? Maybe because the cheapest way to get from Istanbul to Athens was by, you guessed it, an overnight bus! We left Istanbul at 10am in a very nice coach complete with two Greek drivers this time. We had been allocated the four front seats which we thought was great for watching the scenery but unfortunately it also gave us a view of how the drivers drove the bus!! We watched with a mixture of fascination and horror as our drivers drank coffee, spoke on hand-held mobile phones, looked for CDs and changed them in the console and even rolled their own cigarettes while managing the steering-wheel with their elbows!! There wasn't really much we could do so we tried to sit back, relax and enjoy the ride! It actually was a lot of fun. We drove through the night and arrived in Athens at 3am and as usual we hadn't booked anything! We befriended Hawkin, a young man in search of snow who was dragging his skis around with him, and declining the offers of the taxi drivers set off to 'experience' Athens. It was Hawkin who spotted a hostel sign
and even though we couldn't book in, we were able to leave all our gear there. Then we went in search of a coffee shop, sat there until 5.30am when the Metro opened and then set off to watch the sun rise from the highest of the eight hills dotted around Athens. It was worth it to be the only people at the top of the hill (who else would be mad enough to be up there at that time!) and watch the coming dawn! Athens is an amazing city with myriads of buildings and streets nestled in between the hills around which the city has been built. It was a great place to get our bearings and see the Acropolis slowly come into view! At 8.30am we booked into the hostel and slept for a few hours!
Olympic Stadium Complex A few hours later saw us on the metro again setting off to see the new Olympic Stadium. The place was deserted but we were able to wander around and get a feel for what it would have been like to be there in 2004. The only place we couldn't work out how to get into the Stadium
Greek Guards
We were amused to watch the way these guards goose-step to aid circulation in their legs after each hour at their post! itself but Joel quickly scaled the fence and disappeared from view! We were fascinated by the architecture and took quite a few photos. The blue and white theme (colours of the Greek flag) were clearly evident everywhere.
Walking Tour of Athens The next day we decided to go on a walking tour of the main sights/sites! It was the only day on the trip that I used my pedometer and we walked 20km that day! We had a young Romanian girl as our guide and there were only 6 people on the walk: the four of us, Hawkin and a young man from Argentina. Athens is oozing with history and we had a great day taking in all the main archeological sites. We visited the Temple of Olympian Zeus which had taken 700 years to build. Only 15 of the original 104 Corinthian style columns now remain. Hadrian's Gate still separates the ancient city of Athens from the modern city. Climbing up to see the Parthenon on Acropolis Hill was an incredible experience. This building more than any other epitomises the glory of Ancient Greece. In order for it to achieve 'perfect form' the lines of the Parthenon. Only
The Temple of Olympian Zeus
Joel and Hawkin on the left show how immense this temple is! Only 15 of the original 104 columns now remain. 15 of the original 104 columns now remain.were curved to counteract optical illusions and appear straight. Who would have thought that the Ancient Greeks would have known to do that! It was completed in 438BC! No visitors are allowed to walk around inside the Parthenon or the neighbouring Temple of Athena Nike. Many of these sites are undergoing reconstruction and preservation measures are in place to counteract the damage that the constant stream of tourists has made in the area. Acid rain is even eating away some of the structures. We climbed the Areopagus, the site of the ancient Supreme Court, which affords a great view over the Ancient Agora where Sophocles and Aristotle once taught. We also saw the old Olympic Stadium that hosted the 1st Modern Olympic Games in 1896. During the 2004 Olympics this stadium was used for Archery and the finish of the Marathon. I hope the photos help to sort out in your mind all these different sites!
Let me recount one of the incidents of the day. As with many other European cities there are an incredible number of stray dogs on the streets. They wander around freely and are generally well-fed by
We must be mad!
Waiting for dawn on the top of Likavitos Hill, the highest of the hills in Athens people who put food out for them.
In fact, I think they have an amazing life going wherever they like! We made friends with one particular dog at the Theatre of Dionysos and he decided to adopt us and come along for the day. In fact at one stage it seemed like he was leading the tour as he took the lead and trotted along in front of us. The fun came when he started 'protecting' us from other people. He ran up to cyclists and motor cyclists barking quite ferociously and we had to tell him off. Then he actually grabbed the hand of a poor lady who walked past us and I had to be very firm with him. This only made it worse as people thought we owned this unruly dog!! We only managed to 'lose' him when we climbed up onto the Areopagus!
Athenean Celebrations We seemed to have the knack of being in the right place at the right time on our travels! The Greeks celebrate the beginning of Lent in an almost 'Carnivale' way with people dressing up in all sorts of weird and wonderful costumes and parading around the streets. Greek children
Worth the wait!
Athens at dawn with the Acropolis in the background get in on the act as well and love to dress up as their favourite film characters. One evening we went to one of the areas where the crowds traditionally congregate and joined the throng of people on the streets. Most people were dressed up in fancy costumes; we were dressed up as backpackers! On sale were plastic blow-up clubs and truncheons and great satisfaction was gained by going around hitting other people over the head with these harmless weapons. We 'suffered' a few blows as we made our way through the crowded streets! I'm not quite sure what the clubs have to do with Lent!
The following morning we made our way to the Acropolis and surrounding areas where we heard there would be further celebrations and 'free food'! Always on the look-out for ways to save money, we headed off. The 'free food' turned out to be two or three pieces of flat bread which looked delicious but the length of the queue of people waiting for it deterred us and we decided to buy something to eat instead. I saw what I thought were huge delicious cakes being cut up and ordered a piece that would
Olympic Wreath
Mosaic at the Olympic Stadium feed us all. It turned out to be 'the worst buy of the trip' as I discovered that I had paid 6 euro for a huge piece of sugary jelly that the guys valiantly tried to plough through to make me feel better!! Apparantly it is a Greek delicacy! Michael even offered some to a passerby who cheerfully went off with a big hunk of it. On our return to the hostel the remainder was gratefully received by the people working there!
It was a lot of fun watching the celebrations on the hill which included Greek music and dancing along with kite-flying and family groups getting together to eat and relax. It did seem strange that there were no barbeques amongst the picnicers! What again was refreshing was the lack of drunkedness or violence that so often mar Australian celebrations.
Athens is a fascinating blend of East and West and having just arrived from Turkey it was great to see the influence of the East in the coffee, kebabs, music, street vendors and so on. We enjoyed the Greek cuisine, mingling with the crowds and one evening took time out to go and see 'The Last King
of Scotland' which we all thought was a great film. We actually saw a few films on our travels and enjoyed being some of the few people in the cimemas who could enjoy the English dialogue while most people read the sub-titles! Cities however lose their interest after a time and so we decided to head south to the Peloponnese and take in the atmosphere of some smaller picturesque towns. So next blog we head to Nafplion and Monemvasia.
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Hemmingway
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Expensive Cake!
I continue to follow your travels around Europe with interest and amazement. Sorry to hear of the expensive cake. I too made a poor purchase in Greece - a E15 hand coffee grinder that doesn't work as it should! Still, it looks good on the shelf!!