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Published: October 6th 2012
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Athens, what a riot!!!...where even how the city got its name is a story. Apparently, Cecrops , a half-man half-snake creature was the original founder of the city and named the city after himself. However, the gods of Olympus saw the city and wanted to name it after them and become its patron. The most persistent gods were Poseidon, the sea god, and Athena, the goddess of wisdom. To solve the dispute Zeus decided that each of them should offer a gift to the city. The god with the best gift would have the city named after them. So, Poseidon struck a rock and water sprung forth...however the water tasted salty so the locals were not impressed. Next, Athena planted an olive seed which grew into an olive tree....the locals realizing this would give them firewood and food were very impressed and acclaimed Athena the winner.
Landing in Athens we navigate our way through another train ticket purchase and short trip into the city. The train station and it's trains would have to be the cleanest I have ever seen. I wonder if Greece is now broke due to spending all their money on the train system :-). Luckily most
of the signage has Greek and an English equivalent of the word. Handy as without it we are really traveling blind or playing a game of matching letters and symbols. The journey goes relatively smoothly with a train change midway. One passenger did feel the need to tell everyone in our carriage his feelings...but it's all Greek to me...so I can only guess what he was yelling about. More than likely the economic climate given the strike and riot that occurred the day before....or perhaps that none was buying the batteries he was trying to sell. Eitherway, the little girl sitting opposite me stuck her fingers in her ears so she couldn't hear. Our home for the next two days in Athens is to be the Intercontinental. Not exactly half way through our trip and it's time for some 5 star luxury. As we did not have breakfast booked in our deal, the receptionist offered us the opportunity to upgrade to the Intercontinental club...this included breakfast and, what we were to find that evening, an open bar for several hours with snacks. Awesome value considering the hotel offered breakfast by itself of €30! We certainly ate and drank our money's
worth!!! But, the real benefit of the club would have to be the amazing view of the Acropolis. We happily gazed at the Acropolis as the sun set and sipped champagne.
Feeling fully refreshed we head off on a walking tour of the Acropolis. We meet our guide, Vula, at the starting point in Syntagma station where the first display for the day is an amazing wall of earth that shows the layers of civilizations dating back to 6BC. She also explained that Most train stations have to be built 20meters down to avoid such archeological findings. The walking tour took us to the Temple of Zeus, Hadrian's Arch and finished, of course, at the Parthenon.
The Parthenon, what an amazing place. Destroyed twice, once in 480BC and again in 1687 when ammunition being stored in the building was ignited by a Venetian bombardment. As a result the are refurbishing and reconstructing everyday. Just next to the Parthenon is the Temple of Poseidon. With our cruise starting tomorrow we were keen to pay our respect to him. However we found him not home.
Day two in Athens is essentially free as we wait to embark on our
ship...we head back to Syntagma to check out the city life. One of our main goals was to find a laundromat to do some much needed washing. Needless to say it is a foreign concept to the Greeks. After wandering through many a back alley / side street we stumbled upon the produce markets. With an entire hall dedicated to the sale of meat....all out in the open with no refrigeration in sight.
Having spent the past two days in Athens, one day after the recent riots were plastered all over the news (which were largely exaggerated by the media), I can say that Athens is a beautiful, but troubled city. It's people are obviously very stressed and worried about where they and their beloved city are headed. Many shops have had to close their doors in the city...and many shop owners when handed a 50 or a credit card. The smallest tip of €2 - €5 would make their days. The people were so helpful, and happy to help, that it was amazing. Most spoke English very well which was extremely helpful as there is no way you can interpret the signs or language. The roads are slightly
more chaotic than those of Rome's....but I would stI'll look multiple times before crossing any road. Especially in a city that has to employee gorgeous women to stand in the middle of busy intersections to make drivers pay attention to traffic lights during peak hour. Anyway...it's a ride...buckle up.
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