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Woolly says – Having prised everyone out of there beds with only a few moans and groans which I choose to ignore we picked up our breakfast rations and headed for our second day on the city tour bus. Our ticket gave us a free day so it seemed only sensible to make the most of it. Hopping off at Syntagma Square and the home of the Presidents guards was a passing blur as we have that scheduled into tomorrows plan, our idea was to walk through the Botanical Gardens, we were denied. Police road blocks and guards blocked our way, I continued to trot along in the hope that eventually we would be able to make a right turn and get ourselves on track, this seemed to be somewhat of a problem. How our small friend kept up I don’t know but mile after mile passed until we finally were able to turn in the correct direction, it would mean missing out on some of our plans but there was nothing for it. Woolly says – as the pain in my paws became too much we eventually found a road that let us go down and I raced ahead only to stop dead! There seemed to be Roman remains!!!! I needed to see them, where were the women when you needed them? Lagging badly behind Jo and Zoe arrived and as I shoved a paw in the direction of my discovery they both started to laugh!
Both Zoe and I had looked in vain on google the night before for the Archaeological site of Lycian but to no avail but from nowhere we seemed to have found it. The furry fiend dashed through the gates and was already immersing himself in the delights of Aristotle. Woolly says - Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and scientist born in the city of Stagira, Chalkidice. His father, Nicomachus, died when Aristotle was a child, when Proxenus of Atarneusbecame became his guardian. At eighteen, he joined Plato's Academy in Athens and remained there until the age of thirty-seven, he is considered to be the first person to have studied a comprehensive system of Western philosophy. Shortly after Plato died, Aristotle left Athens and at the request of Philip of Macedon, tutored Alexander the Great starting from 343 BC. This position gave Aristotle many opportunities and an abundance of supplies. He established a library in the
Lyceum which I was now standing in....what an awesome dude!
With the tickets we had purchased yesterday this site was included so as Woolly ran round the grounds Zoe and I took our time in admiring what there was to see. Woolly says – OK, there wasn’t a mammoth amount on view but it was interesting none the less, I mean walking round the a 6th Century school has got be to cool in anyone’s book especially as there didn’t appear to be any teachers around (unless you count Jo) to tell me off! Having taken our pictures and read all of the information available our companion seemed happy to carry on trying to find our next tourist site. Woolly says – following the road we appeared to make further progress as the police presence disappeared and despite a couple of wrong turns I found myself in front of the Zappo building. Originally built to house the Olympic athletes the circular building was now used for conferences and music events, it was fine but not particularly exciting....onwards I shouted. I sped forward with the girls struggling to catch up I was the next Olympian in training!
He did seem to have speeded up rather a lot and as we rounded a corner we all came to a halt as the view in front of us was incredible. Woolly says – I hadn’t quite known what to expect but this superseded my dreams and all expectations, there before us stood the Panathenaic Stadium in all it’s glory. In ancient times, the stadium on this site was used to host the athletic portion of the Panathenaic Games, in honor of the Goddess Athena. During classical times, it had wooden seating until 329 BC when it was rebuilt in marble by Lycurgus. The remnants of the ancient structure were excavated and refurbished, with funds provided by Evangelos Zappas, (haven’t we just seen another of his buildings!!!) for the revival of the Olympic Games. In 1895, the stadium was refurbished a second time for the 1896 Olympics, with completion funding provided by the Greek benefactor George Averoff, whose marble statue now stands at the entrance, based on designs by the architects Anastasios Metaxas and Ernst Ziller. As Jo headed to the ticket booth I raced under the ropes and onto the track, a gold medal stood in front of me as my heart pounded and breathing became harder, I pushed forward determined to stand on the podium in first place, I could feel the sun hot on my fur as my paws sped across the asphalt I could almost feel victory in my touch...
We caught up with him at the first block of seats and hadn’t the heart to tell him that there was still a whole stadium to run round before any medal might be forthcoming!
Woolly says – maybe I could take up commentating instead! The stadium was impressive and capable of holding 68,000 people, as we wandered round I came across what appeared to be two thrones which had been built to provide seating for the Presidents or of course for me. Seats which bore the inscriptions of the architects and beneficiaries were a nice touch but as we rounded the end of the site I was intrigued to find a tunnel to investigate. It was cool which was rather pleasant after the heat outside and as Jo started to explain of course it made sense, the athletes had to come from somewhere! As I followed the dimly lit passage I found myself facing a step of stairs, well it seemed silly not to go up them, the glories to behold above my head (so I asked Jo to lift me up) the Olympic torches from everyone of the Modern Olympic games were covering the walls with posters that had advertised the events, amazing. As Zoe approached videoing for her vlog I happily pointed out some of the prettiest for her. As I gained the sunshine again the last and possible the best part of the tour was upon me, as I stood on the winners podium imaging the crowds that could be applauding me I felt humbled...well for a moment or two!
Before his ego could inflate any further it was time to move on and a short walk bought us to the Temple of Zeus. Woolly says – They just won’t let me be the star that I am! Following as quickly as my paws would allow I stood looking forlornly at the closed ticket office, so near but so far away, the strike had caught up with us again. Hadrian’s gate however proved a welcome distraction, constructed in 131 AD by my hero it had originally separated the old and the new city of Athens, today it didn’t look anything much and as I looked around I couldn’t spot the man himself. Crossing the road we added the Temple onto tomorrow’s list and having sated our appetites with a quick bite to eat the Museum of the Acropolis was next. Guess who wasn’t welcome!
It all seemed to be going so well and Woolly had had a lovely time looking down at the Ancient Athenian City and being able to spot the outlines of the buildings including the baths and ovens but having approached the desk to pay we found that ‘dogs were not allowed’ again! We had no choice but to leave him sulking outside as Zoe and I took in the wonders that had been recovered from the Parthenon high above our heads. The third floor exhibit had been laid out with the same number of columns and the same size as the famous building to show what was left of the original friezes and statues, plaster of paris had been used to show what the whole thing would have looked like in it’s hey day, it was stunning, unfortunately though we were only allowed to take pictures of a very few items which left us feeling frustrated and having glanced out of the third floor window we could see the short furry one bothering tourists so we headed back to collect him.
Woolly says – I was only trying to sell autographs, I mean what is wrong with that? With everyone needing to sit down I suggested getting back onto our tour bus and letting that take the weight of our tired bodies to our next destination. As many of our plans this one quickly unfolded as we found the Adrinaou Library closed along with the Roman Agora....it looks like tomorrow is going to be very busy ladies! Only one thing for it I thought and as the pair staggered behind me I led them into the bright and vibrant atmosphere of the Hard Rock Cafe. A great choice indeed and as we sat sipping our cocktails we worked out a plan for tomorrow......of course whether that happens or not is another matter. With no energy left we had thought to pick up the tour bus once more to get back to our hotel in Omonia Square but traffic was at a standstill and having waited for nearly 45 minutes I hoisted up my small friend and set off to walk back.
Woolly says – it quickly became evident why the traffic wasn’t going anywhere as we found ourselves amongst thousands of Greeks protesting, everyone seemed peaceful but I suggested that speed might be a good idea and as we arrived in the square there seemed to be even more people gathered, even Jo was going at speed (maybe she’s in training to go on the podium!) we shot past everyone, it was good to get into our room as the noise increased considerably, it was better to be in than out, anyway I have a lot of planning to sort out for the morning!
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Preserved
I'm always happy when these things survive.