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For once the mammoth wasn’t up first and by the time he had tied his scarf and pretended to wash behind his ears Zoe and I were waiting at the door for him. Woolly says – Well I do like to look my best and having rubbed a sock behind my ears and removed some excess jam I hurried to catch up with the girls. A quick pit stop for breakfast and we set off to Syntagma Square for the truly unique changing of the guard at the tomb of the Unknown Warrior. The Evzones is the name given to several of the historical elite light infantry and mountain units of the Greek Army, now days it refers to the members of the Presidential Guard. Prospective Evzones are initially identified at the Infantry Recruit Training Centres during Basic Training, there is a minimum height requirement of 1.87 m (6' 1.3"), so these guys are seriously tall! They are probably known best for their uniform and the wearing of skirts!!!!! Which evolved from the Ottomans occupation of Greece. The skirt or kilt is made of cotton and is 98 feet in length, containing 400 pleats which have to be ironed by hand......can’t see Jo making the grade given that our iron is still in bubble wrap from our move to Turkey! Along with their flowing white shirts and waistcoats they also wear clogs with black pom poms which have nails in the bottom....surely that can’t be comfortable!
By the time the fur ball had recanted all of his information we had arrived at an empty square, ideal to take some pictures without playing miss the tourist. Woolly says – the guards were incredibly smart and although we were early I settled down to wait for the main Sunday ceremony to commence. Jo went over to enquire where we would have the best view from and returned with bad news.....yep the strike had struck again, no ceremony this week. I sighed in anguish just as the two men on duty started to do a John Cleese walk across the square, back and forth they went with their nails scraping along the ground, there might only be two of them but it was wonderful none the less. For a full fifteen minutes they did high legged walking and pausing before criss crossing each other, I was mesmerised until a almighty feedback sound came from behind me nearly making me fall over, the guards nearly broke pace and as I glanced behind me I realised that the strike and the protest against higher taxation was building up behind me. With Zoe finishing the last of her filming it seemed a jolly good idea to beat a hasty retreat and head to our next attraction. As we passed Syntagma underground station I suddenly remembered the commentary from the day before on the tour bus and suggested a quick look see, wow what an underground with preserved columns, roman jars, a nearly complete mosaic piece of floor and a whole glass wall showing burial tombs from the Roman era’s it was more museum than metro, well worth our five minute stop. Heading up the escalators we arrived back at street level and set off once again.
As we headed towards the Temple of Olympian Zeus we could see several hundred people marching towards us, Woolly decided that now might be a good time for a snack and vanished into the bag. Zoe and I found a safe place to stand and watch the immense number of people pass us by chanting and holding there flags with pride, a nation united. With the procession ebbing we continued to pass statues and more Roman ruins, you really can’t go anywhere in the city without finding something incredible to feast your eyes upon.
Woolly says – As I wiped the crumbs from my tusks we arrived at Zeus’s temple which was open, with Jo handing over our pre-bought tickets I scuttled inside and stood gazing at the imposing columns in front of me. Built between 19 and 11 BC with a donation of Julius Caesar and Augustus it would have been paved with slabs and had became the commercial centre of the city when it was transferred from the Ancient Agora, the Roman Agora and the Library of Hadrian. The temple was probably destroyed by an earthquake during the medieval period, and disassembled for building materials. The Olympieion was first excavated between 1889-1896 by Francis Penrose of the British School in Athens, who also played a leading role in the restoration of the Parthenon. Further work was done in 1922 by the German archaeologist Gabriel Welter and in the 1960s by Greek archaeologists led by Ioannes Travlos left it as it is seen today. Sighing in contentment I happily trotted back to the women to re-visit and hopefully gain entrance to the Roman Agora.
A pleasant walk through some of the smaller streets filled with tourist shops led us to the open air exhibit. Woolly says – The Agora would have been a large rectangular open courtyard surrounded by stoa’s, shops and storerooms with the large Gate of Athena proudly marking it’s entrance, my hero Hadrian paved it adding to his already extensive list of what he managed to do in his lifetime. It became the commercial and administrate centre around 267AD, it is most probably famous for it rather wonderful Tower of the Winds which was built by the astronomer Andronikos, it was a lovely octagonal building in excellent shape and although we couldn’t go inside the reliefs high above my head were sufficient for me. Our next port of call was beckoning so checking that my party were following close behind I trotted onwards. Last on our list of ancient sites for the day was Hadrian’s library. Woolly says – did this man never sleep! Jumping down the steps I was confronted by a huge wall, you would need a massive step ladder to get books from the top of there! Having scanned the information board it appeared that the wall had actually been part of a church built within the grounds of the library. Further steps and I could see a range of ruins laid out in front of me, those of another church....how many churches do you need in a library! Wandering further into the site I considered what was left of the pool area with some rather lovely mosaic flooring still on show, it must have been rather pleasant to sit and read whilst listening to the gentle sounds of the water. Finally at the very last part of the area we arrived at the library itself, built in 132 AD it would have housed the scrolls and papyrus of the time, it seemed tiny in comparison to some of the buildings we had visited and with the centre filled with bits from the excavation of the site it wasn’t perhaps the best example of what the Romans had achieved. With exhaustion starting to take over us all we wandered through the flea market...... Woolly says – I DON’T want any fleas!!!!!! ...... enraptured by the furniture, light fittings and variety of items for sale before sinking into seats with a well deserved ice cream each, given the amount furry features had already consumed I wasn’t sure he would fit one in, maybe we need ot consider a diet for my big fat Greek loving mammoth! Woolly says – I DO want ice cream! NOOOOOO diets thank you! What a visit and what a city, think we all need a holiday now.....what do you mean were going to be working for the next week!!!!!!
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Longing to go back
Love ceremonies like this.