Athens, water, and Volcanos.

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On Thursday we drove to Corinth and took a train into the sprawling metropolis that is Athens. First off, we got off the subway very near the base of the Acropolis. We went up the side of the Acropolis, looking at some neat old ruins, some columns really well preserved, and up to the top to see the Parthenon. From such a high up spot we could see that Athens is absolutely huge. It's set between mountains and water for the most part, and it's just... everywhere! We could also see from the Parthenon the Olympian temple to Zeus, which was also neat because of its columns. The Parthenon was surprisingly large... the columns were thick as anything, and it was beautiful, though covered in scaffolding. The way out of the Acropolis going down was terrible. There had been a huge strike in Athens the 2 days before, and it seemed every tourist in Greece was up there that morning. It took a while. And twas hot. Eventually we got down, and made our way towards the Athens market, where we got shoes and souveniers and just remembered in general that we do like shopping. We had lunch at a Greek restaurant, which was neat, and we had a good view of the Parthenon. We went to the parliament buildings, where protestors were still set up in the square in tents and the lingering tear gas burned our eyes and throats.
Thus was Athens.

Friday morning we relaxed and went swimming, it was fabulous, especially with the unbelievably hot morning. After lunch we drove a long way to Patras, where we caught a ferry and departed for Italy at 6pm, camping on board. We got a taste of some lovely baklava and another almond sweet. We woke up in the morning and left again at 8:50ish.

Today was a packed day. After awakening at the aforesaid time, we drove for 160 km to the ruins of Pompei, which was preserved in volcanic ash. I'd really love to give you a history lesson on the whole thing, but you can google it. The ruins were so different from others we'd seen because most of the walls were standing, even though the volcano erupted in AD79. Imagination to put together rooms and houses was not needed.
After the ruins we went to Mt. Vesuvius, the volcano that had erupted, and were surprised to learn that it was, in fact, still active. We got a utility vehicle ride up the mountain, and then hiked to the steaming crater. We were in the clouds for a good part of it, which was really eerie. We went back down the mountain, and journeyed to our campsite. Turns out, we're camping in another, possibly dormant volcano crater. There's steam coming out of a nearby cliff, actually, which is neat.

May the odds be always in your favour!

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