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Athens, Greece
Athens. Athens
is old. Athens is very old. Athens has buildings. Lots of
buildings. Some old buildings. Some very old buildings. Lots
of very, very, very old buildings. Athens has museums of old
things. Lots of museums and lots of very, very, old things.
There are lots of signs in Athens
that are hard to read. In fact - Come on! You saw this one
coming! - well, they are Greek to me.
There is a not-too-tall hill
in Athens that contained lots of temples a long time ago,
dating from way, way, before even Strom Thurmond was born.
High in Greek is "Akro" and city is "Polis;" hence, Acropolis
is the name of this famous hill.
Did I enjoy our stay in Athens?
You bet I did! The first day was a full day of touring for
all four of us, with a fantastically intelligent, knowledgeable,
friendly, and informative guide, whose English name was Faye.
We were chauffeured around the sites in a huge Mercedes V12
limousine and the weather was perfect. The second day Pat
& Ashley again toured with Faye while Pam and I, after writing
journals on the computer in the morning, had lunch and then
hiked around the city for nearly five hours. We walked all
the way up to the top of the highest hill in Athens and had
a gorgeous view of the whole city, with the Acropolis looking
quite low compared to our elevation. We went through a big
city park where - Are you ready for this? - the most memorable
event was discovering that the smacking, thudding, sound we
were hearing coming from the rustling leaves on the ground
were two large land tortoises, one butting the stuffing out
of the other! A territorial dispute? A little turtle foreplay?
You got me. When the aggressive one made a lunge for Pam's
red-painted toes showing through her sandals, it was time
to keep walking.
So, did I like Athens? Yes. But
does it lend itself to this journal? No. I am too lazy to
try to explain all of the history, the dates, the wars, the
destructions, the re-buildings, etc. I am sure P & A and Pam
will insert some good info about our stay here, so look over
their descriptions. As for me, since a picture is worth a
thousand words, included herein have been a few pictures taken
the first day. (Didn't carry my camera on the walking day.)
We ate all of our evening meals
in the superb little restaurant at our hotel, the Andromeda,
where the waiters were fun and the food was excellent. Usually,
we had the place totally to ourselves. On to Turkey tomorrow!
Fay, Pam, Ash at Museum |
Guide Fay |
Herod Atticus' Odeon |
Parthenon Preservation |
Temple Roof |
Zeus |
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