10 October 2017 - Moving day.
We were all dropped off at the airport in Crete and 22 people headed to different gates to fly to different airports in England and then onto different trains and buses to arrive home mostly by 6pm that night. We on the other hand were again one of the first to storm the RyanAir flight to Athens, followed by the remaining foot soldiers. 45 minutes later we were picking up our luggage in Athens and being whisked away by our transfer to our apartment in Athens.
The owner of the AirBnB, Athanasious, sent his ex-sister-in-law to pick us up from the airport. In broken English she asked us if we were good friends with John. We said 'Who's John'. No more was said although she did seem to think we were Mike and Sue and she did think we were American. We arrived at our apartment and were met by Athanasious on the footpath. He helped with our bags and started telling us all about the area etc as we got into the little lift to go upstairs. As we got out on the 6th floor he asked about our friend John. We said 'Who's John'. He said 'Your American friend who is staying in the apartment with you'. We said 'Huh???'. He said 'Huh??!!!'.
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| Where we went in Athens |
As it turned out Athanasious thought, because of my surname, we were the American friends, Mike and Sue, arriving to stay with John. After much gasping and apologies by Athanasious the ex-sister-in-law who had driven off was called back and back downstairs we went, us and our suitcases were bundled back in the car and away we went to the right apartment a kilometre further down the road with Athanasious following on his motor scooter. Athanasious owns/manages several places.
Our actual apartment was very good with a big balcony out the front with views to the Acropolis all lit up at night - how more Athens can you get? It would have been good to share the view with John.
Next day we tried to get up early but we were a little tired. Next the fuse went in the kitchen while we were making breakfast. Athanasious lives a couple of floors below and came up and fixed it for us as the fuse box is in the apartment next door (??). He then explained the wiring is dodgy (my words) and not to have too many (more than one) appliances on at once.
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| In the throng going to the acropolis |
Finally we were out and about and headed straight to the Acropolis 15 minutes away by way of a wrong turn on my part and a good recovery option by Julie - that being the tried and tested 'ask a local' option - even one who doesn't speak English. Just say good morning in Greek (kalimera) and the word Acropolis and follow the hand directions given in response. Buying a pass that lasts five days but only one entry into a number sights we joined the throng of people climbing the stairs to the Acropolis.
The best way I can summarise the Acropolis is that it is a table top hill with sheer stone block walls. Numerous remains of ancient buildings dating back to around 495 BC are located within the 3 hectare compound at the top, the biggest being the Parthenon with others including the Propylaia, the Erechtheion and the Temple of Athena Nike.
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| Temple ruins below the Acropolis |
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| Underground church entrance beneath the Acropolis |
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| Moving further afield via backstreets of Athens |
Moving further afield we walked through the Roman Agora which was the center of the athletic, artistic, spiritual and political life of the city back in the day. Today it is an exposed archaeological site that we could walk around.
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| Roman Agora |
Next it was off to stroll around Hadrian's Library (132 AD) an enormous building that once held 16700 books all written on scrolls. We didn't have a library card so we couldn't borrow a book.
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| Hadrian's Library (132 AD) |
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| Hadrian's Library (132 AD) |
From here we walked to the Ancient Agora which replaced the Old Agora and which was built for the same purpose. Again we could stroll freely in and around the enormous ancient settlement.
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| Athenian Agora Temple |
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| Athenian Agora |
By this time we were ancient Greeked out so we returned home via a great restaurant that served great pizzas and even better beer having walked 10 klm up, down and around ancient Athens.
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| Roman plumbing |
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| Tiled floor of a Roman house |
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| Hadrian's Arch |
Next it was off for a walk to see the Arch of Hadrian (132 AD) that once spanned the important road leading to the Acropolis from ancient Greece. The arch is located near the Temple of Olympian Zeus once an enormous building in the centre of ancient Athens. Started in the 6th century BC it took 638 years to build, finally being finished by the Romans in 132 AD by Hadrian. Today there are several gigantic columns still standing with one lying collapsed on the ground following a strong winds in 1852. All the time the Acropolis stands watch over us and this amazing ancient city.
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| Temple of Olympian Zeus |
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| Temple of Olympian Zeus and the Acropolis |
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| Temple of Olympian Zeus |
On the way home we took a slight and intentional detour to visit the stadium of first modern Olympic Games in 1896. Even in recent times the Greeks certainly know how to arrange a few large stone blocks together. The 120 year old marble structure is still in pristine condition today.
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| Stadium of the first modern Olympic Games - Athens |
Well that's Athens all done and dusted for us. A great city to visit, clearly past its glory days of the past. The current city is run down and somewhat neglected. Poor town planning makes it quite unattractive. It's past glory is today's wealth with thousands of tourists spending time and money looking at what once was.
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| Our transfer to the airport with two Greeks to help us with our bags |
Next - we are off to the nearby island of Evia for a week on another, our fourth and last HF walking tour. So see you all there.
Bye for now,
JeffnJulie
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