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Sunday 26th
Finally we awake to a day in Athens! The day is warm & sunny without a cloud in the sky. We get up early & head for the breakfast bar, but being Greece the breakfast isnt ready yet... After a pretty yummy start we head back to our room & do the readings before commencing our day.
Touring Athens started with a short walk up the street to the City square & down into the undeground rail network. After a bit of confusion we had the trains worked out & carefully got on the train that took us one stop to the Acropolis. During the process a man watching us approached & in very broken English informed us that he would help because he was Armenian & not like the lazy Greeks! His name was Granit (yes, as in the rock Granite!) & working a night shift job in Athens so on his way home to sleep. He went out of his way to help us - even giving Liz a packet of chewing gum - which she hates!!
Arriving at the Acropolis station we walked out with Granit & he directed us up the hill (of course!) & we finally shook him off. Amazingly, the walk through small streets & lanes was not sign posted at all as we came to find throughout the day is pretty common. They just dont seem to put up clear signs to direct people or provide much information anywhere - lucky we have the lonely planet guide.....
We trouped up the hill via many steps & streets, finally getting to a large rocky outcrop directly below the Acropolis. This offered beautiful views over Athens but the rock here is incredibly smooth & extremely slippery even though dry. A small plaque indicated that this was likely to be the rock that Paul spoke from, called Mars Hill in Acts. If so, it would be just right being close to the Acropolis - well positioned to the Temple area. Walking on we came to the hut that sells entry tickets, only to find the que was very long even though we were 'early'. During the half hour wait in line I got talking to the older couple behind me who I overheard complaining in an Aussie accent that they had forgotten to take their medicines that morning. They come from Queensland so we had a good old chat - nothing else to do while inching forward....
The Acropolis is amazing & the views just take your breath away. Little wonder it has been a site that is so famous around the world. We spent a couple of hours going through the site, even looking down into the ancient amiptheatre that they are setting up for the summer festival performances. To view these constructions & buildings that existed during the time of the Apostles and before Christ was born, is an amazing experience which I cant get used to!
We left the Acropolis & made our way down the slopes into the Ancient Agora which are ruins that have been excavated to reveal a city that once existed several thousand years ago. This was very interesting & we spent a good while looking through here until we were 'over' seeing ruins...
Then it was on to the flea markets to look through & explore, finally finding a cafe on the side walk to have lunch. The meal was again fantastic as all food here in Greece is. Unfortuntely we both then felt like sleeping for the afternoon!
But it was off to the Acropolis Museum a very modern building, 4 stories high wth loads of artifacts dug up out of the ruins. As we sat and watched a video of the history I fell asleep...
So we went off to Filapappou hill which took a while to climb but nice big monument on the top and good views all round. By this time it was late afternoon so we went back to the Hotel, had a shower and then headed for Thissio an area below the Acropolis so we could have dinner looking at the Acropolis while lit up at night. We chose 'Chocolat' and took a table on the roof top 4 stories up. The view is amaizing & you cant get sick of looking at the Acropolis when it is so beautifully lit up. It was a lovely way to finish off our day!
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