Well, not much to say. I spent most of the day waiting. Ari had forgotten some medication and needed to see the Dr. While she was doing that, Cindy, Maya and I went to the 'flea market' area. Not much flea market, but some interesting stuff, some not so interesting.
Maya found some beads to buy.
After Ari was done the girls wanted to go shopping, and that took most of the afternoon. We stopped for 2 lunches for some reason. The good thing is that Cindy did find some very nice home made sandals for a good price. After second lunch we arrived just in time to see the changing of the guard at parliament.
It is a very stylized affair. The crowd was pretty thick and hard to get around in as the guards had to move the crowd to arrive. Cindy who hung back got better shots of the new guards arriving.
After that we took the Funicular to the top of Lycabettus hill and had an overpriced drink while enjoying the lovely view of Athens.
The funicular is not much to speak of, it goes up the hill in a tunnel, so you don't see much, and the ride is very short. I would recommend for anyone who doesn't mind a short hike, to walk up to the top. There are a significant number of steps to get to the funicular.
The view is good though. We really could see most of the city, despite the slight haze.Day 5
The day started off wonderfully. We got out of the hotel fairly early. We did stop for coffee on the way, but we got to see all of the main part of the Agora, including Hephaisteion,
and the rebuilt/renovated Stoa-- which contained shop. I guess even in ancient Athens, if you needed to do some shopping, you had to go to the stoa. One of the best parts is that the ruins were surrounded by wildflowers.
There was an abundance of chamomile, clover, poppies and many others. Even many of the trees were in bloom. It was more like wandering a garden with occasional ruins or columns than wandering an archeological site. It started sprinkling while we were wandering in our garden of delights. We still visited the ancient church and then it really started to pour.
So we gave up--we went for, what else, food at the local taverna, though no-one had coffee. After we sat as long as we felt we could, Ari decided she would get boots after all. She had forgotten to bring any closed shoes and was very cold. So off we went. She got some nice boots fairly quickly, but it continued to rain. The girls were not very interested in braving the wet, and Cindy's foot was hurting. So I took off to see the temple of Zeus, and the theatre of Dionysius. They stayed behind in the shopping area and did, what I know not.
So I went up towards the Acropolis, and back down behind the other side, stopping a couple times to dodge the rain showers under a tree. I was offered an umbrella by persistent salesmen a couple of times, but declined. I was being brave. I made it down to the theater pretty easily. There is much work going on there, some reconstruction of temples, some work on the cave which was first a temple, then later a christian church above the theater.
It is being worked on significantly as you can see here. Unfortunately you cannot go into either the cave, or the amphitheater proper, but you can still see some of the decorations. Where the people are standing was actually a building which served as a backdrop for the theater and I suppose space for the actors to prepare etc.
The theater has been rebuilt at least 1 time, if not more. The Romans changed it after the Greeks built it.From there it was a short walk to Hadrians Arch, and the Temple of Olympian Zeus.
This is an amazing and impressive structure. It was obviously very large. It has been at some time used by others, like it was an open air Mosque for a while. There are also roman baths at the site, and other ruins. Really special. Unfortunately the girls all missed it and it is our last day in Athens. Tomorrow we go off to Santorini--hoping the weather will be just a bit warmer.Find more photos from day 5 here.
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