It's all Greek to me....

Boarding Alitalia to Athens

You still have to bus it to your plane at Fiumicino

One of the hotels lining Syntagma Square

Syntagma Square with Parliament House in background

the boys getting ready to take over

doing the changeover

almost there

ok...I've got to stand motionless for an hour...a kind of meditation

modern in foreground...ancient in background

streetscene..near flea market

Police presence very high

ruins everywhere

Acropolis from roof top of Astor Hotel

Sunset over Athens

16^TH May 2011 FCO to ATH

It’s such a relief to have checked in my bag on Alitalia flight A720 and to actually have time to have a cappuccino before I leave.

My back pack is heavy (computer, camera, chargers, documents etc) but at least I am not dragging anything behind me. As I go through security, I mentally check that there is nothing that should be a problem.

The stern young woman asks me if it’s my bag, and in that instant I remember my sports bottle of water. Damn! “Sorry,” I say. “Can I tip it out?” “No, you’ll have to go back to the bathrooms”, she motions. “I’ll just drink it then.” I say, looking at the queue of people snaking behind me that I would have to go behind. “Ok” she says as I gulp down the water as fast as I can, and sigh between gulps with the effort. “Ok, ok, enough,” she says, bored and now convinced I am no longer a security risk. “Go ahead.”

As I sit back in the half empty plane, I realise it’s the first time on the trip so far, where I will be totally on my own, and not be able to speak the language. I do have the number of a friend’s Mum who I have promised to call, and against my usual misgivings I am going on a tour for part of the trip, but I won’t know anyone, and most importantly no one will be trying to feed me! ( for as much as I have loved all the amazing dishes that I have had so far, I really need to get back to simple healthy food at regular times for a while.) Fat chance as it turns out!

At 9pm that night, I have walked past numerous cafés and restaurants and I am over it. I am still reeling from the awful touristy shish kebab thing I ate for lunch on a recommendation by Nikos from the hotel. The dish was truly bad, tasteless and rubbery but I was so hungry I almost didn’t care. Eventually I find an open deli type place and buy some greek yoghurt, a tin of marinated octopus and some sesame and honey squares and have my feast watching a CSI episode in Greek.

It has been a great day.

I negotiated the Athens metro system to visit my friends’ mother in an outer suburb, (I can still remember Spiros –well that’s the name I gave him- who was so obese that huge that  folds of his fat frame curled around the drivers’ seat towards me. He had a cigarette in one hand, holding the steering wheel, and in the other he either changed gears or sucked on a straw of an enormous thick shake. Contrary to what I was expecting, he drove at a snail’s pace-it would have been faster walking- and I suspect it was at the same speed his blood was flowing through his congested arteries!

I watched the changing of the guards at Parliament house, wandered around the Plaka and shopping district, and marvelled at the ruins visible from almost every part of the city centre and at the chiselled bodies of the Police men and women whose presence reminded me of the crisis this great country is facing.

It was particularly evident in the rows of empty shops in Marousi, a chic outer suburb of Athens, and in the strained faces of its citizens hoping the tourist shopping for souvenirs will spend, so they can eat.

As a lighter aside, I did try to take a photo for those readers who I know are interested in the male form, (there were truly some marvellous exhibits on display with taut muscles and abs evident beneath skin tight tshirts), but I suspect it was some type of civic offence to do so and I was not keen on being held for questioning by the police no matter how good looking they were!

As I watch the sunset from the roof of the Astor Hotel, looking out on the vast metropolis that is Athens and at the Acropolis perched on the hill across from me, I still can’t believe I am here, in this place of ancient history, with its stories of love and war and triumph and adventure and I look forward to my trip to Delphi and Meteora.

A presto

Mon x

Tips and interesting info

Catch the X95 bus from the airport to Syntagma Square, the city centre and walking distance to Acropolis, Plaka and Monastiraki for 5 euro. It’s easy, comfortable and cheap and has room for luggage.

Stay near Syntagma square. It is a hub of activity and close to everything.

I booked the comfortable but faded Astor Hotel www.astorhotel.gr  For 88 euro per night but I could have booked it cheaper on www.booking.com (71) so it pays to shop around. The breakfast was substantial buffet style and I had a bath, a rare commodity in cheaper accommodation in Europe.

Make sure you validate your bus and train tickets. I almost forgot and the fine is 60x the value of the ticket!

The changing of the guards happens every hour on the hour in front of parliament house 24/7 with a more ostentatious presentation (with bands and whistles) every Sunday at 11am.

There are 2 types of roadside memorials in Greece; those that are memorials after a fatality (usually have a votive candle and picture of the deceased) and those after a near miss! These are erected in gratitude and celebrate the person’s survival!

All temples in Greece face East. I used this knowledge to navigate my way when lost!