Athens….how truly lovely to be back here again…… in some ways it hadn't changed at all, still the crazy traffic and the crowds but in other ways it was a completely different experience from my first time visit. For a start the girls and I stayed in the Monastraki area which I must say is a great area to stay in; not that there is anything wrong with staying in the Plaka vicinity as I had done last time but this did feel more like staying amongst the real Athenians rather than the tourists. It was such a bustling and alive area with shops and people at all hours and also very close to the markets and cafes etc so yes a really good area to stay in. Our hotel had an extremely small and rather old school three sided lift so the only external door to each floor was the outside door that opened ON the floor you stopped at…… therefore it was a case of no-one wanting to enter last and the person that did carefully checking their skirts weren’t flowing so as to risk being caught up! Mind you our hotel was totally forgiven for that as it also had the most fabulous view of the Acropolis which Liane and I enjoyed each evening whilst enjoying a Retsina (me) and a cocktail of the day (Liane) usually before going out for dinner but sometimes afterwards as well….. it was the view I swear….we couldn’t resist it! Our visit to the Acropolis itself was amazing….the weather was crazy wild, the wind was blowing with incredible strength and the sky was quite dark though it rained intermittently rather than relentlessly…..it really added the most fabulous atmosphere to the experience and in some ways I must admit I enjoyed it far more than my previous visit 12 years ago….. that was in bright Greek sunshine with the beautiful blue skies etc but was also accompanied by heat and LOTS of tourists…. This time we were a few among not many at all and the stark beauty of the place was enhanced by the extreme weather I felt…. I also really thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the Acropolis Museum which I would rate as definitely one of the best Museums I’ve been to….. and I do love Museums! Last time I was here it was housed in a small building atop the Acropolis, this time it was in its new home – a custom built building, created atop ruins of the ancient city which they thoughtfully have covered with see-through flooring so you walk over and past what was part of the ancient agora….it is a truly fabulous experience though I must admit wishing they hadn’t carried the concept throughout each floor…..I got quite the shock when up a few levels and Liane suddenly called out to me directing me to look down….. when I did I could see under my feet to the people walking about on the floor below, and the people on the floor below them etc etc….. I became paralysed with the shock of it and couldn’t move properly for quite some time much to Liane’s wicked delight! Unfortunately the bust of Pericles which I had hoped to see was on loan to another Museum, which is kind of a recurring theme with me and the special things I want to see in galleries and Museums but nonetheless I thoroughly enjoyed the visit regardless. By the time we left there we were hungry (again!!!) so we stopped to eat at one of the nearest places. We chose to sit directly outside the café entrance but it seemed someone had just brought in fresh fish from the markets and given neither Larn nor I eat seafood and really don’t appreciate the smell of it we decided to relocate to their tables in a covered area the other side of the footpath….. this was all fine except we had already ordered and by the time the waiter arrived with our food he was horrified by us moving as it was totally BUCKETING down with rain….. it was seriously pouring and another waiter had to get an umbrella to hold over his head, and the food, so he could make the short walk across the open aired walkway between us and the café…..He rather abruptly plonked our meals down so I don’t think he was too happy with the crazy tourists!!! As it was Gwendols took one look at her meal, a chicken salad that look like some sort of red tuna mornay gloop thrown ontop of some lettuce, and departed the place saying she’d go look in some shops….. Her meal really did look questionable but I also think her tooth was really bothering her. She soldiered on with nary a complaint the whole time and certainly didn’t let it detrimentally affect the holiday but I know on some days it was definitely worse than others and I think that was one of them…..In general of our time in Athens I would say that we had some amazing meals, some great times and some great shopping…..of the latter I must say though I enjoyed my shopping in Athens (I bought a patchwork madras skirt and a gorgeous leather handbag) everywhere we went the girls WAY outdid me in the shopping department…..those two could shop for Australia I swear! Oh and one more thing I really enjoyed was the morning we got to wander about with our Athens greeter John and his friend Nikos. It was great to hear their knowledge of the city and its history and the things they pointed out to us etc but we also savoured just talking with them over coffee and exchanging views on economy, immigration and similar topics – once again being reminded just how incredibly lucky we are here in Australia. We never did make it up to Lycabettus Hill, the afternoon we had planned it Liane and I were tossing up between that and drinks on the rooftop I think so we cleverly left it to Gwendols to decide and fortunately she was exhausted as well so plumped for a few hours off too……the only thing is that it was something I planned and failed to do last time too and seriously meant to do this one but hey….. an excuse to visit Athens yet again is not such a bad thing!



(L)We've been a bit spoilt up until now having sumptuous spreads included in our room rate but alas not here.. it was around 9am before we were all up and ready to head out for breakfast. We found a nice little cafe for a nice meal, a pretty expensive meal, Deb and I had omelettes and GJ had a croissant and some yoghurt and honey, 2 fresh OJs, tea and coffee and it came to €30 yep, it's going to be quite expensive here! After breakfast we headed off to go to the Acropolis, unfortunately we realised about now that we had come out without our map so yes of course... as is par for the course we went via the scenic route. It was a rather overcast day so we had come with our rain jackets but were hoping to not have to use them, we bought our tickets €12pp and made our way in and up the stairs, Wow what an amazing sight, you can feel the history and just imagine ancient Greeks treading where we are now standing. Not long after we arrived it started raining but not enough to drive us away, what's a little rain when we've come all this way to see this magnificent place?? It did however drive a few of the other tourists away so we were left with the place virtually to ourselves for just long enough to have a good look around and then as we were on our way out it started again... talk about good timing! We had decided to go to the Acropolis museum after here so started the walk down and before too long had a few men shoving umbrellas in our face.. no thanks, I'm sure they'd be at premium price! My rain jacket is more of a wind jacket so after a little while I started to get quite wet and did think maybe an umbrella would have been good, we saw the Museum of Jewelery so thought we'd duck in there hopefully the rain would stop, got inside and found although the place was nice and warm and dry it was full of school kids, so full we couldn't really move around and we ( well I did ) felt like drowned rats so we didn't stay... back into the rain and only a few blocks to the Museum. Just as we got there I saw the umbrella man talking to a lady and all I heard was her say "no too much" so he said "ok €10" to which she said " no that's still too much, €5" .. he sold it to her for that but I couldn't help but wonder what his opening price was and how many people had bought a €2 umbrella for some ridiculous price just to get out of the rain. I wasn't feeling very like going to a museum as I was wet and bedraggled but told myself to "suck it up" and headed in. Before you get inside there is an open area with a railing around it that drops down to an archaeological site, wow!! There is a security screen to get through and of course because I was already feeling tetchy my bag, camera and scarf all got tangled together and I had to step out of the line to sort myself out.. ughhhh! Anyway inside and tickets bought €5pp ( which by the way we thought was way too cheap for this place ) we headed off to explore the treasures and antiquities.. a few steps in and poor old height sensitive Deb and GJ noticed they were walking on a glass floor and looking down there is quite a drop to that same dig we'd seen outside, again wow, which is not what they were saying, they weren't at all comfortable! We wandered around for about half an hour or so, it's amazing to think that everything there was found on the Acropolis site, just blows my mind! I'd definitely say this is a must see in Athens, I'm not a museum person but this is the best museum I think I've been in. We left here to echos of "I could eat".. "yes I could eat" and we decided no mucking around...we were eating in the first place we saw, so we did just that. After lunch I popped into some shops and bought an umbrella for €3 so I was much happier and ready to walk back in the rain! On the way the girls saw a jewelery shop and jokingly pointed it out to me.. I said.. "no more jewelery" but as GJ had entered the shop hoping to buy herself a ring I just had to wander in for a look.. that was my first mistake!! Deb and GJ are such bad influences on me as they egged me on to buy not only the bracelet I was looking at but another and also a ring to match!! I had all 4 sales girls running around getting things out to show me... must have made their day... €140 later!!! Shhhh don't tell Rodd!! The rest of the day was as Deb said, cocktails on the roof, dinner and a bit of shopping. The next day we were meeting Ioannis (John) who was our greeter that I had organised through a group called This is my Athens, thisisathens.org, it's a free service that you apply for a few months before you arrive and if lucky enough get a local to show you around. Ioannis showed up promptly at 10am at the agreed meeting place with gifts for us, such a lovely thought, he gave us some books of Greece. We had a fabulous time with him and his friend Nikos wandering the streets, one place we went was up to the Anafiotika which is a tiny neighbourhood that was built by workers that came from the island of Anafi, it's a gorgeous area, all whitewashed with lots of bouganvillea, reminiscent of the Cyclades islands.. think Santorini, Mykonos.... and finished off with coffee and a very interesting conversation, when the bill came I picked it up and said "we'll pay this" and both Ioannis and Nikos were horrified, they protested "no, we pay" but I insisted only until I saw how offended they would be to have us pay for them.. they said "there are 2 reasons you can not pay.. 1) you are visitors in our country 2) you are women"!! OK then that solves it.. you pay!! So nice to meet such genuinely nice and charming gentlemen and we would recommend signing up for an Athens greeter, you definitely see and learn things that you otherwise would not have known just wandering around on your own. This afternoon GJ wanted to do some serious shopping and neither Deb or I were really interested in that so we parted ways for awhile with plans to meet back at the hotel at 4pm for a 4.30 departure to Lycabettus. Deb and I wandered through the Plaka, briefly stopping at some of the shops (because the shopping here is awesome!) but saying we'd come back later and headed off to Syntagma Square and the Parliment Building where we saw the guards out the front but didn't have time to wait around for the changing of the guards, Deb wanted to walk through the National Garden to see the Zappeion which is a big gorgeous building. I'm not too sure what it is used for today but was originally built in 1869 (opened 1888) for the "revival of the Olympic games in the modern world" ( from Wikipedia). I would have loved to have had more time in the Gardens because they are large and very beautiful. We were getting a little weary by now as we've been walking all day so started on our way back to the hotel... well easier said than done as neither Deb or I have a great sense of direction so yes, we went the scenic route and at one point had to get out the map.. just as well we can read greek letters because the map was in english however the street names are, of course, all in Greek!! It was rather fun and I think we both made a bit of a game of it, pretending we were on the amazing race!! Funnily enough when we turned ourselves in the right direction we walked back past a row of restaurants and had to run the gauntlet of all the spruikers once again.. I'm sure they thought it was weird we were walking past them again in the same direction!! As Deb said we didn't have the energy for another big outing so were pleased the GJ was ok with not going to Lycabettus. A few cocktails on the roof and another wonderful meal and yet another day in Athens is done. Tomorrow is an early start as we're off to London.