Well, Athens is turning out to be interesting. The place has had an economic hand grenade thrown at it and you don't have to go far to see it. Opposite our place is a beautiful colonial style hotel that's been boarded up. it's a testament to the people of Athens that it hasn't been plundered or wrecked. it's just there, no for sale signs, just a statement of what's happened here. The sad bit is that it'll never return to it's former glory.

As for us, we decide to see the sights and so we head to the metro, I'm always interested to see what the underground systems are like and the Athens one is very good. the only downside is that it's not air conditioned, that said all the equipment is there on board. It could be a case of economics or that as it's passed the summer it's not turned on. I'll have to find out.

We head to the Acropolis and quite a sight it is too, there's lots of tourists and the prices have shot up also, which is to be expected. We take it in and it's hot here. The cost of a cold drink at the cafe up this hill is hopefully paying off the National debt of Greece. We then walk past the Parliament and other impressive buildings. A lonely figure sits outside The Bank of Greece with a cardboard sign, no doubt highlighting his own downfall due to economic problems. I cant think of a better place to sit and plead your case.

It turns out we're only a 15 minute walk away from the Acropolis but it's a world away. There have been organised protest marches around where we're staying but in all honesty it's a great area. The people here realise that they cant charge stupid prices if they want to stay in business and for us it's the area to be in. The shops and cafes here are grateful for business and are friendly.

We later try to research the next leg of the trip, we want to get to Samos Island and take a ferry from there to Mainland Turkey. Information on the internet is sketchy so we decide to head down to the port of Piraeus to find out when the ferries sail. Again we get on the subway. once you get off the tourist line you can see that there's been trouble as some of the coach windows have been whacked with large objects. The windows haven't broken but some are shattered. Graffiti also rears it's ugly head. But then again, in this town, they have something to write about.