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Hi everyone
Its Kate here reporting from Athens. Wow what a fantastic city!! I love it here, such a relaxed pace of life even in the city centre, great weather, delicious food, ( i am loving ouzo too!, peter isnt such a fan) & amazing historical sights. The one downside is the smoking!! as I type this we are sitting in a smoky internet cafe which is pretty gross!
We had an unforgetable night last night we went to a performance in the acropolis in Athens ( in the theatre of herodes atticus) for a 82 piece symphony orchestra and 2 opera singers ( an alto and soprano) singing arias. There was a full moon, the acoustics were fantastic, it was such a still clear night and we had views of the parthenon from our seats, it was just magical! I loved watching the crowd and observing the ambiance too, it was all so dramatic, the conductor would walk off stage and wait to be cheered back on again, the singers did the same, there was loud scuffles in the crowd during the performance- it had it all! The president of Greece and his wife attended ( marched in to clapping crowds to the front row seats just as you can imagine they would have done in ancient times for the officals) and Pierce Brosnan ( 007) was there too, and was mobbed by the press on his way out!
We are staying in a little family run guesthouse in Koukaki which is just a 15 min walk from the acropolis and the plaka. We met up with Peter's cousin Jane & her husband Bobby from Baltimore ( they hadn't seen each other for 12 years) and we have enjoyed a couple of nights out with them catching up.
The rest of our time here we have explored the acropolis and surrounding sites of the ancient agora ( markets & town), the temple of zeus, the tower of the winds ( designed in the 1st century BC which was used as a compass, sundial, & water clock!) the level of sophisication & organisation of the ancient greeks is just mind boggling.
We head to the peloponnese tomorrow & from there may head to crete and then up through the mainland.
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