Athens

Hello from the Speedrunner III en route to Tinos Island in the Aegean Sea. We have just left our base off Piraeus, Athens where we have been staying for the last three(ish) days.

Since we arrived in Athens on Tuesday we seem to feel more relaxed. Not sure if this is because we are finally wound down from our day jobs or just as a result of a more laid back approach to life in Greece. It is certainly less hectic than Rome.

We travelled via a very efficient X96 bus directly from Athens Airport to Piraeus (the Port town just West of the Capital) , deciding that it was easier to stay in the port and get the metro into Athens centre for sightseeing rather than lug our rucksacks around town.  Dinner of traditional Greek Souvlaki  (pork kebabs ), spicy cheese and prawns was wonderful until interrupted by HSBC informing that some scumbag in Rome had stolen my card details and was helping himself to a new wardrobe as a result.

On Wednesday we headed into Athens via Metro. Athens (like Rome) has  a reputation for pickpockets with the Piraeus to Athens stretch particularly bad. We didn’t feel like being the victim of crime again so we kept our hands in our pockets like they were affixed with superglue and braved the trip  looking like tourist idiots. As an aside the Metro system in Athens is excellent. Like Rome it costs just 1 Euro to get anywhere, however unlike Rome the trains and stations are spotless. Many of the stations also double up as museums as they incorporate ancient structures and archaeological finds from when the metro was built around 10 years ago.

First stop Acropolis. The Greeks know how to strike. While those dastardly French cause chaos for all, the Greek approach to striking is to picket the ticket office at the Acropolis making it free for all the tourists to get in. Thanks chaps.

If only the French were this helpful

The site itself is magnificent. Set upon a serene wooded hill in the centre of otherwise traffic clogged Athens it is a little like an oasis. You could easily spend an afternoon sitting there in the shade amongst the ancient ruins (and dozing cats & dogs) day dreaming about the Greek Gods Poseidon or Athens.

The Parthenon is the centre piece – the building that (I think) most people associate with the Acropolis. It is amazing to think it has stood since 438BC and even survived us Brits pinching key bits of it (the Ancient Greeks always intended that they should end up in British Museum).

Entering the Acropolis

After the Acropolis it was time for a bit of lunch. I always thought that pies and savoury pastries were solely a British tradition. However, it seems that the Greeks are pretty fond of them too – we tried the chicken and the spinach varieties and while  I am sure it did not help our fitness objective they tasted great. Desert of baklava was equally rewarding on the senses.

We wandered through Athens after lunch, stopping by the Temple of Zeus (again much of which now stands in the British Museum), the national gardens and parliament where for some reason the Greek army stations two of its finest in tights, silly hats and pom-pom shoes. They also perform (for no obvious reason) movements not dissimilar to those of John Cleese in the Monty Python Ministry of Silly Walks sketch. It may have worked against the Spartans 2 millennia ago, but not surprised the Germans got in here quite easily.

Fearsome Greek warriors

Our walk continued up to the National Archaeological Museum –noted as one of the world’s best museums by the Lonely Planet. My god, you have never seen so many vases, round ones, tall ones, thin ones and most of them were bloody broken. If you can get over the cookware the sculpture is pretty impressive even to laymen, cynics like us. There are marble and bronze statues from 0 – 800BC with bodies where every wrinkle, muscle, bone and sinew appears so lifelike it could be one of those idiots painted silver who stand in squares for money. The face of one particular boy riding horse (see picture below) is so full of character it still tells its powerful story today, some 2000 years after it was completed.

Boy jockey and horse circa 220BC

On our second day we stayed in Piraeus and lazed around. We hit Starbucks (the first proper Americano since we left the UK), shopped at yet another Carrefour and found out our Ferry for the next day had been cancelled! Luckily, there was a faster (more expensive) ship going a little later so we booked tickets for that instead. A haircut and a new pair of sunglasses for Monali (5 Euro specials) and we ready to retire to the hotel for an early morning wakeup call in order to catch the Tinos ferry.

Btw we are now onto Season 5 (via illicit internet streaming) of Entourage. However, this will not last forever and therefore, we would welcome suggestions for our evening viewing!