ancient crazy amazing athens

Athens day one:  We sadly left our big boat, and we were offered to share a taxi with a wily spaniard named Juan and his lovely wife Maribel.  He knew the angles - don't wait in the endless taxi queue, go up this short ramp, and negotiate a good price with the first taxi illegally parked.  We met up with Christos, and the wily spaniard got us a good price.  All the way to the hotel, Christos was convincing us to hire him for 40 euros each for him to tour-guide us to Sounion, the Temple of Poseidon, apparently the place to watch beautiful flawless sunsets bathe ancient ruins in golden light.

He was right, we were convinced, and Christos drove us 70 kilometers to Sounion.  He has been a driver for twenty five years, and is somewhat lackadaisical in his profession.  Lanes were merely a suggestion, speed limits for the other guy.  Why watch the road going around hairpin curves when one could point out the glorious vistas?  A sharp correction moments before sure death always seems to do the trick.  White knuckled and clutching the handle, I still managed to laugh at the banter of the small precise funny spanish man and the boisterious laughing greek taxi driver.  Whose taxes are higher?  Who has less money?  "I will cry for you!"

The pictures, they speak to the glory.

Athens day two:  had breakfast in the hotel, washed some clothes to dry quickly in the Athens heat, and headed out for the day.  We purchased our tickets for the Acropolis complex, which includes six different sites.  All are in various states of restoration, but all are amazing.  We climbed the Acropolis and gazed over the city, we walked the ancient agora where Socrates walked, we touched stones that were set in place in 500 BC.

it was a gloriously hot and brilliantly sunny day.  athens is a raucous and crazy city, one of the most dense I've seen.  It stretches on forever without relenting or easing.  It is white and hot and noisy and relentless.  They yell into cell phones and each other's faces and wave their arms.  They drive on sideways and scatter pedestrians.  They eat and drink and talk and smoke.  I  want to stay, and pick up drinking and smoking and talking with arms waving until 2 am on Tuesday nights.

The new Acropolis museum is a treasure beyond belief.  It is built over ruins being excavated, with clear acrylic floors looking down onto an ancient roman neighborhood with rooms, mosaics, water systems, walls.  Sometimes we were floating above ruins three stories down. It was brilliantly designed.  It must be seen.  Archeologist wander around to answer any questions, yes we had a few.

I had lamb souvlaki and greek salad for lunch at Taverna Xani.  For dinner I had zucchini stuffed with spiced meat and covered in lemon dill egg sauce. (not a good picture, sorry.) We had a carafe of greek table wine, oil cured olives, herbed butter on dense greek bread.  Yummy, yummy, all yummy.

We tumble into bed with sore feet and full stomaches.  And tomorrow?  Tommorow we visit the Greek archeologist musuem and ride the funicular up to the Lykavittos Hill.

Thank you for reading.