Athens, Cooler with Sun, Windy Afternoon! 25

A Special Evening!

The sunrise this morning.

When I found and booked this hotel last winter, I contacted the hotel manager and asked if we could possibly have a room with a view to finish our journey. After all, the name of the place is Acropolis View. They were very accommodating and have provided us with a simple room that has a stunning view!

After wandering around the city core yesterday afternoon taking photos and getting our bearings again in this interesting city, Kathy and I headed off in search of a nice bottle of wine and snacks to enjoy on our roof top terrace. We climbed up hills and down hills to the west of the Acropolis, an area I've rarely spent time in previously. We quickly left the edge of the tourist zone where our small 2 star hotel is situated and found ourselves in a work a day part of the city. I suspect the rents in the area are still pretty pricey this close to the city core, but it's still not a high end area of the city. We stopped to ask directions and were kindly assisted. Seems no matter what has happened here the past 8-9 years, the people we meet are still the helpful, kind folks I've come to know during my pervious travels to this region. Bottle and potato chips secure, we climbed back up to our hotel and met Annemarie on the roof where we sat and gazed at the Acropolis and the 17 year project to rebuild the Parthenon. Seems that we'd selected a good bottle of wine as the bar man in our hotel was suitably impressed when I asked him for a cork screw to open said bottle. Nice to know. 

After enjoying the early evening, we headed off to find some dinner. We walked the gambit of restaurants by the new Acropolis Museum, a visit is planned for there, and the pushy owners. Finding a quieter restaurant at the end of the pedestrian walk at the foot of the Acropolis we happily took a seat and ordered a very nice meal. A surprise given some of the less quality fare available in many of the tourist area restaurants. Afterwards we walked the pedestrian loop in the direction of our hotel and as we passed the Odean of Herod, aka the Herodian, the amphitheater that lies at the foot of the Acropolis on the west side. We noticed a large number of people heading that way and walked up to see what was playing. Many top world class performers have played the Herodian for the past many thousand years. I wonder what the first performance was there? Anyway, on a whim I asked at the ticket counter and learned that there was a famous Greece duet singing with a backup band a range of contemporary Greek music. By chance there were a few poor seats available in the upper festival seating area. I asked the ladies what they thought. Annemarie's back was sore so she said that it would be ok if Kathy and I went on without her. So we did. We headed inside and were told to go up to the poor seats on the top left. At the top of the climb we were directed all the way around to the far side of the amphitheater. On the way round we were stopped by an usher who told us to wait a moment and he personally took us down and made room for us....in the very middle of the theatre!! We had amazing seats! 

I'd always thought what a special experience it would be to see a concert here, and I'd even tried to get tickets while on Crete, but everything was apparently sold out. We've watched concerts from here on tv at home and I know that there is an annual music festival. So to have the opportunity to attend in such a special environment was outstanding. 

Kathy and I got right into the music clapping to the songs with the largely Greek audience who also sang along with many of the songs. It was for them like us going to see Gordon Lightfoot at home. You know all the words to all the songs. 

As we'd walked to the venue the lightning we'd guessed at earlier in the day kicked up, and while we were in the concert the lightning continued to blaze across the sky. A very dramatic and memorable experience! Eventually the rain did arrive and it came down in large drops. Umbrellas were produced.

However, eventually it became clear that the evening had to be abandoned. We were happy having had an hour of the concert and went home wet, but happy. The stands emptied and a couple of thousand attendees began to leave.

Annemarie had been listening from our balcony so she was able to join in from a distance which was nice.

So I wrote a whole lot more, but somehow it's been dropped from the blog. A bit frustration, but what can you do? So I'll recap the day today. Annemarie's hip was still flaired this morning so Kathy and I headed off together for an epic walk around Athens. We knew our way, so the first stop was the Olympic Temple to Zeus where we'd visited before and I had brought with me a photo from an earlier time. Hadrian's Gate is to the right...same general who brought us Hadrian's Wall in Briton. He got around that one!

We then walked through the national gardens to Syntagma Square to see parliament and the guards, guarding stuff. 

we climbed through traffic and up hill with many, many stairs to Lycabettus Hill where there are amazing vistas of Athens. It's grown so significantly since 1975. I'd walked there before and wanted Kathy to experience the views. Quite stunning! The Acropolis with the harbour and Olympic site in the distance. We are staying on the opposite side of the Acropolis. 

In 1975 we stayed in a pension up behind the 'new' Olympic stadium, the first of the modern era held in 1896, in a very typical Athenaeum neighbourhood. 

We shopped the area and bused back and forth to the centre. It was a very cool place complete with turtles walking around. We could sleep on the roof when it was really hot, accessed from this quite scary stair case.

A few more vistas.

And then we descended and worked our way through a seedier neighbourhood to the Mational Archeological Museum. This was closed for Olympic renos when Erin and I walked all the way here. We wanted to see Agamemnon's Death Mask from Mycenae which we'd visited on the Peloponnese. We wanted to see the treasure found in the three burial sights, but it was not to be. Well today it happened.

The museum is considered one of the gems in the world of archeology, but still the British won't return the Elgin Marbles to Greece, 'stolen' from the Acropolis in the early 1800's while under permit from the Ottoman Empire. Now held prisoner in the British Museum (Elgin sold them to the museum) Greece has been lobbying for their return since they formed their own country once free of the Turks. Come on England, repatriate them! 

A very young Alexander the Great. I think there is also one,like this in the Louvre?

Time for wine as our appy then dinner at a fish taverna followed by risogalo (yes Ken, rice pudding if you like) from our new favourite place!