Don't worry holiday, I haven't forgotten you!

The story of my little adventure is slowly coming to an end. So sad. Everyday life can really be mundane sometimes. I like the thrill of exploration and the joy of encountering something new. Can't I go travelling again? Pretty please? 

The Arch of Hadrian
The Arch was built to celebrate the arrival of the Roman Emperor Hadrian and to honour him for all he had contributed to Athens.

Temple of Olympian Zeus
The temple was dedicated to Zeus, king of the gods.

Temple of Olympian Zeus with the Acropolis in the background. 

The Zappeion which is currently used as a conference and exhibition hall. 

Tick Tock

Yikes, but I've been busy this week. Hence, the lack of blog posts. So sad. To entertain your eyes in the meantime, here's a picture I took of Christi while we were walking around Athens. Happy weekend, everyone! 

Athens: Acropolis

The day that we decided to trek up to the Acropolis, it happened to be 42 degree weather. It was also the day that some clever person decided that it would be a good idea to let 12 000 people into the Acropolis. Problem? Why, yes. We had to stand in loooooong queues that would come to a complete standstill. And once you got to a certain point, you couldn't go down without avoiding the queue. Not that I would have wanted to go down though. Waiting in the heat was worth it. The view of Athens from the top of the Acropolis was something else. People aren't all that fond of Athens, but I liked it quite a bit. It's like antiquity and the contemporary met one day and decided that they would be very good friends. I would even go as far as to say that I could live in Athens. I also have to mention the New Acropolis Museum. It's a magnificent cultural dream, a truly state of the art museum. I really wish that we could have such amazing museums in South Africa. Our lack thereof made me a little bit sad. I guess the problem in such a heterogeneous society is that it's hard to decide who's culture to exhibit without stepping on someone's toes. I refuse to believe that there isn't some way around the problem though. 

The Theatre of Dionysus. It was here that the works of great ancient dramatists like Sophocles and Euripides were performed for the first time. 

The so-called 'tribune' of Phaedrus from the skene (stage) of the Theatre of Dionysus. It was added in the third centuary AD and has relief depicitions of scenes from the life of Dionysus. 

The Parthenon. 

View of Athens from the Acropolis. 

View of the Temple of Olympian Zeus from the Acropolis.

That huge rocky thingy is where Saint Paul spoke to the people of Athens in 51 AD.

I like watching movies outside

My favourite night in Athens has to be when we went to Cine Paris, a lovely little open-air cinema in Plaka. The story goes that the man who built the cinema in the early 20s was a Greek hairdresser who used to live in Paris. Just in case you were wondering about the name, because I definitely was. The best part about the cinema was that we had a stunning view of the Acropolis, which really was quite awe-inspiring at night. It was a very surreal experience indeed. An open-air cinema is definitely on my list of things that I will one day introduce to South Africa when I am ruler of the universe. Ha.

Here is Cine Paris' website if you would like to take a squizz.

 

Image from Cine Paris' website.

"Sugar, spice and all things nice"

Holy moley, this is my version of heaven. Matsouka is a shop in Athens that sells just about everything delicious that you could ever think of. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Warning: they may induce severe hunger pangs for which I accept no responsibility.

"Can you throw 'em o'er your shoulder like a regimental soldier?"

Standing with a Greek Presidential Guard (Tsolias). The Tsoliades have to protect the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (behind them), the Hellenic Parliament and the Presidential Mansion. 

I feels so sorry for these chaps. They have to keep a straight face while tourists (like me) go and stand next to them and take a picture. And if that's not bad enough, they have to wear a skirt and shoes with huge pompoms on them. Some people really have horrid jobs.  

The changing of the guard. 

These boys are actually pretty hardcore. I read that during a protest in 2001, a protester through a  Molotov cocktail at one of the guardhouses. Obviously the guardhouse caught alight but the Tsolia didn't even blink until he was given the order to move. By then his  uniform was scorched on the one side. 

Greek Protests

It doesn't happen very often that one gets to actually see international news that you have been bombarded with on TV. Last week, when I was in Athens, I went to Syntagma Square, the main stage for the Greek protests against austerity measures. A few days before, I had been to the islands of Rhodes and Santorini, where I experienced quite a different atmosphere to that of Athens. From an outsider's point of view, I felt a sense of tension and desperation in Athens. The Greeks are angry people at the moment. And so, they should be. Their government has let them down. The protesters, however, are relentless. They have taken to camping in the Square 24/7, while an angry voice can be heard on a speakerphone. As I witnessed all of this, I wondered what the future has in store for Greece. I guess I can only hope that the Greeks' call for change is not in vain.

 Greek Parliament

Syntagma Square is directly opposite parliament.
First banner, addressing the evasive goverment: "Wherever you go, we will find you"

Protesters that have set up camp in the Square.
Banner: "Be the change that you want to see"

Banner: "Fascism never again"

I struggled to translate all the banners. Should have paid more attention at Greek school. If anyone can help me with the translations, please let me know. I would really appreciate it!