This was a Holiday in Athens, October 2009
Athens, Greece (here is the National Anthum-click pause when required)
Welcome to Athens Greece. Usually one of the first things I do is take a picture of the hotel. In this case, I was so excited about the holiday, I did not. Guess what? This was the smallest hotel room, the worst shower facilities of the whole trip-but, it had the nicest view.
This is the Acropolis of Athens. There is a lot of cultrual significance here. Instead of trying to explain it, here is a link.
I rented a hotel where we could see the Acropolis.
The members of the Proedriki Froura (Presidential Guard), an elite ceremonial unit that guards the Greek Tomb of the Unknown Soldier , the Hellenic Parliament and the Presidential Mansion. The Evzones are also known, colloquially, as Tsoliades.
The unit is famous around the world for its unique traditional uniform, which has evolved from the clothes worn by the klephts who fought the Ottoman (Turkish) occupation of Greece. The most visible item of this uniform is the fustanella, a kilt-like garment. Their proven valour and peculiar dress turned them into a popular image for the Greek soldier.
We have found that the most efficient way to do a recce of the city is the hop-on-hop-off bus. From there, we get an idea of where we would like to focus out attention.
Athens olympic statium of 1896. It was where the first olympic games were held.
Academy of Athens
The National Library of Athens
University of Athens
The selling of "stuff" happens all over the place in this part of town. I guess the lady on the left has the best spot. Whatever she does not sell, she has a garbage container close by.
Another major market location. Notice the Acropolis in the background.
The Hondoa Center was a major shopping mall.
This was our MANDATORY visit of the Acropolis. It is impressive! I am standing over the Theatre of Dionysus Eleuthereus. Now, this is a theatre.
The rock where people are located at the bottom of the picture is This is the rock of Areios Pagos (Supreme Court). I will have a few pictures of that later.
This is the rock of Areios Pagos (Supreme Court) The sign merely says slippery when wet since the steps are very steep and could be very slippery.
From this vantage point you can see the Arch of Hadrian.
This is Lykavittos hill in the distance. Sharon and I will visit that later in the week.
This is the Porch of the Caryatids (Caryatid is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support) and is part of the temple of Erechtheum.
Later that evening we went to see a live Greek Theatre. It was the last performance of the season.
This looks well lite, except that when you come back, in the dark (no lights) it is questionable.
Since it was the last performance, the performers were given a little latitude (so the MC said) and these are two male perfomers giving the girls a laugh.
21 September 2009-starts with a photo from our hotel. Can not get over the view.
By the way, this was from the room of our hotel. Yes, we changed hotels.
Of course we stopped at a Starbucks before carrying on with our ventures.
In the distance is Lykavittos Hill. They say getting there is 1/2 the fun. Lets see.
How Sharon and I made it up those stairs...and there were lots of stairs
Ah. A metro (so to speak). Had a lot of convincing to do to get Sharon to take the darn thing. As long as it is in ground and does not come out to allow us to see where we are or how high we are...thankful, it was all in ground. So we boarded.
Now She is smiling ;)
The Canadian Embassy in Athens way in the background.
The view did not let us down. You could see all of Athens from here.
In the distance (over my left shoulder) is Acropolis of Athens.
Hydren's Wall.
The Canadian Embassy
22 Sep 09-guess where we were!
This was the designated location to catch the tour bus. I say waited since that is what we did. A long story, but suffice it to say that we were never picked up so we went to an alternate spot for that day.
We bought a few Tee-Shirts from this guy in the market.
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Sharon was always on the internet. I created a monster!!
23 September 09
Today we headed off to Sounion. This is considered the southernmost point of Attica.
According to legend, Cape Sounion is the spot where Aegeus, king of Athens, leapt to his death off the cliff, thus giving his name to the Aegean Sea. The story goes that Aegeus, anxiously looking out from Sounion, despaired when he saw a black sail on his son Theseus 's ship, returning from Crete. This led him to believe that his son had been killed in his contest with the dreaded Minotaur, a monster that was half man and half bull. The Minotaur was confined by its owner, King Minos of Crete, in a specially designed labyrinth. Every year, the Athenians were forced to send 7 boys and 7 girls to Minos as tribute. These youths were placed in the labyrinth to be devoured by the Minotaur. Theseus had volunteered to go with the third tribute and attempt to slay the beast. He had agreed with his father that if he survived the contest, he would hoist a white sail. In fact, Theseus had overcome and slain the Minotaur, but tragically had simply forgotten about the white sail.
Yes, she is back at the computer!
This is another hotel rooom (by the way). We changed hotels a total of four times.
The breakfast in the hotel
24th September 09-our three island (one day) cruise.
Sharon had a touch of motion sickness. The back of the boat seemed to help the most.
We saw so many beautiful boats..no wonder sailing is second nature to most greeks.
This was the first island of Hydra. In Greek mythology, the Hydra is a multi-headed dragon. The island Hydra lies off the coast of the Pelopponese, serpentine only in shape.
Statue of Andreas Miaoulis, the Greek admiral who inflicted great damage on the Ottoman fleet.
This is the picture Sharon was taking
Notice the rock, notice the cracks in the rock upon which the house is built?
The water is so clear.
No cars or modern transporation are allowed on the island.
Our cruise ship.
We ate aboard the cruise ship. Not a bad meal but since Sharon and I are not "real" fish eaters, some of the servings were left on our plates.
No wonder, the cook was a drunk!
Lots of water taxi's
I just love this picture
Athens lies in the background. It spans quite an area.
25 September- Our last hotel change
We had a big balcony!
So the view was not the greatest ;)
A pool on hot days, Sharon loved this part of the trip as well.
For those of you who know Sharon, it is strange to see her bathing in the sun. She is usually very hot and hates being hot!
This is a very good resturant that was recommended to us. The place has a western style to it, but the food is greek!
26 September-last day
I can not seem to find or remember what this stood for...but it was neat
It has been a while since I did the tredmill -because of problems in my foot--but I did not think it was that long!
Now we are home-safe and sound.
