Amazing Athens.

The above photo shows the route Peter and I have taken since the 24 June 2013. 

 

After an excellent sleep and waking rather refreshed, we headed to the metro to catch the train into the city.  Peter and I were going on a walking tour of Athens with Artemis from Athens Walking Tours and had to meet her at 9.15am. 

Catching the train was not a problem, and after 30 minutes we reached our destination with 45 minutes to spare.  Now this is where things get interesting.  Peter and I went over to this coffee type restaurant and noticed the price of a coffee at 1.50 Euro, so we decided to sit down and chill out for a while. After about 5 minutes our coffee came and a bill for 4.50 Euro each for the coffee.  Peter questioned the waiter about the price and he informed us that the price on the board was for take away.  I told him that if he thought we were going to pay an extra 3 Euro each to drink coffee then he's an idiot.  We told him he can take it back and we got up and left.  They must think some tourists are stupid and will accept anything they are given, not us, where Aussies. So we left and went to Macca's for a nice coffee for 1 Euro, now that's more like it.

We went back to the train station to meet up with Artemis and the rest of the tourists who were joinging our group.  We were surprised to find 3 of the group came from Unanderra, 2 of them were nurses in Wollongong, and the husband came from Bulli.  So on with the tour.

The photo above shows why health standards do not apply in some countries. I couldn't see the point why this kebab man would wear a glove to prepare the food but go behind his stall to have a cigarette still wearing the glove. 

The photo above was taken during our walking tour of the Temple of Zeus.  I'm not going to go into the history of the sites we visited today other than to say, 'they were amazing'.

 The above photo is of the soldiers who guard the tomb of the unknown soldier.  The guards go through a very cool ceremony every hour of the day where guards are replaced.  Because of the political unrest in the country, we had to stand behind the barriers about 20 metres away to take some photos.  The tomb is out the front of the parliament house.

 The photo above is one of the soldiers who must stand to attention for 1 hour before being replaced.

 The above photo was taken from the Temple of Zeus looking up at the Parthenon.  The only history I can say about the Parthenon is that the one in Athens is actually Parthenon No.III, the original 2 were destroyed in different locations.  The term Acropolis is not the Parthenon, but a description of the building on top the rock.  Obviously I should have done history at school instead of home science.

 The above photo is Peter taking part in the Teacher's strike in Athens today. Peter joined in with all the protesters as they marched on Parliament house.

 The photo above is more of the teacher's march to parliament house.

 The above photo is another shot of the Temple of Zeus.

The above photo is of the Parthenon from the western view.  I remember this side of the complex when Graciella and I were here some 30 years ago. 

The above photo is one of my favorites for the day.  Peter and I standing in front of the Parthenon.

After the long day of walking we continued on to the markets and trying to locate other historical sites around Athens.  Tomorrow we are going back to do a food tour of Athens with Athens walking tours again.  We had a great day today, and seeing the sites with older eyes was just amazing. 

I'm still tired from all the riding and walking around Athens, and now it's time to sleep.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.