ATHENS, GREECE
13th April 2002 to 18th April 2002
Getting ready for back packing Europe...
18th April 2002
Well well well.. guess who???
Yip, it's me again with the last bit of news before we head off on our next adventure.
On the weekend, (the one that Rob wouldn't let me tell you about) we went to see the Acropolis
It is as majestic as it looks on the postcards and as you would expect it to be. They are busy doing a hell of a lot of restoration at the moment which is fantastic. At night it is all lit up and it looks spectacular. There is also a very interesting museum on site, with statues and artifacts that have survived all the years.
To get up and down from the Acropolis you go through an area called "Plaka", it is on a steady uphill and is crammed with traditional houses, lots of touristy restaurants and souvenir shops. There are hundreds of tourists and locals that frequent this trendy area on a daily basis and it is the perfect place to have a sunset dinner. You have the lively, lit up streets below you and on top is the mighty Acropolis... stunning I tell you!
I suppose the really awe inspiring thing is that the acropolis has survived many wars, the Germans bombed it, other nations tried to burn it down and still there are ruins and parts of buildings that have survived. It is all a bit humbling. it has even survived the caustic effect of acid rain (from all the pollution in Athens)
Now what gets up my nose is the fact that in the museum, whilst looking at all these original works of art that have survived... you get the odd notice: "this torso is of a soldier riding a horse, the upper part is a plaster copy of the original. The original can be found in the British museum"... now,,, prey tell.. what the hell are the Brits doing with the Greek marble statues??? It is a huge point of contention in Greece and has been for many years. The government here has tried, with no success, to get these artifacts back, but Britain won't budge.... makes no sense if you ask me.. what are they trying to prove, that they were great conquerors??
Rob actually put a different spin on things.. he said that if Britain had to give back all the artefacts etc that it has taken from all over the world, it would probably have nothing of it's own to show and go bankrupt:)
and on that note, we will be leaving tomorrow to go and see the worlds' treasures in London. We fly at 6.45am and have to be at the airport at am... alas!!! Athens is in the middle of a taxi strike at the moment and there no taxis to take us to the airport....argggggggg!
Luckily we have some friends who will be taking us in the morning , but we will be spending the night at their house. We had resigned ourselves to sleeping at the airport whilst the buses and trains were still working.
Strikes are a common thing in Europe, Italy managed to get 11 million workers to strike at the same time a few days ago. You wouldn't want to go head to head with the unions now would you:)?
So yes, the taxis are on strike, the postal workers are only working part of the day, and who knows how long before the buses, trains and trams join in.... but that's Europe.
Having lived in Oz all of his life, Rob is finding it a bit difficult not to
plan things, for those of you who know Rob....planning is an integral part
of his existence:) so my poor sweet darling has to try and deal with total
chaos... I'm sure it's a pretty scary experience, so when he cowers,
shivering in a corner, like a dithering wreck....I pour him a stiff scotch
and present him with his stock spread sheet and this seems to have a calming
effect on him:)
Anyway, we're off to pack our backpacks, do some final running around and
make our way towards the airport.
Kat in Argios Artemios, near where we lived, Athens
The next time you hear from us will be from London. Getting very excited
about the next part of the trip because now we get to be "real" touristy
backpackers" wooooo hoooooo!!!
Hope you are all keeping well.
Look after yourselves
Lotsa love and "filakia" (kisses)
Rob and Kat