Satellite
Show on map
  • Day 22

    Athens

    May 19, 2018 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    This morning, we had a tour of the Acropolis by our new guide, Andronikos. I had been able to see the Parthenon from my breakfast table, but because we went in the bus , I hadn't realised how close it was to our hotel, till I went out for a walk on my own this afternoon. Andronikos has a degree in history and an obvious love for his country and is proving a great guide thus far. From the Acropolis he look us across the road to Mars Hill, where Paul preached his famous sermon. Before we went up there ourselves, Mike had us read the sermon aloud from Acts 17. Up on top he pulled out his guitar and we were back into the travelling minstrels routine again. (This time it was 'Put your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the waters'). As is often (but not universally!) the case, we got a great reception from the other tour group up there, who were soon clapping along with us. They turned out to be from Argentina, so Mike persuaded them to sing to us in Spanish, which they did. (Music has proved to be a wonderful cross-cultural and cross-linguistic unifier on several occasions so far during this trip.) We parted with a few closing pleasantries about the All Blacks and 'Los Pumas'.

    Andro then took us to the Acropolis Museum nearby, a huge, relatively new building which exclusively houses relics from the Acropolis site. There was far too much to see in the hour we had there, so he took us to a few exhibits and filled them out with background information, which was really helpful and made the visit much more worthwhile than if we had been wandering around on our own, which I think would have been a bit overwhelming.

    We were back at the hotel by three, and it has been good to have the rest of the afternoon free. I took the opportunity for a bit of exploration by myself down a long pedestrian plaza which runs alongside the periphery of the areopagus and acropolis precincts. There was lots of little souvenir and jewellery and craft stalls to browse all along the way.

    Tonight we are eating at a nearby restaurant, and tomorrow we head to Corinth. I am glad that we will have another free day in Athens later on as I think there is plenty more to explore.

    (Only fault I can find with this otherwise lovely hotel is that it doesn't have tea-making facilities in the rooms. Probably not designed with kiwis in mind as target patrons.)
    Read more