Acropolis Now
Today we planned to spend the day having a good look around Athens so we packed up early and walked down the road to the historic Plaka district where we would climb aboard the Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus. It was great to get our bearings and to have a good look around the whole city.
It was fun to see the kilted, Pom-pom-shoed guards marching up and down with impressively high leg kicks, (trained at the Ministry of Silly Walks in fact) in front of Parliament House. The commentary on the bus was hilarious, a plumby English woman explaining Greek history, interspersed with Zorba the Greek music that was picking up pace as the tour progressed. It was getting harder to resist the urge to hold hands, get up, dance, and smash a few plates.
We did the mandated hop off the bus at the foot of the Acropolis and soon learnt we weren’t the only ones with the great idea to visit today. It was chockers! We had decided not to book into a formal tour and to just go it alone; wandering around in our own time. For the record, this was a very bad idea. There were 2 queues that both snaked on for miles. We settled into a slow moving entry queue but happened to notice a few people ahead of us were brandishing what looked like tickets. Hmmm. We thought we were queuing for tickets. Leaving me in the queue just in case, Rossco did a bit of exploring and found a sign pointing to “ticket sales”. It was decided that I’d wait in the entry queue, Ross would duck down & get the tickets and we’d meet back in my queue & Bob’s you’re uncle. We’d be in, in no time. Our plan was thwarted quickly when Ross discovered the queue for buying tickets was as long, if not longer, than the gargantuan queue to get inside. Did I also mention it was really hot and there was no shade? (Just setting the scene). A lady came up to tempt us with a fistful of tickets, offering an enticing option to “skip the queue” if we went on her private tour. It would cost us an extra €20 each. Looking back, we were probably a little hasty in accepting her offer but before we knew it we were paid up and signed on, putting all our trust in this woman we didn’t know from a bar of soap. (She did have an official-looking lanyard around her neck displaying her photo so that was something). She took our Euros and told us to wait in the shade and to give her 5 minutes.
Well, 10 long minutes passed and we were starting to get an uneasy feeling that we’d yet again been taken for a ride (this time not in a taxi). We will really have to stop wearing those GULLIBLE t-shirts. Our supposed guide was trying to drum up more business, working the queue (like she’d worked us) trying to lure more takers. It was funny watching her give her practised spiel. We could see how tempted people were, asking all the same questions as we’d asked but then deciding to pull out at the last minute. We approached her, hot and impatient and told her we were ready to start the tour. Ross was extra assertive and even threatened to demand a refund if she didn’t comply. (I reckon he could’ve beaten her in an arm wrestle, no problem). By then she’d rounded up an American girl from Georgia and another couple, originally hailing from Latvia but now residing in New Jersey, to join our tour. We could tell we all had reservations about the legitimacy of our guide and cast nervous glances at one another as we set off up the hill in pursuit of this woman.
Well… you can all share in our collective sigh of relief. Penelope was a certified guide who took us on a cracking tour of the Acropolis, spouting forth fact after fact about the Parthenon, the Temple of Athena Nike, the Propylaea, Erechtheum (which sounds medical to me) aka Temple of Athena Polias and the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, pointing out all kinds of historical and interesting facts as we walked. She was amazing and it was brilliant to have a small group of 5. We landed on our feet there!
A fun fact for you: Acropolis gets its name from the Greek akron, meaning ‘highest point’ and polis, meaning ‘city’. (You could probably find that info on Wikipedia but I’ve saved you the trouble.) Just the fact that we were walking around buildings built SO long ago, totally blew our minds. Here are the ages of some of the buildings we saw: Parthenon: 2468 years-old; Temple of Athena Nike: 2448 years-old; Odeon of Herodes Atticus: 1861 years-old (just a spring chicken). WOW! They sure were built to last. (A far cry from the iPhone with its built-in “obsolescence”). The Athenian Government is undertaking a massive and painstaking restoration project, matching up and inserting as many found fragments as possible, with some buildings covered in scaffolding. It will be well worth it when it’s done.
This afternoon we did a little more sightseeing and picked up Ross’ phone from the repair shop - almost fixed - before getting ready to board our plane to Italy.
Antío kai efcharistó Greece! It’s been fun!
