We arrived yesterday. Had a great flight into Greece(some airlines still take care of their customers, thx Olympic Air). On the usual unintended (and never unappreciated)detours to reach our hotel, we got a nice feel of the city. It's probably a common misconception that Athens (or the whole of Greece) is stuck in antiquity, being that it's steeped in it, but it has the usual hustle-and-bustle of a major metropolis. Busy traffic, people elbowing through each other on and off public transport, beggars, swaggards, and normal people. Except in Greek. We even saw a whole alley full of heroin junkees. Very illuminating.
After settling into the hotel we made a dash for the beach. After figuring which bus to get to we arrived at the water. It was gloriously tepid and the beach strewn with rocks, most of which were washed up brick and mortar. G even got all his clothes wet after a quick surge in the tide. After getting enough sun we moved on to The Temple of Zeus. AMAZING. Rocks are old. Like beginning of time old. Any rock you look at. But it's easier to get a sense of it when in conjunction with construction by man. Some of these works were touched and molded almost 2500 years ago. And the main portion was constructed some 1900 years ago. The detail that remains is phenomenal. A pillar on the west end of the temple fell 150 years ago. It looks like it happened yesterday.
After admiring (and of course, illegally interacting with) The Temple, we went in search of food. We of course chose souvlaki gyros. They were the BEST we've had. Period. We wound up talking to the guy that made them for an hour. Very cool dude. Name of Spyros. He speaks 6 languages, works 60 hours a week, has a Greek-American girlfriend he's going to see in San Francisco in October, played pro- basketball in here in Greece and doesn't like French Canadians.
We experienced a little bit of the night-life last night. More on that later but the coolest part was drinking under the spectre of the Acropolis.
Pillar of Man gazing on pillars of men
BEST seat in the ruins
We're off to see more awesome that needs seeing.
Stay Awesome
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