Seven and twenty-five in the morning. I woke up fresh as a daisy after sleeping nine hours straight without any interruption. The bed is amazing. Above is another feather mattress about four inches wide. When you lie seems that embraces you. I'm thinking I wear it when I get home.
and sleeves went down to breakfast a banana in case I get hungry at some inopportune moment. I swear by my dead had never done such a thing in a hotel. There's always a first time.
I left a little before nine. Exceptional temperature. I walked into the ruins of the Temple of Zeus, the same as we saw from the terrace where we had dinner on Wednesday, that seems to last six months of that. Are fenced and saw no access anywhere, so I approached a female officer to ask. Blunder. Neither she nor the three other officers whom I asked to speak English then. Yes, smiled a lot. The road was mined polis. How well protected are the tourists, I thought. "But what evil I do not speak English." Just as if we were in Cuenca, where would the same thing.
found the entrance to the ruins by myself and walked around this series of columns, which is all that remains of the temple. Is much larger than the Parthenon.
take the time to advise those who are thinking about two things come to Athens very important:
1 - Do not ever come August. Today at nine o'clock the sun shell with joy.
2 - Bring comfortable shoes and closed. All historic sites are paved with pebbles or simply ground. The stone pieces will slip on shoes, so maybe you're getting an archeological inadvertently stuck to the socks, because the marble stones are sometimes. On ramp of the Acropolis was about to kill me twice because there are very smooth pieces of stone on the ground and sliding a lot.
Once I left the temple, climbed up the Amalia Avenue until Syntagma Square. By the way, police hundred meters and a group of three armed soldiers waiting to march. No, this was not the police to monitor visitors. It has now been here Wen Jiabao, who happens to be the Chinese premier. I came to that conclusion myself when I saw in the streetlamps Greek and Chinese flags intertwined. In the afternoon I confirmed it with a pair of Greeks who had me in Piraeus. Already
Syntagma Square I witnessed the most ridiculous spectacle I've witnessed in my life, the changing of the guard in front of parliament. Those gentlemen who wear a red cap with a black fringe hanging down the chest, puffed blouse, pleated skirt, yellow socks and a pair of clogs with pompoms. These gentlemen starting a parade in front of the monument to the unknown soldier lifting the leg to the waist and then pulling the foot to move the tassel. Those men who are chosen among young Greeks as if they were to participate in a beauty contest. Those gentlemen. I left the plaza
down Ermou Street, the shops. All closed. In the middle of the street is a tiny Byzantine church. They were celebrating Mass at the time. There was no even a needle there. Naturally, it was a Greek cross. The priest, a bearded giant, speaking from the heart. At the same time, talked most of the parishioners, children playing or crying. A girl, supported at a side altar, drew their pens. Occasionally someone would come to the icons hanging on the wall and kissed. They are protected by glass, so what kiss is a crystal. Crystal that has previously been kissed by hundreds of people. In short, a mess. In another church I visited the late morning and was almost empty, I observed the ritual in detail. People come and kiss one by one all the icons. From a table take a piece of paper and write a text that left in a basket. They can also buy a metal badges have raised the image of a person or a body part. Chapita stick to the glass and rub icon while praying. The crystal then be kissed by another parishioner. Crap.
I want to clarify that an icon that is not coming out on the computer screen when you turn it on. There are framed pictures of saints and have gold or silver ornaments. They are really nice.
Leaving Monasteraki entered the church, the old Ottoman quarter. There is a trail on Sunday. You can buy clothes paramilitary machine gun included. In addition, any foolish thing you can think of. As it was too crowded, I went back to Ermou Street, a stretch parallel to the street Adrianou. There I realized that this is very close to the Arab countries. As parallel as Adrianou Street, another was taking place parallel market there. Sale of foreign objects such as pieces of skin, possibly drills stolen objects could be seen peeking out only the trunk of a car. Some coffee shops with only men drinking coffee at the tables. The same could be in any street of Alexandria and Istanbul. I walked briskly to reach another section of the street back to normal. At the end of my destination, Keramikos, the ancient cemetery of Athens. The adjacent museum contains monuments and funerary objects from prehistory.
After the visit, I went back but this time leaving Ermou street and choosing Adrianou despite being crowded. I visited the Library of Hadrian. There there are no books or anything, just a wall and four columns. I witnessed for the second time the behavior of the guards of the monumental areas. They play a whistle or scream. At that time, all present turn his head to witness the vandalism last tour. Stand on the base of a column of 2600 years old to get a better picture of the ground or pick up a piece of marble to take home a souvenir are the most common.
From there I went to visit the Tower of the Winds, built a water clock in the second century BC,
At twelve I began to feel hungry. As soon as you can eat here, I chose a restaurant in Plaka, off the beaten track with sofas instead of chairs. Perfect to rest my kidneys and my legs after so much walking. I was in the bathroom. Upon leaving, an American girl asked if I knew the tap handle. Not seen it anywhere either lever or sensor. I happened to look down. There I found some buttons. Stepping on the tap was triggered. He gave us laughter. It joins a long tourism.
While eating, the phone rang. It was Anna-Maria, president of WISTA Greece. Stayed with it and lived an hour later at the entrance to the theater of Herod, at the foot of the Acropolis. They took me to a cafe / restaurant on the side too nearby. Convinced the waiter to give us table on the terrace on the second floor because it came with a English woman who wanted to enjoy the views. And what a view! To the left of the Agora, and facing the Acropolis. In the bathroom, right above the toilet, had a TV broadcasting music videos.
After a couple of hours there channel opening in every living creature, Vivi took the car and tried to reach the center of Athens. Impossible task. All the streets were cut because of the Chinese. We decided to go to Piraeus. We sat on a terrace in Mikrolimano, one of the marina, next to the Yacht Club where we had dinner on Tuesday. We chatted until the sun set and began to cool. First time since I arrived. We got up and looked for a restaurant for dinner. We chose one at water's edge, beside the pier. We brought pita bread and a creamy spread. It turned olive cream. Very tasty. We ate on the basis of various types of meat brought in a huge tray, to seven people. At nine o'clock they brought me back to the hotel, and here I am, lying on the mattress than four inches wide, about to give a review.
I proceed to list more examples of chaos Greek
That fat white stripe found drivers when they reach a traffic light seems to mean nothing to them. The cross and stop in the middle of step Zebra located immediately thereafter. Pedestrians have to jump through the stopped cars to cross. It is a difficult task to the other end of the street, especially if it is a great avenue. The light turns red for pedestrians when you have not yet reached the middle of the street. I have found that running even have time to go through in time.
No Country for disabled people. Nothing monumental has wheelchair access. Most crosswalks are not the curb at the same level of the street. My hotel, for example, has two flights of stairs before arriving at reception.
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