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We get ripped in Athens - and dine with a celeb.
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We were back in the Kaningos 21 hotel again where things were still not working so we spent as little time there as possible. We quickly set off on foot in the direction of the Acropolis. Just as quickly we learned lessons in Athenian pedestrianism such as: Under no circumstance set a toe off the sidewalk curb lest it be turned to mince by the maelstrom that is street traffic. Also, keep eyes wide open on both the front and back of your head because Athenian sidewalks are alternate thoroughfares for motor scooters, motorbikes, most varieties of sub-compact car and every kind of delivery truck. We thought we had achieved sanctuary when the street turned into a walking mall as it approached the Plaka but we were mistaken.
Another oddity was that every so often we would encounter policemen who seemed to be on high alert because there were never less than two, they wore body armor and they slung automatic weapons. In one square there were ten or more such officers gathered in pods of two and three, peering about suspiciously. We decided this would be a good place to use an ATM machine, and so it was.
We wandered through the Plaka, which is the old city of Athens that sits in the shadow of the Acropolis. It has been turned into a SHOPPING mall with every known kind of shop - in the bazaar idiom. The streets in the Plaka wander around and every so often we would catch sight of the Acropolis towering above in the distance.
Impressive. Cats and dogs roamed freely everywhere, striking up temporary liaisons with whoever showed an interest. Different.
By keeping to streets that went uphill we eventually found ourselves at the foot of the Acropolis and we made our way up through the alleys and pathways that lead to the main entrance. Our intention was to find a guide who would lead us through the complex the following day. Mission accomplished, our guide would be "Athena" (which seemed a bit of a stretch) and she would meet us the following day at 2:00pm at the main gate.
We returned to the Plaka and milled around there for a while in full SHOPPING mode. Linda struck up a conversation with a couple standing on a street corner and they recommended a near-by restaurant for dinner. It was great - platters of salads, seafood, various meats and fried potatoes washed down with pitchers of red and white wine and followed up with a complimentary platter of fruit and melon.
We felt quite satisfied with ourselves on this our first real foray out on our own; we were even beginning to be able to sound out a few words spelled in the Greek alphabet. We figured we had this Greek travel deal pretty much under control and were able to thoroughly enjoy the bustle and energy of the Plaka on our stroll back to the hotel. Athens was great - at this point.
The following day was Saturday. We had a leisurely breakfast and then set out for the Parliament buildings to watch the changing of the guard. It is not nice to make light of other people's traditions, especially when one is a guest in their country, but somebody had way too much time on their hands. We watched in fascination as large,
fierce-looking soldiers dressed in short skirts and leotards, armed with bayoneted M1 rifles, performed their extraordinary routine and while this was going on a pickpocket opened Paula's backpack and stole her wallet. It seemed ironic that petty larceny could be going on right under the noses, if not the skirts, of the military might that was there assembled.
The upshot of all this was that Paula and Malcolm got to spend three hours sitting in a police station trying to get the lone officer on duty to take their statement. After the required time of penance had elapsed the officer invited them to come to his desk in order to advise them that they were in the wrong police station and that they should go and report the crime at another location and he would give them the address. The lion that is Malcolm roared and the officer changed his mind, deciding he could take the statement after all.
While all this was going on the rest of us awaited developments at a corner café less than a half a block from the police station. As we sat there a woman at an adjacent table had her purse snatched by a running thief. The bloom was coming off the rose that was Athens in a hurry.
We decided that a moving target might be harder to hit and so left word for the Malcolm and Paula that we would make our way to our appointment at the Acropolis and they should catch up with us if they could. So we did and they didn't.
Wikipedia says "The Acropolis was formally proclaimed as the pre-eminent monument on the European Cultural Heritage list of monuments on the 26th of March, 2007." It is truly a beautiful and imposing sight and I was glad
that we had hired a guide. She gave our tour considerabley more substance than the guide book could on its own especially with our minds being preoccupied with the developments of the morning and wondering how Malcolm and Paula were faring.We rendezvoused with the that couple at the hotel later in the afternoon, following a desultory shopping foray through the Plaka.
Earlier in the year Malcolm had met a fellow real estate developer at a conference in Las Vegas. Dimitris was from Athens and they arranged that we would meet for dinner during our time there. With our wallets newly relocated from our pockets to the safety of our jockey shorts we bravely, if somewhat more tentatively, set out on foot again in the direction of the Parliament buildings.
The venue was a very up-scale Italian restaurant and Dimitris was an excellent host. The highlight of the evening, however, was his companion, who was a medallist for Greece at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Niki is, by her own admission, a celebrity throughout Greece and we felt honoured to be able to share some time and a meal with her. She is currently selling real estate located on the Island of Paros and if I could have gotten my wallet out from where it was tangled in my jockey shorts I'd have bought some. Following dinner we took taxis for the return to the hotel and really enjoyed the rally-race they had through the teeming streets of Athens although I broke several nails on my left hand after they became embedded in the dashboard.
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| 5. | We get ripped in Athens - and dine with a celeb. - Athens, Greece Sep 28, 2007 (  5 ) |
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