Another glorious day in Athens

Trip Start Jun 05, 2006
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Trip End Aug 01, 2006


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Saturday, July 1, 2006

Yep. It's Saturday in Athens, like in most places in the world today. And it's hot. And I can't find bug spray anywhere. We keep waking up, not only sweaty and feeling like we haven't got in our full 40 winks, but finding like half a dozen new mosquito bites. No sir, I don't like it. But at least Scott had the foresight and poison ivy enough to bring some cortisone, so what can I complain about? So yesterday, we ended up buying some sandwiches, a soccer ball and a 15 lbs. watermelon, and taking them to the National Gardens. We couldn't find a field, like we'd been hoping for, as the gardens are basically a bunch of meandering fine-gravel paths, surrounded by old-growth trees and shrubberies. But we did miraculously run into Jon and the others on their tour, having stopped to watch the changing of the guards in front of the tomb of the unknown soldier. Unfortunately, they were hungry, and we had just eaten our sandwiches, so we parted ways again. For our part, we decided to settle for a plaza in front of the old Olympic stadium to play our game of monkey-in-the-middle soccer, and then after working up an unbelievable sweat, to sit under a shade tree and cut open that huge watermelon we'd been hauling for miles. I've got to say, it was mighty satisfying.

At that point, our cross country man, Adam, disclosed to us his intention of running a victory lap around the old Olympic track, where the 2004 marathon finished. So, he hopped the fence and sprinted around, just as a huge bus of tourists rolled up and captured his glorious finish on a hundred different cameras. Adam and Greek Agora ruins
Adam and Greek Agora ruins
 We're sure he's going to be featured in a lot of Summer Eurotrip '06 slide shows pretty soon. And after that escapade, we decided to go check out the huge ruins of the Temple of Olympic Zeus, the largest temple ever built in Greece, circa Whatnot BC.

About that time, the kickoff of the big Germany-Argentina match was nearing, so we headed to this cool bar back toward the stadium. We stayed there for a good 3 hours as Germany threatened to lose the game for a full 80 minutes, then made an amazing header for the tie, and destroyed Argentina 4-2 in the shootout, maintaining their undefeated streak and contention for the Cup. Very exciting, especially for Scott, who's a big Germany fan, and since we were sitting next to a huge group of animated Argentina fans. So that was basically our day.

Today, the group of 7 headed to Mykonos at around 8, and we got up a bit later, checked out, and headed to the flea market to haggle with local merchants. While we were in that area, we stopped by the old Greek Agora (marketplace), which was much larger and more impressive than the Roman Agora. There were some really great temples and a restored church, but once again I found the display quite under whelming. The presence of slap-dash wiring and obtrusive ambient lighting took away quite a bit from the otherwise awe-inspiring sense of age and craftsmanship inherent to all these ancient monuments. Greece is one of the poorest countries in the EU, but having worked in the presence of one particularly talented landscape architect for two summers, I know that placing a few native shrubs in front of those lamps could easily remove the awful anachronistic effect of modern lighting imposed on an ancient pagan temple. And considering how much money these monuments must attract from tourists each year, it's really quite puzzling as to why no one has done something so simple to improve the look of what should be a huge source of Grecian pride.

Well, anyway, we're presently biding our time till the next big match: England-Portugal. We may not be able to see the whole thing before our ferry leaves at 10, but I'll be rooting for cross-Atlantic chums, who aren't expected to win. I'm also not looking forward to our 12 hour ferry ride (in a seat) to Santorini, as I know what that's going to be like. Scott and Adam leave for Crete on the 4th, and I plan on joining the others in Mykonos for a day, before coming back to Athens. And it's not likely I'll have Internet access out in the islands, so this will probably be my last entry for a while. Hope everyone is fine and having a splendid weekend. Let me know what's going on stateside. Havin' a blast, but missin' you guys!

Ciao,

Matt
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