Athens, Greece July 9, 2015

Athens, Greece July 9, 2015

So, here I am in Athens, Greece and I have

a whole day on shore to discover its secrets.

My guide today is Manos. In Athens, all the tour guides, and taxi drivers all drive yellow and black cars. Manos said this is so that the meter is running and they do it for accounting purposes at the end of the year. Manos had a beautiful Mercedes Benz with wifi so I took advantage to download some of my pictures. Thank you Manos! Now I have over 5,400 pictures in my dropbox app.

Of course, the first thing to see in Athens is the Acropolis.

On top of the hill, overlooking The City of 7 Hills, the Acropolis is crowded with people from all over the world to see this renown site. The history here! We all wanted to see!

The next place we visited had a plaque on it that says "Gateway to the Olympieion". In 515 BC the construction of this temple was started but not completed due to the fall of Athens. Construction was continued in 174 BC by Antiochos IV Epiphanes, the king of Syria then finally completed by the Roman emperor Hadrian in 124 AD. Inside was a gold statue of Zeus.

On our way through town Manos pointed out several beautiful mansions that the rich donated to the city. Here is the one that Onassis donated to the city.

The Olympics started here in Athens, Greece in 776  BC. Here we are in 2015 so 1,239 years ago was the first Olympics! Cool! Here is where they hold the modern day Olympics.

Athens is known as the City of 7 Hills and here is a view of them. Manos told me that if you had a home with a view of the Acropolis, then your home was more expensive than if you didn't. 

 

Then we went to lunch. Manos knew of just the place that had authentic, local fare for a great price. The name of the café was "5 cp" (not the Greek spelling). It means the 5 friends.

 

This is a very comfortable, family owned and operated café that is owned by 4 families. They cook fresh daily and take home the leftovers and start again. The staff was warm and friendly, like family.

They had several "casserole" type dishes that I could choose from, then a salad, bread, drinks and dessert. I had a Moussaka, another was like a mashed potatoes and chicken, buttered cold beets, a lovely salad with lots of toppings,

and for dessert, the brought over fresh cherries and a type of local cake that was a little bit like gingerbread. Again, we also had drinks and the total, for 2 of us, was 12 euros. That's about $15 American! With dessert! Can't beat that!

So, after lunch we went for a drive into Old Town and toured the tourists areas.

Manos showed me the Byzantine shops where they sold robes, tables, brass lamps,

Christian icons, bibles and other accessories for religious ceremonies.

We also passed stores that sold mandolins,

furs, dolls and lots of sandals. There were some booths that were selling a form of brass headdress wreaths like they wore in early Greek or Roman times.

Manos took me by a vacant lot where 25 years ago a new owner tried to dig a new foundation only to find relics unearthed in the soil beneath his property. After which time, the government got involved with retrieving and preserving those relics. Needless to say, it has been 25 years and the owner still has not been able to build on that property. 

I walked by a restaurant that seemed to have the same problem in their backyard.

Manos then took me to a burial museum where they had several beautifully carved sarcophagus and on the grounds were many vertical tubes. Manos said that to save space, people were buried vertically, not horizontally.  I had never heard of this concept before but recently I learned that they do this type of burial in India also.

Again, back to the boat with an armload of memories and experiences. As the boat leaves port I see seagulls flying nearby as if to say

Have a safe journey! And come back soon!