Athens on five doughnuts a day
Finishing up the “month of vacation blogging,” we have this look at my short time in Athens and in the post just below, some final thoughts. About my vacation, not this blog. And a surprise!
Remember those packs of stray dogs that made Athens so much fun for me? Here’s a bunch, in Syntagma Square, on the steps leading up to Parliament. If I were a dog, I’m sure I’d hang out around politicians too.
Here’s something to go along with my famous “Barzini’s butter display” photo. It’s world o’feta!
PS, I hate feta.
But that’s not what I came to Athens to see! No, it was this, the Acropolis. On the first day, I took one look at it and decided to climb it… some other day.
The next day, I set out early, got lost (I mean, you can see it from everywhere, but how do you get there?), decided to just get on the subway, and finally found it. I believe that’s how Thucydides always got there too.
Once again, I took a large bottle of water plus my backpack of guidebooks, three kinds of currency, and electronics I didn’t want the hotel housekeeping staff to steal. Midway up, I started to get very hot. And tired. And mindful of the fact that I had forgotten sunscreen. The stone “steps” were also incredibly slippery and clogged with tourists from every country you can imagine plus some others. I stopped to rest at this lovely theater, also because I never did get to that one in Epidavros. I think Blue Oyster Cult played here in ’73.
But then I reached the Parthenon and it was all worth it. This was the highlight of my trip, I have to say. It totally blew me away, not literally, luckily, because we were pretty high up. I thought I’d be all “yeah, yeah, looks just like the coffee cup” but it wasn’t like that at all. It’s overwhelming in its beauty, scale, magnitude, and classicism. I could really have stayed there all day, except for that whole lack of sunscreen thing not to mention the “plane to Israel” thing.
Alas, all good things must come to an end. Except the Parthenon, they’re still working on keeping it upright, as you can see. But my time in Greece did. Check out the post below for an exciting, actual picture of Becca in Greece, though!
Thanks so much for posting all the pics. I’m glad you had such a wonderful time.
I thought there were going to be pictures of hookers and sex shops, though. I mean, the Parthenon is nice and all, but I’m sure hookers in Greece are much more exotic than the ones we’ve got here in Atlanta.
Wow, Becca- what beautiful pictures. They are even nicer than the posters in my favorite Greek diner!
Now I really want to visit Greece. NO! Must go back to Paris…must…
Oh yeah, I forgot to say- I love feta.
Oh Maureen, I thought of you! The hotel was indeed surrounded by sex shops. But also by a thriving Arab neighborhood and the presidential palace. So I figured they must all enjoy it too.
Thanks, Tag. Just go back to Paris. You know you want to. It’s me who doesn’t want to. 😛
That sunscreen thing is getting to be kind of a motif with you, isn’t it, Becca?
My father was an oncologist. Would you like to hear his lecture on “The Harmful Rays of the Sun”? ‘Cause I’m pretty sure I could recite it for you, if you feel the need for a good scolding.
Come to think of it, though, I almost never forget sunscreen now.
My mother was a teacher. Would you like to hear her lecture on reading completely? Oh I kid, she never lectured about that, she mostly lectured about cleaning my room and I could repeat that one in my sleep, and I usually do via nightmares. Plus I can’t expect you to have my posts all memorized. Or can I….
But I digress. Rather than being a motif, I believe this is actually my first mention ever of not wearing sunscreen. Usually I just get a sunburn anyway due to me being descended from snow people, Irish people, or a combination of the two. You can ask Alfa about my hourly sunscreen-application process at the US Open.
This time I didn’t actually wear it because I was heading straight for a plane and didn’t want to drive my seat-neighbors nuts. I know, I said I forgot, but that was a lie.
Don’t feel bad, Becca. I have been known to drag my girls out of the swimming pool on an hourly basis for sunscreen re-application and completely neglect to put any on myself.