Almost 2 weeks ago we left Santorini for Athens and at last I get to blog this city. This post will give you a view of Athens city but it is not all we did there. There are so many photos I will need several posts to show it all.
The Ferry from Greece to Italy
The ferry, as you can see is more like a cruise ship than the Manly Ferry. There was even an F1 race car from the Minardi team on display. From the port we grabbed a taxi to our unit which was on a major round-about where the Monument for Fallen Aviators dominated the median. The building didn’t look much on the exterior but inside it was extremely spacious. It is a pity they had so much room wasted with a poor layout (ie tiny kitchen, one robe etc). Sunsets over the Stanley Hotel were colourful but Shane took to all the lovely murals on the otherwise blank building walls.
First things first
As usual the first thing we do in a new city is catch a hop on-hop off bus. It gives us a layout of the city and a peek at what might interest us the most. With a map in hand we tend to prioritise the sights before planning our stay fully. After a full loop of the city it’s all ‘go’. We stayed on the bus until we got back to Hadrian’s Gate and the Temple of the Olympian Zeus at The Ilissos River Sanctuary. This temple is a mammoth in height and the size of the columns alone is staggering. Archeological excavations are still ongoing and often you may notice a line of rocks on the ground indicating an unopened passage. Bits and pieces of ruins lay about everywhere.
Gallery 1 Athens
The Tale of Shane at the Panathenaic Stadium and More
We continued our outing further afield and found ourselves at The Panathenaic Stadium where I can tell a tale of a struggling athelete named Shane. The field was awesome ( Photos 1&2) but undaunted Shane took off for her lap around the olympic track (3). The crowd (4) watched in disbelief as Shane and her manager stood at the top of the podium in 1st place (6). Once the judges had departed (7) except for the hard line stoney faced judges (8-11) the victor strode off through the athlete’s tunnel (12-16) to the trophy room (17) where trophies of past glories are on display. That’s the exciting Tale of Shane the Sprinter.
At the end of a tiring day we freeloaded a Greek Produce expo in the Exhibition Hall for some freebies then had a great meal to end this epic story.
Shane the Sprinter
That’s it for Athens generally but in the next blog (or two) I will post photos of the Acropolis/Parthenon, Poseidon’s Temple and the striking changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Watch for these as they are very interesting.
Bye for now
Garry & Shane