The Beauty of Athena - Athens

So, we are in Athens. We are at the rooftop bar/restaurant in the Royal Olympic Hotel to meet our dear friend Demetris Theoharous. Our boy flew in from Cyprus to show us around "his village". As a side note, I would highly recommend this hotel for anyone visiting Athens. I would also recommend Athens, a beautiful, safe city. Spend time there before visiting some very local and lovely Greek Islands.

This is our view from the restaurant. Jenée asked me if this was the Parthenon, and I replied yes, yes it is my dear. Because I'm up on my history.

How old is it? Why it's wicked old, my dear. Definitely older than our car.

Demetris shows up and gets us a great table and we sit down. The views around us are spectacular and I point to the pillars and ask, that's the Parthenon, right. With the deadpan face you see here, Demetris says, no, that's the Pillars of Zeus, the Parthenon is over my right shoulder.

Demetris says its an honest mistake as it has only been there some 2500 years, a wonder of the ancient world and all. Hey, I hear they are putting in a Burger King. Oh, we laughed and laughed. Me, not so much.

Jenée adds that Demetris really has an interesting and helpful grasp of Greek History. And his shirt was very nice. Hey, Demetris, look over there, a bus, and I'm thrown under it! Anyways, it's all Greek to me. He was wearing a nice shirt though. And he did pay for a wonderful dinner. Efharisto my friend.

The next day we are back touring the ancient city of Athens. Trust me, everything is ancient in there.

Demetris has quite the airs for someone traveling through the historic streets of Athens on a fake train, tour bus with something that looks like Pinocchio for an engine. All we are missing is a set of big ears. Oh yeah, we're styling.

Truth is, it turned out to be a great tour. We got to see this guy in a wife beater and some old building. I'm being a little snarky after last nights history lesson. This is Hadrian's Library, built for the Roman Emperor Hardrian around 132 AD. It's in remarkable condition. There is also Hadrian's Wall in the UK and Hadrian's Arch nearby here.

This is the Stoa of Attalos in the Ancient Agora of Athens. From my crossword days, I know Stoa is enclosed building and Agora is a marketplace. See Demetris, I'm wicked smaht! Unbelievable condition for a 2200 year old building. Unfortunately, the tough times bring out the graffiti boys. Hey, I guess spray paint is reasonably priced. Dickheads.

And now we come to the Acropolis Of Athena and the Parthenon - The Temple of Athena. Built in the second century BC.

Quite a bit of maintenance taking place. We will hopefully make the walk up. Much later. Did I mention it's close to 100 degrees. The good news is the climate reminds me very much of Phoenix, AZ - dry heat. We are holding up just fine.

This is Hadrian's Arch. This is also 2nd century AD, and has stood in this condition and location for the 1800+ yeras. Pretty incredible. As you can see traffic is light as it's major holiday time in Athens. Good for us.

We finished our tour and the camera battery died, so we head to lunch with a great view of the Parthenon. We've moved to iPhone pictures.

Nice shady Taverna.

My buddy takes this so I'll remember the Parthenon. Thanks D, you're the best.

The whole scene is much more beautiful and pleasant than I expected. Having a private tour guide helps. But by all means, go visit this place. Maybe not in August.

As usual, we say Demitris, you order and it's always great. It was. One food I've come to love is grilled octopus (in olive oil). I would never touch the stuff at a sushi restaurant. Love it here.

These trains keep going by covered in very imperssive graffiti. Jenée and Demetris believe this can't be graffiti, how can they get to the trains? It must be city sponsored artwork. I'm a city boy, so au contrare mon amis, this is graffiti. Go to New York City for a weekend and look up at the trains. Maybe the same guy.

A final picture as we stroll by the Stoa of Attalos. We had a great afternoon and tonight we go to another special place for dinner.

And here is the only shot from dinner. It's a special cocktail they served as an aperitif. Very nice rum, soda, lime thingy. One name for this drink is Cuba Libre, they had a different name, probably something Greek. Outstanding dinner by the way. Oh yes, they have dinner late here. We started at 10:30 and finished at 1:30. Opah !

We partially recover from our dinner. And we meet up for a very late lunch - early dinner with Demetris and Christina.

Great meal on the water just south of where we are keeping Jungle. Jenée and I have a couple more days here to get some things done and we are on our way again west to the Corinth Canal and through to the Ionian Sea and the other side of Greece. Will will miss the Aegean Sea and everything we've seen. As always my best to my brother Demetris. We even share the same name.