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Today, we visited several other ancient sites in Athens. The picture above is from a walkway in the Ancient Agora. It was a huge marketplace and park that Athenians would shop, gossip, and politicize in. The statues above were just outside the local gymnasium. The park itself is huge, covering at least fifty acres. It sits on the hillside next to the Acropolis and so we had to do a lot of climbing to get there. It was good for us, as we are still getting used to so much walking.
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Above, we are standing outside the Temple of Hephaistos, the god of metalworking and craftsmanship. It sits on top of a hill with a great view of the Acropolis and the city.
Speaking of the city, I'd like to spend some time dispelling some myths about Athens. I have heard that Greece is a confusing and dangerous place to travel. That is simply untrue. We have had a wonderful time here, have met some great people, and have not gotten lost at all. The streets are layed out a little haphazardly, but with a map and a little patience, much of the ancient part of Athens can be walked through quite easily. The rest of the city, including the Archeological Museum, and the beaches, can be reached quite easily by public trasportation (i.e. subway, bus, or tram). The hardest part is that there is a small mountain that rises up out of the center of the city that requires some climbing of streets, buit it's good exercise.
The Greek people are very similar to Italians. They work hard, play hard and are hard to impress. Many of the Athenians we have met have been pleasant, if a bit gruff. It is apparent, that if you want to surprize or impress a Greek, you'd best bring your A game. Greeks are also a very proud people, and if you begin talking to them about their craft, whether it is cooking, jewlery making, weaving, or anything else, they will quickly begin to warm up to you and want to show you the quality of their work.
As for the food, it is splendid. One of my favorites is Spanakopita; a pastry often filled with some combination of meat, cheese and tomatoes. The one I had was ham, cheese, tomato, spinach and garlic, mmmmm, tasty. The rest of the food is wonderful as well, if hard to pronounce.
In the afternoon, we visited the Archeological Museum. Below is a bronze statue of Poisideon, poised to cast his Trident at his enemies.
The Museum also had a collection of spear and arrow heads from the battle of Thermopolae, where 300 Spartans and 700 Thespians held of the Persian army of a million soldiers for three days. I got chills standing in front of them.
The museum was great, and very large. We got lost in it several times, and only found the exit by luck. There is a large amount of history there. They have artifacts from pre-history, earlier than 5,000 B.C. to present times. For those interested in the past of the culture they are visiting, it is not to be missed.
After we got back to the hotel, I went to pick up our laundry that we were having cleaned at the local laundry shop (Hot Tip: never get your clothes cleaned by the hotel you are staying at. They usually send it to the local laundro-mat and charge you five times more than if you were just to bing it down yourself). When I arrived, the lady who ran the shop came running in and said she was trying to see "What was gong on." Apparently, a group of Albanians who live in Athens, were upset about something, and began protesting. The protest grew ugly, and the cops were called. Soon the Albanians began fighting the police and throwing stones. The shopkeeper told me I should return to my hotel and not come out for a couple of hours. We stayed put for a while.
This brings up a valid point. When you travel, you will likely run into situations when you might be near, or witness the results of local politics. The best policy when confronted with this situation, is not to get involved. Avoid the area for a while, and if you can't, make sure you are don't join any crowds that are marching down the street. Always take the most neutral stance possible. If you feign ignorance, and don't make any opinionated statements, you will likely escape notice. It's just a reality of global travel. It's going to happen, get used to it.
-Scott
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