The bus tour was great..around 5 hours. We drove around and the 3 stops were the original stadium for the Olympic games, the Acropolis and the new Acropolis museum. We had time to take a few photos, but were restricted in going in as they were doing upgrades for the special olympics in a couple of months. Also the guide mentioned some coupons to go back to various places bit we didn't have time. Any way, I got my usual bagging out as I bought the book and the free 10 postcards and no one else did on the bus...I suspect some bought them outside thae bus! Dougie stayed on the bus as his back was still sore.
Off we went to the Acropolis. What a place. Dougie got out of the bus and started the walk up but couldn't do it, so he went back down. It was a very steep climb on marble pathways and steps. I was extremely glad at this point that I had done so much walking with Dan and Nick...particularly the 5 flights of stairs I had walked up a day before...or was it the first day...very taxing!
I managed to make it all the way up to to the Parthenon. What a sight. We had a few stops on the way up so the tour guide could could give us a talk...very knowledgeable lady.
Lots of photos were taken and the one thing that really struck me was that I was standing near where Paul the Apostle spoke to some judges.
Back down to Dougie and the bus....and off to the museum. The guide gave us another interesting account of the pieces, then we were close enough to our hotel, so we didn't get back on the bus but went to a cafe for lunch.
There are so many with outdoor seating. We chose one and it happened to be called God's Restaurant. Once seated, an elderly man asked me seeing I would be the cook, to come and see his kitchen. He showed me all the dishes available and then back to our table we went. There was a pork leg which was not on the menu, but I suggested it for Dougie...huge and he enjoyed it. It was a nice touch and he and all the staff were very friendly.
One of the things I wanted to buy on this trip was a gold cross and chain and wanted a Byzantine style. We looked at a few places but nothing I really loved except one that was around $2000 for the cross only which I thought was a bit excessive. All are wanting sales but the last man was very pushy wanted to bring to hotel and I have cash for him. We didn't go with that one.
We also saw all the tents in the square ready for a big protest!
We had dinner with Angelo who has a house in Athens and then Angelo, Dan, Nick and myself had a Big walk around acropolis at night and down to the Plaka where we had been during the day. On our walk who should we meet but one of the men who who was in a shop we had visited during the day shop came out and shook our hands thought Angelo was my husband and said he would have given us a better price if he had known we knew someone Greek!!! I decided to buy gold on Mytiline or in Turkey!!!
We then went off on adventure on a tram, Dan, Angelo, Nick and I. We saw the sea at night, which was nice. The tram was very crowded but it was something to remember. We got off tram had a water waited for next one. We thought we would miss the last train so thought we would get a taxi, but checked the station and there were trains running. This is much cheaper as you can buy a ticket for the day for train, trams, buses.
What a day. So much walking but a great day.
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