Acropo-what?

After a sweaty night's sleep (for me anyway - Jeff seemed to do okay), we got up and going to the Acropolis (essentially a big hill with ancient buildings) before it got too hot out. It isn't that far away (10-15 minutes?) from where we are staying but anything uphill or in the sun (which it is both) is tough. We were there by 9am (it opened at 8am) which seemed to be a good time because by 10am the crowds were really flying in. We toured around on our own, taking in the wonder in architecture and art from over 2000 years ago. We were awed by the size and the work that would have had to have gone in to build the various buildings, such as the famous Parthenon (which was built as a temple for Zeus's daughter, Athena - which Athens is named after). Did you know that the story goes that Zeus swallowed Athena's mother, Metis, when she was pregnant, and then he had his head axed open and his daughter, Athena essentially jumped put of him fully armed for battle? I had no idea that was her birth story! 

We toured around the Acropolis for an hour and then to a couple of ancient outdoor theaters where dramas were performed to the mass of 17,000 people. That was really a neat site to see. We even got to sit on the stone seats - imagine how many people have sat there over thousands of years - pretty amazing. The other theater is still used today!

Side note - we have seen so many dogs lying all over the place, presumably trying to keep cool. They're everywhere and appear quite uninterested in the people walking by. We've also seen lots of cats; one was waiting outside of the grocery store meowing at people, lol. Smart kitty!

We've also seen our fair share of street people (including children - often playing instruments), all asking for money and looking worse for wear. It breaks my heart. It's everywhere.

To cool off, we went to the Acropolis museum. We watched a short video about the Parthenon which helped us understand how it was built and the art/sculptures that can be seen there. It was interesting and helped us appreciate what we were seeing.

After the museum we ended up in tourist town (the area of Plaka) without planning on it. We needed food and water (already having consumed a litre each this morning) and paid astromical amounts for both (although comparable to home). Yesterday, 2 gyros cost 3.80€ in our neighbourhood and today, nearly 8€ because of where we were. Urgh! When you're desperate though, you'll suck it up.

We got back to Evita's around 2pm and Jeff had a nap while I wrote blog entries and put my feet up. My feet have been sore and swollen for days now. Walking around is losing it's appeal. We're pretty much always tired and hot.

We showered and prepared for dinner, leaving around 6pm. We opted to try a restaurant we learned about on tripadvisor. It was a bit of a walk but at that time of day, the weather was much more manageable. It took about 20 minutes to get there. Jeff had the directions all mapped out so it was a piece of cake. The walk was through town - comparable to many down town areas we've seen (lots of shops, kiosks, restaurants, fast food, even a "euro store" like a "dollar store"). There continues to be graffiti everywhere - some of it just tags and others quite elaborate. The restaurant was a deli - selling loads of different deli meats. We were lucky to get a table as it appeared that people had reservations. We sat right in front of the deli counter at a small table.  We were given some shaved deli meat and cheese to try (cheese was strong!) and then some bread. Jeff had a beef with peppers and potato dish (he said it was "so tasy") and I had mini sausages with Greek yogurt, mustard, tomato, and pita. It was all good. On the way back to our hotel, I had a chocolate mousse cup from a bakery (delicious!).

We were back in our room at 8:30pm and have been reading and watching youtube. I'm tired. I have a huge blister on my foot, which really hurts. I've done some "surgery"' lol, and have wrapped it up with polysporin in hopes that it will feel better tomorrow.

Tomorrow's plan is to take the 'hop on, hop off' bus tour so we learn more about Athens and see some more sights (without having to walk eveyrwhere in the heat). 

I'm hoping tonight isn't as hot as last night, but I'm sure it will be. Ah well. We're trying to stay positive.

Ciao for now. 

Amanda xo