twenty ten chelle & ben: Athens

On our first day in Athens it was raining a little, but we headed out regardless and by lunch it was clearing. We visited Hadrians Library before continuing to the Roman Agora and upward to the Acropolis. The Parthenon was partially obscured by some heavy cranes but an incredible site none the less.

We then headed down past the theatres to the Acropolis Museum and had lunch in the cafeteria - which was surprisingly good. We actually didn't visit the museum as the weather was better, so headed on to make the most of it. We went by Hadrians Arch to the temple of Olympian Zues and then through the gardens to the stadium and around to the houses of parliament.

On our second day we sped through the National Archeological Museum , found a quick "Gyros" and then walked around aimlessly through the shops and cafes of the Plaka. We were getting a little over ancient broken stone stuff by this stage so welcomed doing nothing.

The worst thing of Athens is the little children who wander around playing piano accordions and begging for money. They come up to you in the streets, when you sit at restaurants, on the trains.... As poor and sad as these children look we resist the urge to give them money in fear that somewhere around the corner is an adult who puts them up to it.

The second worse thing of Athens was the location of our Hotel. We were clearly in the main strip for the "ladies of the night" and hot spot for illicit drugs. Whilst we enjoyed our dinner at a local taverna ( delicious I might add) we were enthralled to witness several street deals ! We could only get internet in the lobby of our hotel, so one night we were organizing our Greece road trip we noted at least one couple check in for what had to be less than 30 minutes...

But all in all we never felt threatened by it - more intrigued really.

Protesting on the countries financial issues was petty low key with a few small groups peacefully gathering around the Town hall and in various other locations, but it proved no problem to us whatsoever.