Great pictures!
On Sat, Jan 12, 2019 at 1:51 PM Jane boyce <janeboyce@live.com> wrote:
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Saturday, January 12, 2019
Re: Athens pictures
These are great!
On Sat, Jan 12, 2019 at 1:35 PM Jane boyce <janeboyce@live.com> wrote:
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Update 3
We'd arranged for the same taxi driver who'd picked us up to return us to the airport...at 5:15 am. He again was a well of interesting tidbits @ Athens...home to 6 million. Our flight snack was a nice goodbye to Athens: spinach pies & Greek yogurt with a side of honey. All was hunky dory until there wasn't any internet at the Cairo airport. I found a place to buy a SIM card. Since our Airbnb host had not contacted us, we called him & he told the taxi driver where to find our room...well...far from the room or building pictured online & to add insult to injury...the host said it wasn't paid & we needed to pay him...though we knew Airbnb doesn't do it like that. We decided to find something to eat, see the neighborhood & think it about it. Seems we were in the car repair area as the crumble, littered sidewalks were filled with vendors selling every possible car part, new & used. The side streets were crowded with cars with hoods wide open & men working on them. Most of the tall buildings were quite dilapidated & dirty. Eventually we found a street with food & tried the shawarma type sandwich with lots of extras...Guess who liked it & who didn't. We did eventually find a KFC & McD ...but too late. And besides they were kinda dirty too. We got back to our room & the host came knocking demanding $$. We paid. I contacted Airbnb and over the next couple hours, they said they'd give us a full refund & we booked another spot for tomorrow! Then we huddled down in the thick blankets...it was a cold room...& spent time flipping TV channels. We both felt it had actually been a worthwhile experience as many of the refugees we will be working with probably stay in places much worse. We had hot water & toilet. We had options for tomorrow!
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Update 2
Day 2 in Athens started in the Acropolis Museum...which is cleverly built around a correctly sized Parthenon so walking around the glassed outer walkway you see the bits & chunk remains & reconstructed temple frieze of the Parthenon and at the same time get a fabulous view of it majestically sitting on the mountain top...Acropolis. The galleries in the museums of seemingly endless sculptures & artifacts from the Acropolis & surrounding Athens. Next to many of the sculptures was a video which added the layers of details & colors that had been striped away due to weather, time and damage. It was like seeing them come alive...after almost 2500 years! Though a massive amount of artifacts are housed here...they truly lament that over the years so much has been stolen (lots by Lord Elgin) and destroyed when the Parthenon was made into St. Mary's and later a mosque, then a German arsenal ...which exploded & totally destroyed the rear section. The bottom floor of the museum had a glass floor so you could see what lies below...the remains of many earlier Athens...first in 8th century BC. That's old!!! Fascinating. Actually we were treated to many more glass floor exhibits as we meandered through Athens. Just 15 years ago when the Metro was built, the discoveries were extraordinary and so they just put glass walkways over them. It seems the entire city is sitting on a ancient goldmine! Hunger pangs forced us to leave the museum & a pot of mussaka was totally enjoyed. My sweet tooth called for a dish of frozen Greek yogurt that had a delicate hint of lemon. We tried to visit two other museums but because it's off season here, both closed early. But just strolling around the city was sort of museum of people, shops & traffic. Hearing music& smelling the food was a treat for the senses. Seeing & smelling the many Turkish tobacco smoking bars not so much. Sad to see kids & girls just sitting there as the man smoked away. It was amazing how many sidewalks are made out of marble...a cheap product here...much cheaper than wood so most everything is built out of marble. When we tired of walking, we hopped on the Metro & rode it till the end & then returned. Looking out the graffitied window, we got a peek of the outskirts...densely populated, 4+story buildings with small balconies filled with tables ,plants & laundry & covered by awnings. Mini cars & motorcycles parked in every nook & cranny. A few trees...their favorite the bitter orange. What struck me most was the lack of color. Tan, gray & white overwhelmed the view only dotted by bits of blue & green awnings. These blank buildings were like a canvas for graffiti which was everywhere. When I asked about it, I only got scowls & head shakes. We passed the Olympic Stadium, a massive white building crowed with curved metal rods. Also interesting was watching the people ...everyday folks coming & going. Most women with bright red lipstick, scarves covering their hair & well dressed. Younger ones with nose rings & a variety of hair colors. Men both casual & suits. About 1 in 4 were on phones. I saw little communication between the riders & the overall feel was quiet & somber. We struck up a conversation with a young girl who seemed happy to talk. It had been a rich afternoon. We picked up a couple souvlaki to eat when we got back and that's all folks!Yesterday I mentioned seeing Mars Hill where Paul preached so last night I read Acts 17:22-31. Now I can picture Paul clearly. What a vision. Thanks Elsi for suggesting it!
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