Athens - that old pile of rocks

Athens was worth all the trouble we went to getting here. We found a super cheap room right by the Acropolis and spent our first sunset munching on clementines on a hill overlooking the sights. Fabu:

For 6 euros (the Bruin card triumphs again), we had access to the major ruin sights for four days. The Acropolis (Parthenon, Temple of Athena Nike, Propylaea gates, Erechtheum), the Odeon, the Temple of Olympic Zeus, and the original Olympic stadium were the highlights.

The collections at the National Archeological Museum were the perfect compliment to the ruins themselves. A set of gold ceremonial cups was a favorite and made me excited to see the Minoan ruins in Crete where they were found.

I vaguely remember a story of my dad's from his time spent on a dig in the holy land - archeologists overseeing the site were only interested in artifacts from biblical times, practically discarding Roman and other eras' remains. I found myself taking a similar attitude - scoffing at the relatively indelicate pedestal of Agrippa in comparison to the Parthenon, and ditching the city's neoclassical monuments altogether. Like, better be born before Christ or I'm not interested:o)

One non-ancient sight well worth catching was the weekly changing of the parliamentary guard. To wit:

I'm not going to be able to do the scene justice, but you have to imagine these guys swinging their non-bayonet-clad arms above their heads between jutting stomps. And in this get-up:

Apparently, the costume is that of the mountain forces that fought for Greece's independence. Kind of lightens the image usually evoked by the concept of guerrilla warfare, eh?

Of course no post about Athens would be complete without a mention of the parking situation. Man am I glad I'm not driving here. When you can't find a spot on the street, try the island in the intersection (giving new meaning to the tradition of Greek island hopping - total dad joke I know, but who can resist?). Check out the smart car parked in the middle of the street:


And when that option's not available, just drop your bizarre tail of a parking break down on the sidewalk:


And finally, of course, some food! We love cheese pies, cheese balls, and cheese pastries - sensing a pattern? Apparently the average Greek consumes 25kg of cheese per year. I'm making up for lost time. But the better pictures are not of cheese anything, but of some very Greek looking produce:


Yum.

xoxo Jessie

Update: Thanks to the demands of the Indian consulate we were back in Athens for a day at the end of our tour of Greece. Good thing though because Aaron finally got to see these guys in action (and I got to see them dressed for winter)!

Also we happened upon this scene at the contemporary art museum. It was particularly satisfying to pose for this because earlier I had been scolded for posing for a picture next to a classical marble sculpture. Apparently you can pose with the ancient art only so long as you don't stand behind it. No such limitations when it comes to modern art though:


ttfn