I see the sea....

Friday the 22nd of June

Today, in a bold move, I tackled the metro. Part underground, part plain old rail network, the subway links most parts of Athens. In 2000, Athens had just 25km of metro line; today, thanks for the 2004 Olympic Games, it has over 75km and it’s cheap and (relatively) easy to use. For reasons not entirely clear to me, I decided to take a ride out to Athens’ brand spanking new mall. It’s called, believe it or not, “The Mall”. As a rule, I am not a great fan of malls, but it is just down the road from the new Olympic Stadium and is far enough down the metro line to see some of the Athenian ‘burbs, so I went…

In the end, the metro ride was certainly the highlight of the excursion. The Mall was.,, a mall. Like all the others. The signs were almost exclusively in English and a goodly number of the shops were American or English chain stores. Coffee cost over €4 (I refused on principle). The Olympic stadium was big and empty. I’m sure it’s fun when there is something happening there. Enough said.

Last night’s social outing was to Cape Sounion. While the tour of the Acropolis on Thursday evening was unbearably hot, the organisers timed this trip perfectly. We arrived at about 8pm (after an hour and a half bus trip), just in time to watch the sun go down. Cape Sounion is the southern most point of the Attica region and looks out over the Sardonic Gulf. It is home to the Temple of Poseidon, the god of the sea (called Neptune by the Romans). While the Acropolis is a far more famous site, I actually enjoyed the trip to Cape Sounion much more. Firstly, the temperature was quite pleasant; the later time slot and the sea breeze meant that we didn’t feel like we were being baked. Secondly, it’s beautiful at the Cape! Looking out over the Gulf at sunset was indeed a very pleasant experience.

Athens has an odd relationship with the sea. Athenians are very proud of their coastal city, however, while the sea is not far away- about an hour from downtown Athens-you could easily visit the city without seeing it. I guess when you come from Wellington, you get used to the sea (and its accompanying weather) being part of everyday life.

Anyway, dinner was at a fish restaurant overlooking the Gulf- just as well I was still full from Thursday… We didn’t get back to the hotel until about 1:30pm so I am feeling it today… off to Samos this afternoon…. I’ll miss the 5* hotel (Marty will miss the breakfasts) but I’m looking forward to moving on…