Athens, first impressions

Another big travelling day where we left our accommodation at 9am, and got to our Athens place at 6pm. A long boat trip packed with holiday makers, followed by bus, and metro trips. Had a bit of trouble getting into our airbnb place as I'd forgotten to text when we were on the way, then the message about hidden keys and how to get in only partially down loaded via text. It's a bit of a problem when you rely so much on the internet these days, but only have access at your accommodation. And don't get me started on roaming fees - I'm being charged 33 cents for every text received, and I didn't think to remove myself from the overtime text system at work before I left - so bing, bing, bing for overtime, and there's another dollar gone - lol!

Various reports say it was anywhere between 39 and 41 degrees in Athens today, and we were fair melting by the time we arrived. In addition to water, sometimes there's nothing better than a cold coke. But we ventured out again and oh how exciting. We're just up/down the road from the Acropolis and about a million outdoor restaurants. It's Sunday night and every man and his dog seem to be out wandering the streets, eating, shopping, and generally enjoying the relative cool of the evening (it's now 31 degrees). There's stalls and musicians and most of the shops stay open late. We walked from where we're staying in Thissio (like Ponsonby in the old days), up through Monastiraki square (lwith the madness of Times Square), onto Syntagma Square, and the parliament building. This is where they've had all the demonstrations previously. Nothing like that tonight - people out enjoying the night and the coloured fountains, and the buskers. Heard a guy playing an amazing bouzouki (stringed instrument) and it just made you feel like dancing  - we did a bit of arm waving as we crossed the road!

We walked up the steps towards the parliament building to get a better view of the square, and we're just in time to see the changing of the guards. Buckingham Palace has nothing on these guys. They wear pom-poms on their shoes and do this slow motion high steeping manoeuvre that has to be seen to be believed.

We then wandered back through the crowds and found a busy outdoor restaurant for dinner. We have had some limited views of the Acropolis, but will try for better views tomorrow.