Athens

Yes we finally did find the Acropolis ... well you can see it from all over Athens but actually getting to it was no mean feet
A spot of shopping at Louis Vuitton I dont think but the shop was kinda cute dont you think
Me being a moron ... stil ... again
This is actually the inside of the Akropolis Underground Station everything is geqred up for the tourist and so clean despite their being 3.6 million people living in Athens
Yes the Acropolis is really there high up on the hill and yes we did walk up there in 35 degree heat

Another cute little Church this one was 1,200m up at the top of Lykovittikus Hill .. sorry dont have the Lonely Planet with me and have forgotten the correct spelling
The Mr Bean dressed guards you can see how tall they are .. all over 6.5ft
Just to ensure yo know we did find it .. this is another one of The Acropolis
I just love these narrow littly windy streets all steps and very steep
The tower at the top of that hill which I now cant spell with a view of the sprawling ,etropolis that is Athens in the background

Cop those Malano Blahnik shoes for style they wiggle them as part of the ceremony
And no that is not The Acropolis its The Parthenon .. 39 degrees at this stqge of the day too
mmmm another one of The Parthenon
and another viez over Athens .. we seemed to spend a lot of time at high altitudes
A cute little Byzantine Church in the middle of Athens shops

Leaving Naxos was fun .. not. The Captain of the boat was a mini Hitler and despite having our van measured in the Shipping Office he insisted we paid extra and had Coraleen paged during the trip. He was going to escort us off the boat.. 'personally' if we didnt cough up another Euro18. Coraleen told him we had no money.. argued the point to no avail.. the only 'compromise' being she paid him Euro18 in coins.. and he certainly wasnt impressed with that either!! But it made us feel slightly better.

By this stage both of us were sick, me with asthma and bronchitis and Coraleen with a cold I guess she had caught from me.. and we had been plonked in smoking.. so that was another nightmare to contend with.. as you can see we were not happy chappies.

Arriving in Athens at 11pm didnt help either.. but after finding the campsite (and not getting lost either!) Coraleen decided it was too late to set up camp and an air-con hotel room was soon found. When morning arrived Coraleen pronounced she was just not going to camp in this heat and would, once again, pay the difference between camping and the hotel.. and there we have stayed for the last few days. No complaints from me.. I certainly am not feeling the best either.

The Acropolis, Parthenon and Plaka district was our first port of call. We caught the train in From Kifissia (where are staying near the Olympic Village) and 'ambled' up to the top of the Acropolis area in 40 degree heat. It was beautiful and the view of Athens amazing.. its still very hard to imagine the history these old cities have hidden in those ruins. Laughing to ourselves though, we couldn't actually distinguish the Acrpolis from all the other ruins and tried to tag on to a tour group to actually discover which was which! OMG!! Are we heathens or what!!

Both of us being weary and forlorn at the end of the day headed home via The Mall and did a little shopping before turning in for an early night ready for another day of relentless heat and scorching sun.
Today we climbed about 300 steps to take the furnicular to Lyvittokis Hill which was amazing given its 300m above Athens and we actually looked down on the Acropolis.. and its much easier to see from a distance lol

I reckon if you are not a student of Archeology you would have a helluva job finding 'things' here. We followed the guide books re the stations etc.. and went to The Acropolis.. it wasn't there.. or didnt seem to be. All we could see was The Parthenon. We tagged on the back of tour groups and they were all talking about the Parthenon. We walked around.. down.. up and across. came across Ancient Agora but never the Acropolis.. or nothing that said it was even though it looked like it??

The following day we went to Filippos Hill/Hill of the Pnyx and got off the station at the Akropoli (?? hello thats not what we were told for the Acropolis) and there were signs to the Acropolis.. three stations from the previous day. I know we saw it.. but not sure how.
Most of you know me well and I am sure you are not that surprised.. but honestly..!!

After than came the changing of the guards.. not a pretty sight!! As Coraleen said this could be part of a Mr Bean comedy and Jimmy Choo certainly had no say in designing those clobhopper shoes. In all seriousness though I dont know how they do it all in this heat.. thick tights, hat, layers of clothes, marching around Parliament House in the heat.. full regalia and guns... but definitely a site worth seeing even if our bohemian thoughts did make us laugh while others were, once again.. still.. serious.

And we went to McDonalds! I know.. but honestly milkshakes are NZ$7 - $9 and in McD they are only NZ$2! and even I must confess that Greek Salad is wearing a bit thin so a Fillet of Fish was a welcome change.