Jetlagged in Athens

Cat Stevens is playing as I sip my cappaccino (looks like a flat white to me) on the top floor of Public (like Whitcoulls Queens St) and look out over Syntagma square.  So far I've seen Elvis standing on a guitar and Spiderman sitting on a stack of books - and that was just the first floor....

My hotel room is very nice and clean but a bit noisy.  I slept like the dead last night so it didn't really matter. 

Marcella and I went for a wee wander yesterday afternoon/evening.  I really just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep for a week, but I've made that mistake before.  Omonia square is where the rich people used to live but it is now the hang out for drug addicts and illegal immigrants.  It was deserted when we walked through it.  You can see signs of the protests and riots in the graffitti everywhere - some of it very violent and huge anti-police sentiments.

We say the National Library, the University of Athens headquarters and the Academy of Athens all in a row.  The graduation ceremonies are held at the headquarters.  There are statues everywhere.  Athena, goddess of wisdom, and Apollo, god of music and arts, sit atop the Academy which is undergoing some restoration work (like many of the buildings in Athens).  One of the statues in front of the University is Kapodistrias.  He was the first prime minister after they achieved independence from Turkey.  He tried to introduce potatoes to relieve the starvation of the greek people, but no-one was having a bar of it.  So he planted some in his own garden and stationed guards around it saying that they were exStremely rare.  As expected, people stole his spuds and started planting their own.

The old parliament buildings were next complete with a statute out the front of someone famous.  I can't remember his name but he is pointing to Lykavittos hill and apparently this is important.

Old stuff is all over the place.  We came across an byzantine church in the corner of a square.  It has a bell with a chain hanging down.  Naturally, I rang it.  (I'm  a bell ringer now too, Abi!)

By then we were a bit thirsty and peckish so we stopped at Everest (chain fast food) for a cheese pie before tackling the main shopping street.  It's sale season (so many shoes...) so lucky it was Sunday and everything was closed).  The sweet shop, however, was open and we bought some loukoumi (turkish delight) and the saleswoman explained about various sweets.  Mastich is very greek.  It comes from the sap of Mastich trees which grow on Chios Island (there have been bush fires there in the last few days and most of the trees have been burnt). 

Souvlaki was for dinner.  A very nice outdoor meal of mini kebab (domer souvlaki) and some greek salad.  The meal was marred a little by a very insistent beggar.  I was feeling dreadfully guilty but the restaurant owner told us that he was a drug addict and had refused food when he had offered it to him.

I was so tired that we caught the Metro back to the hotel and was in bed by 9pm.

Mum, it's been clear blue skies and a 'mild' 30 degrees  :)