Athens

Athens is not cheap. Our host arrives to let us in, he talks constantly in rapid fire `Englreek` (English/Greek mix). My first impression is that the apartment is very secure, there are locked doors from the street into the lobby. Then we head downstairs! Its a basement apartment. The door to the apartment is also very secure, should this indicate something sinister? It smells a bit of mothballs and slightly musty. But its cool (temperature)! It is 30 degrees plus outside but it is pleasantly cool here without having the aircon` on yet. One benefit of being at basement level. We have a window (with bars outside) level with the pavement, and a window box of cactus (so the cats cant use it as a litter tray apparently, will have to remember that trick at home) and a view of parked mopeds. Could a trendy photo opportunity.

Of all the rooms we have stayed in, they all have a common denominator. They all need a man with a box of tools to finish them off. This apartment is good but it could be great. It has a huge state of the art fridge freezer which is not only unnecessary but is very noisy. (Its a studio so we have to sleep with this thing, we soon learned to turn it off at night) It has a washing macine in a cupboard which faces the wrong way so you have to be very bendy to use it. (I think the wire was too short to put it round the logical way, so.....buy a longer bit of wire or an extension lead.) It has some very nice light fittings but they didnt get around to screwing the ceiling roses to the ceiling. There are some wires hanging out of the wall in the kitchen, they have connectors on the ends but they are just hanging there. The bathroom could seriously do with updating but its clean. A new shower curtain wouldnt break the bank.

We go off for a recce of the area. I feel like we are in a slightly dodgy side of town. Almost trendy, but a bit dangerous too. Its a strange mix, there are some very nice cars parked along side some that havent seen an MOT in a long while. Most of the buildings are five story apartment blocks, some with shops or working premises at ground level. There are balconies with washing hanging. Cats prowl around. There are birds in cages and televisions on, just a bit too loud. Men sit on stools on the pavement with their worrybeads. Part of me hates it, part of me loves it. But I do feel we need to watch ourselves a bit. I feel like I look out of place despite dressing down and no `bling` etc. Maybe I should actually get long nails and hair extensions and be dressing up? There is a metro line at the end of our road and the nearest station is St Nicholas. Nightmare getting a ticket from the machine but we got there with help from a kind local, who also gave me her own metro map.

The metro gets us to Omonia Square (Omonia is Greek for `Concorde` - random information) which is the centre of town. Despite googling etc I cannot find a tourist info office! The only `result` is actually a tourist car rental place. HELLO, this is the capital of Greece, surely there is a tourist office? We wander around and find the government building, identified only by the Residential guards in their traditional uniforms with pom-pom shoes. (more about them later) There are several bus companies offering hop-on hop-off deals, so we approach one. Our choice of company is scientific.....she smiled!! So she got our €30 for 3 days unlimited travel. We get a map, of sorts, and decide to do a complete circuit and get our bearings.

These bus trips are so worth it as long as you take advantage of what they offer. We get free headphones. So we plug in, select English and settle back. Its a very interesting city. Crumbling old buildings tucked next to smart new ones. I could weep for the state of some of the old buildings, fabulous architecture, ornate iron balconies, tall skinny wooden shutters, all crumbling to dust. Athens is home to 4 million Greeks, thats over a third of the total population! Yet so many properties are derelict, I dont understand why. People are living in cramped conditions, I know that above us is a family of 3 in a studio flat. Its sad.

Athens is crazy. Bring noise cancelling headphones for comfort. And, be warned, just because it looks like a pavement, doesnt mean motorbikes and cars wont use it. And red lights don`t necessarly mean stop. And green lights dont necessarily mean go! You need eyes up your rear end! Its actually quite exhausting. The graffiti is everywhere, even on the lovely marble, but there is hardly any litter. If there is an inch of road to be gained four or five vehicles will jostle for position to try and get it. At big junctions where there are pedestrian crossings, the waiting cars, four or five abreast, give the impression of the grid line of a grand prix. They sit aggressively revving their engines, waiting for Murray Walker to hysterically shriek `GO GO GO!`. Then as soon as they see an opportunity, off they go, driving through and around the pedestrians. Doesnt matter what the lights say. Scares me to death! I tend to tag on to someone who looks like they know what they are doing and follow them. We actually witnessed a car and motorbike collision, fortunately no injuries, but lots of bent metal.

There are a lot of motorcycle police, and they ride two-up, rider and pillion. We were enjoying a 500ml of the house white in our local `restaurant` (I use the term loosely, but the staff are friendly and it a good people watching spot, and 500ml of very palatable house is €3.50). Two police bikes with four `rozzers` onboard went straight through the red lights. No lights, sirens or anything, just an over confidence that they are immortal I suppose. I personally nearly fell foul of the `restaurants` delivery scooter on this very evening, I swear we were that close I almost got razor rash off his designer stubble!

No trip to Athens would be complete without a trip to the Acropolis and Parthenon. Mid day temperatures are over 30 so we aim to get up there before it gets too hot. Best laid plans etc. We pause for coffee and a breakfast piece of cheesecake (it was the only thing on the menu that looked ok at 10 in the morning) at a rather prestigious hotel in the middle of Omonia. This backfired later! Read on! Then there is the Temple of Zeus, the Panathenaic stadium, new acroplis museum, the national library, the National Garden (cool oasis right in the heart of the city), it goes on and on.

The Parthenon is fantastic. It was incredibly busy, we queued for an hour to in. It is a bit of a climb on slippery marble. But it is so impressive. Kept thinking Frankie Howard might pop out from behind a column.... Or er missus. (Lurcio). I know that was Pompeii but you cant help comparing. But the views ...... breathtaking. The history, it was completed in 438BC. The scale! Its massive. It exceeded all my dreams. I wont try and write more at the moment, my words will not surfice to describe it.

Normans looking a bit peaky. Got a bit of indigestion. We soldier on, back down the hill. We had seen a war museum on the bus trip and decide to have a look. (See the pun...`soldier on`) Anyway, we end up walking for ages in the heat of the day and eventually find it (its not on the map). What can I say, there are lots of swords, daggers and guns etc, not much explanation of what/who/where. But Norman enjoyed it, despite feeling a bit uncomfortable. I dont feel great either but think for me its the heat. We have a cold drink and head for home. Think we are on water only rations for 24 hours. It can only be the rotten cheese cake. Just goes to show, just because a restaurant is high end doesnt mean its good! (And the service was appalling too, the waitress should NOT be in a customer facing job).

The government building and those guards with the pom-poms! (The presidental guard) Absolutely fascinating. The precision in their drill movements. The intricacy and detail. First thought is that they look slightly ludicrous, but comparing to our bear-skin clad horseguards its not so crazy. They are so smart, not a whisker of moustache out of place. It is a great honour to be a guard. It is a nine month posting and is madatory for all military personnel. We actually watched it twice in the end, it is one of the highlights of our stay here.

Today we took an extended tour on the big blue bus (2 hours). We went on a trip to the riviera. People forget Athens has a riviera. We didnt have time for swimming etc, but just went along for the trip. However the beaches look fabulous, uncrowded and very inviting. This also gives the opportunity to see VouIagmeni lake, this was a hidden massive cave untill the roof fell in. It is spring fed with a backwash of sea water forming a natural spa. Then its back to Monastiraki square, to The Greco Project, a taverna on the edge of the square by the flea market. The very best Moussaka I have ever had, delicately spiced with nutmeg, not over cheesey, not a hint of grease. Delicious, and as it turned out the best meal we had in our stay in Athens. The flea market - does not sell fleas, they come free! However, there were some lovely old chairs and I got a tiny bit of `How I would love to be in the hobby room being creative right now`, is that home sickness? If it is, it was a fleeting feeling. The chairs can wait.

I still havent decided whether I like Athens or not. Its very much alive and raw, a city of contrasts. We need to get to the ferry at Pireaus for a 7.30 saiIing on 31st. To achieve this means a 26 minute metro journey from St Nicholas a couple of blocks down the road. So, we need to be wheeling our packs down the empty back streets at about 5.30am at the latest. Might as well be carrying a neon sign saying `Tourist - rob me!`. I am not happy. After a night of fretting and a trawl on `tinternet, I find a hotel that looks nice right near the port entrance. Its €42 for one night, but will give me peace of mind. So its booked! We can travel in the middle of the day when there are lots of people around, thats the theory anyway. My feeling of unease is reinforced as we went in search of a restaurant which had a very good review. We have had only one decent meal so far and would like some fish, or anything not on a skewer really. We are walking the 1.2k to the restaurant and there on a huge wall are the words `Immigrants welcome, tourists f**k off`. That settled it! We turn around and go back to the apartment to pack. We will spend our Euros elsewhere.

Goodbye Athens! Our host asked why we were leaving a day early. I told him. He was shocked, and said we were perfectly safe. He blamed the immigrants for the graffiti. If thats the case, the local businesses need to club together and buy a big tin of whitewash and clean up. When I complete my review on booking.com I cant give this place a good score on location. Its a shame as it is convenient for the metro to the city centre.