Athena goddess of the proposition

Calimara

I have been accosted and propositioned by every merchant in the Plaka! Always a tolerant man I have had to spend the last hour biting my tounge. I am now hiding in an Internet Cafe!

We went and saw the Temple of Zeus and the surrounding templettes, a lovely family. I loved the fact that the temple of Zeus was started in 516 BC and finished by Hadrian in 156 AD. I wonder if the Union was there? 672 years to get one job done no wonder there is still scaffolding up from the Rennaisence.

I visited one of my Iconic places today, the site of the first Modern Olympic Games in 1896. It was quite moving. I was staggered to learn that it was origanally built in 550 BC and had been renovated only twice since! It is beautiful. It holds 70,000 people in a horse shoe shape. We couldn't get in, actually Kerry wouldn't let me jump the fence, I thought a quick 100 meters and I would be gone. It is in mint condition and you get the sense of an ancient monument untouched in a modern setting.

We are off to Crete on the over night ferry. We are fast running out of clean clothes might have to dry them out through the port hole tonight.

It is Easter here. Aren't we lucky we get 2 Easters. Everything closed, twice! We were awoken this morning by the call of the Greek Orthadox priests calling all to prayer and then the bells for those who hadn't heard their 1000 watt amplified invitation. It was ironic because we had been kept awake by the call of the tourists and the blearing of the Horns and car alarms. A sound designed to wake the dead. Endearing for about 2 seconds and then grating to a degree beyond comprehension. Still the joys of inner city living.

As Kerry noted we walked through little paths yesterday, as we sought a pathway to the Parthenon, that went through peoples yards. They live right on top of each other and in full view of the world. An impossible place, I would imagine, to keep a secret.

Time to catch a Taxi to the Port.

Mike