We woke up early and tried the Greek national museum. They have some amazing stuff. A lot of the gold they found at Mycanae site is there, including the mask of Agammemnon. We were there for a long time before we saw something from the ADs, everything else was either old or really old.
We promised the kids that we would take the double decker tour bus, which we managed to find. Thankfully, they will do all the driving for you in this crazy town. The 90 minute bus ride circuit was nice, until three hours in we had only managed a little over half of the route. The Greeks were out rioting over something downtown, so traffic was even worse than usual. We found out later that they were striking at the airport (mostly the greek lines) and striking in the ports (so our thoughts of getting to an island would be a disaster). I remember thinking it odd that a Greek colleague was so worried about angering the students and inciting them to riot. now I understand. We managed to jump out and grab chips, cookies, and drinks for lunch on the bus since the bus was not going anywhere.
When finally we got off the bus, we saw the old stadium that seats 50,000 from 300 BC. After that, we played on a little playground nearby. Then we walked through a neat area with some giant columns and Hadrian's gate. We tried to get into one of the theaters at the base of the acropolis, but the old bitty would not let us in. They close at 3 and we were 10 minutes early. That is plenty of time for touring with kids! Too bad I do not know any good Greek swear words, although we did voice some displeasure there. The Acropolis and the Agora areas were also closed at 3. We saw the tower of the wind where the whirling dervishes were, the flea market during the day, and finally got back to Victoria square for dinner. The kids were beat after no naps, and we are pretty tired as well.
It was sunny today, cold in the shade with wind yet hot in the sun. Some people had coats with fur lined hoods on. I was in shorts, sweating bullets as I carried Ellie down from the Acropolis and I saw a lady sitting around with a coat and fur earmuffs. I cannot imagine how terrible it would be to come in summer.
Dinner in Victoria square was good again. It was fun to watch the street vendors pack and run when the cops showed up. Now that we are leaving we finally know how to order for the most part.
I read that 70% of the beer in Greece is either Heiniken or Amstel. They have two major nationals, Mythos and Alpha. I have not found Alpha.
Lowenbrau on tap with dinner. Fine after a long hard hot day.
