Rubble

 Today was rubble day. Something dear old Crispy has been looking forward to for the past three weeks.

We are in Athina, the birth place of civilisation and democracy. The ancient cradle of learning and knowledge. Home to Aristotle, Socrates and all the other clever lads. I must admit my knowledge of Ancient Greece is very limited so this will be a learning curve for me. The good news is I had planned our rubble day around the several Roman sites here. At least I’ll have some idea of what’s going on. I can’t tell you how excited Crispy is to stroll around these ancient wonders. It’s was going to be hot today with the temperature in the city exceeding 40 degrees. I bought her a bottle of water and a bag of crisps to limit her complaints and hopefully prevent her getting too fractious.

The first stop, just across the road from our lodgings, was the tomb of the unknown soldier. Not ancient but the Greek equivalent of our own War memorial to honour the fallen in the major conflicts. It is guarded 24/7 by soldiers currently serving in the armed forces.

The guard changes every hour and we set off in time to watch it before moving onto the rubble. On Sundays they wear the traditional white uniform but every other day the guard wear their khaki everyday outfits. Similar but not as flamboyant.

A small crowd had gathered to watch this hourly spectacle. It seems a little strange as they strut around the memorial in a series of carefully choreographed perfectly timed movements. Slow high kicks and stomping actions. It seems the movements are designed to move and stretch the soldiers muscles after standing completely motionless for hour after hour in extreme temperatures.

It was very interesting to watch. Crispy videoed the complete thing which took exactly 22 minutes.

After the ceremony we made our way brought the national gardens to our first site of interest. The national gardens are a huge park directly behind the parliament buildings. A huge green shaded area for the people of Athens to relax and escape the heat of the city. It’s immaculately kept and a great place to sit and relax. 

The rubble we aimed for was the Lyceum of Aristotle. Also know as the parapatetic school. There’s not an awful lot left of it so Crispy sat under a tree to take in its wonders whilst I strolled around reading the interesting information boards. It seems that to the academic world this place is considered one of the most important places in the history of mankind. Here Aristotle did most of his work on metaphysics and other subjects. It was all a little lost on me as I’m better with things that involve shields, helmets and pointy things. Part of Old Aristotle’s school was a gymnasium where the young guys would perform their daily workouts, naked, so I suppose it could have involved some helmets and pointy things at some point. Who knows.

From the Lyceum we headed back through the shady gardens to our next stop. Hadrian’s gate and the Olympian temple. Again Crispy sought out the comfort of a shady tree and I wandered around the ruins.

This at one time was the largest temple in the Ancient Greek or Roman world. Sadly again not much of its former grandeur remains. It was still impressive. Good old emperor Hadrian (another of our favourites) had a hand in its completion along with other works in Athens. As thanks the people of Athens built him a triumphal arch here. It’s unusual because on the side of the arch leading into ancient Athens it reads  something like “Welcome to Athens, Ancient city of Theseus” on the side leading out of the city Hadrian added “ it’s not Theseus,s it’s Hadrian’s”. It made me chuckle. 

From here our plan was to continue on and visit a few other rubble sites before making our way up to the Acropolis around six after the sun had lost its fury. It was hot. Very hot. We decided to lunch in the Plaka and attack the other sites later. As it turned out we were both tired and feeling the heat so we retired back to the lodging and the comfort of the Air conditioning. The other rubble can wait till tomorrow.

At five thirty we again set off into the city to scale the Parthenon and visit the Acropolis. After a short stroll, it’s only 10 minutes away, we arrived at the ticket office. Other people must have had the same idea and a queue had formed. We were already in possession of our tickets so happily skipped the line and went straight in. We were showered cool and refreshed and Crispy made a point of waving her tickets and pulling self satisfied faces at the people sweating in the queue as we sauntered past them to the turnstiles.

We climbed the hill to the Acropolis and joined onto a guided party for a short time. Again the guides started spouting nonsense about gladiators and flooded theatres to the masses so we quickly detached ourselves and moved on. It was worth it. The Acropolis and temple complex are fantastic. A true wonder of the ancient world even if like me you know nothing about it. There is not much shade at the top so Crispy wandered around with me. The views of Athens and the surrounding country  are spectacular. They in themselves warrant the entry price and effort. The city spreads out below you from the mountains to the sea. A spectacular panorama. Certainly a view we will remember.

After strolling around and visiting every piece of masonry we descended back to the Plaka. We ate in a small restaurant and then made our way back home to our lodgings. Crispy wanted a nightcap so  a cheeky cocktail in the flamboyant bar on the corner of our street saw us tucked up in bed.

Tomorrow we will once again make our way into Athens to visit the remaining rubble. Crispy is a little tired and achy. The effects of the rubble tour are taking their toll on the old bird. I’ve made her promise to try and do a little more exercise when we return to Crispy HQ at the hovel. I don’t want her seizing up. We still have lots of adventuring to do

Bare and Crispy signing off, under the Acropolis, Athens Greece.