So here I am again on another business trip to far flung places, this time to Athens. Not unlike my time in Capetown (see below), it was a few days before I actually left the hotel and saw some sights. Contrary to expectations, it rained for the first few days and the evenings were so bitterly cold that we barely ventured out of the hotel, amusing ourselves over a G&T supper by discussing the relative merits of the beaches at Southport and Cleethorpes, the sex life of caravanners (when they're not causing a queue on the A1) and our Dutch colleague's love of Hastings. The people here are friendly and hospitable (but we tourists always say that, in the slightly patronising and 'haven't got a clue as to what the natives are really thinking when we can't tell a parakalo from a kalispera' way.)The men in kilts are called Evrones and they parade up and down in front of the Parliament building, stopping their routine just long enough for the obligatory tourist photo.
I next climbed the Acropolis, only to find that the Parthenon was covered in scaffolding, while a 'restoration' is under way, removing the original marbles to a museum and replacing them with plaster casts. OK, so many of the original marbles are in the British Museum and no, you can't have them back, but it looks like future generations who climb the Acropolis will have only a Disneyfied monument to look at. Lord Elgin might as well have demolished the whole lot and shipped it all to London. At least it would have avoided the climb. As the rain had finally stopped for a bit, I took a few pictures of the puddles. That way you don't see too much of the scaffolding.
On my final day in Greece, I was bored with Athens so took the Metro to the Port of Piraeus. Many of the ferries are sponsored by a certain mobile phone company. At least they added a splash of colour. Talking about foreign trips, I'd also been to Stockholm in September. It was closed.
