tennis, trivia and the rest of the week
big week for slacking off. the boss is back next week and then it's time to focus for 3 months. some highlights:
didn't do much over the weekend. Went to my first yoga class (hard but good) with flatmate-Carly and rewarded myself with
sushi. Was up VERY late on Saturday night with the flatmates. Did nothing Sunday. I watched
Enemy of the State (which I got because
Tony Scott directed it but think I've seen before),
Garden State (
excellent - restored all my faith in
Natalie Portman (Lucas is an ass). don't watch the cut scenes -
he was right to cut them) and
The Long Kiss Goodnight (again). sat around. did nothing.
By the way, while I was on IMDB getting the links above, I was reminded that
High Tension opens this week in the US. I don't really see the point. It was fine in French. Anyways, don't pay for it. It's got some great gore (actually - it's
really bloody) but the plot is full of huge holes and doesn't make any sense. It's only good as a movie you'd rent for visceral slasher thrills (I love the scene where he chops the dad's head off and all the blood goes squirting on the floor). Not worthy $8.50 or whatever NY movies cost these days.
Back to the highlights, Wednesday I went with my friend Bethan to the
Stella Artois Tennis Championships at the Queen's Club. She lives right by there and gets to go for free because they muck up all the parking during the run of the tournament. I met some of her very nice friends and had my first glass of
Pimms. We only saw one game (yes, I'm using the terminology correctly) but I had a really nice time. I stayed at her and her fiancee's house 'cause we stayed up a bit too late for me go home.
Last night, there was a trivia night at work. 6 people including me played on the team:
The cheese-eating surrender monkeys. We had two perfect rounds (movies - where we got double points - and music), came in fourth place out of, like, 15 teams, and won a prize for best name. Very fun even if Timmy bailed so we missed the
TARDIS question.
That's pretty much it. More movies this weekend I'm sure, but I haven't made any plans. I still have to do my laundry from Greece, so I'm sure that'll factor in. Oh yeah! I forgot to tell you: my dad met Arnie! If you're in London, come see the pic. Anyways, this is a very big deal in the Brown house. We've always loved and respected the guy. I've seen all his
movies, starting with
Conan up until
Collateral Damage (horrible timing) plus
Hercules in NY and
Pumping Iron. So has Susan. Arnie's like, I don't know, an uncle or something. Dad says he's huge and was very nice and shook the hands of every person that was in uniform. Pretty cool, Dad.
greece pix
well, I'm sure this is going to be a long post. :)
Wednesday:The good news was that I woke up spontaneously at 3:30 am. The bad news is that was an hour late and I still had to pack. So, I rushed and stressed and finally got on the damn plane. Landed in Rome, missed Italy, bought a watch, changed planes. Landed in Athens at 4:05 pm Greek time, which is two hours ahead of London. Got a cab to the
Hotel Zinon and checked in. Basically, at that point, I just wanted to
eat and go to bed, which I did. But I also took a picture from the balcony of my room:
Thursday:Got a tiny bit later than expected but still made it out the door pretty early. I walked from my hotel, past the market and through Monastiraki to the Acropolis. After entering and walking a bit, you look down to your right and can see the Odeon of Herodes Atticus where they still have concerts, as you can see from the picture below.
Also, the view of the surrounding area starts to really become breathtaking.
Odeon again:
Then you keep walking past the Temple of Athena Nike (don't worry - pic in a bit), through the Propylaia and along the Sacred Way, until you come face to face with the Parthenon.
Front of Parthenon:
Looking back at the Propylaia:
Still in front of the Parthenon (right), the rocks on the ground are remains of the Artemis Sanctuary and in the background you can see the Erechtheion:
Looking back at the Odeon from the top of the Acropolis:
A view of Athens (to the south) from the top of the Acropolis:
A (boring) picture of the Mycenaen wall around the Acropolis:
Starting to walk (to the east) around the Parthenon - so this is the south-facing side:
From there, you can look down at the Theatre of Dionysus:
And from the southeast corner, you can see Hadrian's arch and the Temple of Olympian Zeus. This picture is great for perspective on just how massive the temple was:
Continuing around, this is the east-facing side of the Parthenon:
On the east side is the Acropolis Museum full of all the movable objects from the area. I took a picture of an owl in the museum for my momma:
Actually, almost all the museum pix are for you, mom. They're fuzzy 'cause we weren't allowed to use a flash (which is fine with me - I don't want to damage priceless artifacts and it annoys the crap out of me when people ignore that). Anyways, here's (left to right) Zeus and Hera (probably but it could be Athena) sitting while Heracles comes in with Iris behind him. You can see all the paint they used to use:
I tried to get a snake so you could see the paint really well, but it's kinda fuzzy:
And still more fuzziness, but this is a plaque showing Athena defeating a giant...
...so you can use your imagination when you look at the statue:
Going back outside and around, this is the north-facing side of the Parthenon. Look at those clouds. It rains about 5 minutes after I take this picture. Also, the crowds are starting to pour in (pun intended):
On this side is the Erechteion. This temple is to jointly worship Poseidon and Athena and marks the spot where the spring and olive tree came from the ground. An archaeologist planted the tree in the corner (rather cheesily):
On the other side is the Porch of Carydids:
The columns are replicas - 5 are in the museum and a 6th was stolen by Elgin - along with damn near everything good - to put in the British Museum):
Exiting back through the Propylaia, this is the Temple of Athena Nike (not much there):
and the Beule Gate:
Nearby is a rock where you can climb up and look down the ancient Agora (market):
I walked down the hill and into the Agora, which was really very interesting - especially if you try and imagine how this peaceful park was once the crowded, loud heart of Athens. Appropriately, this is the place with the extremely well-preserved Temple of Hephaistos:
Looking back at the Acropolis from the Agora. All those little walls used to be the walls of the shops and buildings:
The reproduction of the Stoa of Attalos behind the trees:
I left the Agora to go back to Monastiraki. It was here that I went to buy handmade sandals like the ones bought by Jackie O and John Lennon from the
poet-sandalmaker, Stavros Melissinos. I also went to get some souvlaki at Savvas and watch the rain pour down:
Then I walked along the touristy streets, getting lost and discovering a street where they sell Orthodox artifacts, and eventually making it down to Hadrian's Arch. This is looking back at the Parthenon through the arch:
I proceeded into the park to see the Temple of Olympian Zeus up close. Also looking back at the Parthenon:
It's just HUGE. Here's looking up at the columns (and sitting on the ground to get this shot):
While I was there, I had my first real encounter with the wild dogs that roam Athens. They're all over Greece, along with their kitty compatriots. These two dogs came right up to me to beg food (it was pistachios - I didn't give them any) but check it out. Those are my feet:
and all I did was turn to the left and this one was sitting on a rock right next to me:
Anyhoo, I left there and began the LONG walk back to the hotel. I passed by the Parliament building, first watching the pidgeons who will eat out of your hand, like in Venice. This little boy had one on his head right before I took the picture:
Here's shot of the Parliament building:
and one a bit closer up. They might look silly, but those rifles are loaded and they snap the butt on the step if you step too close:
By the time I got back, I was hobbled and exhausted. However, I did get on the metro to go out to
dinner before going to bed.
Friday:Having done all that, I decided I deserved to go to the beach. So I checked out early and got the metro to the ferry station where I bought a ticket to Mykonos. It's about 5 hours to get there and the water was a bit choppy, so I wasn't really enjoying the boat ride. However, I did take a picture of each of the islands we stopped at.
Syros:
Tinos:
and, finally, Mykonos:
You can see the windmills in this one:
I got off the boat and started to wander to find the hotel that was recommended. In the meantime, I ran into one of the famous huge pink pelicans. It doesn't look that pink in the pic, but it is:
I got lost because Mykonos was designed to confuse pirates. It's got all these windy little streets and you need a really good map and to not care about getting lost. Eventually I found
Philippi and checked into a double room, which is all they had open. I left there to explore (get lost again) and have an early dinner. Vicki, I took this one thinking about you and how much you'd have loved to sit there:
Saturday:That night, however, I discovered why Mykonos is famous for it's parties and quickly learned if I was going to sleep I needed to get out of the center of town. So, in the morning, I checked out and went to get my ticket to Delos, leaving my bag at the ticket office. The whole reason I picked Mykonos was to go to Delos, which, in case your mythology is rusty, is where Artemis and Apollo were born. It's also the only place you can touch ancient temples.
Temple of Apollo:
Temple of Artemis:
Lion Terrace, guarding the lake where Leto gave birth, the real lions are in the museum on the island:
Sacred Lake (well, lawn) with the palm tree in the center that marks the spot:
Sanctuary of Dionysus - yes, that's what they are. Jer, this one's for you. Mom, they really dig Dionysus in Greece. I can't tell you how many things I saw dedicated to him:
statue of Artemis in the museum:
Temple to Syrian Gods (I think):
Temple of Hera:
The view back down on Delos from Mt. Kythos. This is where Zeus watched the twins get born. You can see the green "lake" center right. The building's the museum:
And the view on the other side, looking out towards Mykonos:
Gorgeous mosaic of Dionysus (see?) in the House of Masks. Again, fuzzy no flash:
Trip took until about 3:00, so I grabbed my bag, had a drink, then went to the tourist office to find a room more out of town. They were very helpful and I did
sleep better.
Sunday:FINALLY, time to go to the beach. Took a while, but I found the bus station and got myself on a bus that took me to a beach called Psarou (I think) where I could get a boat to Super Paradise beach. I rented a chair and sat in the afternoon sun, eventually grabbing a bite to eat, sunbathing a bit more, then grabbing a drink at the packed bar/club. I didn't take many pictures for the next two days, but here's looking back at the beach:
and here's looking out at the (COLD) water:
It was at Super Paradise where I met Holly and Calvin. They're ER nurses in LA and were out for a friends wedding. We met on the boat back and I got off with them at Paradise Beach for drinks. Holly and I ended up going out that night (very very late). This was one of the highlights of the trip because we met a bartender who got us into an after-closing bar where we danced - they actually do still dance in circles! It was a ton of fun. You know I don't post people's faces on my site, so if you want to see the pic of me and her that night, let me know.
Monday:Oh man was I hung over. But I did get up and check out and drag myself to Holly and Calvin's
hotel. Unfortunately, I'd missed Calvin and Holly wasn't ready (but I didn't know that). So I left my bag there and hopped on a shuttle back to town to get the bus to get to Paradise Beach. That's where I sat and drank (they bring you drinks there) and waded to look at fishies and got properly pink. Holly showed up later in the afternoon and eventually we went back into town for dinner but very few drinks. I crashed in their room, after they generously moved into a triple.
Tuesday:Calvin left before us to head back to Athens and the London. Holly and I spent the day making arrangements to get back to Athens and having a nice lunch, then sitting on the ferry. We got back to Athens and checked into the Hotel Zinon where my colleague Marcus was waiting for us. He was in town for a conference and the three of us all went out to dinner. WONDERFUL.
Daphne's - if you're in Athens, go. Tim, I swear we paid for our dinners. On the way there, I tried to get a shot of the Parthenon all lit up at night:
Wednesday:unfortunately, we stayed out late and didn't get up too early. After having a wretched time finding it, Holly and I finally got to the bus station to Delphi only to find out that the next bus wasn't leaving for 2 hours. Then the ride is 3 hours and the last bus back was only 1.5 hours later and then another 3-hour trip back. Sadly, I decided it wasn't worth it to try to rush through the site in an hour and spend 2 hours in a bus station and 6 on a bus. So, we decided to go to the
National Archaeological Museum instead. Except, we got lost. Really lost. Somehow we ended up walking for over an hour and several miles before finding a metro stop. It was awful. We were exhausted before we even got to the museum. We did get there and I did enjoy myself and saw the Mask of Agamemnon and a bunch of other stuff, like
this fab statue of Poseidon/Zeus:
some people say Perseus, others say Paris. I think it's Paris and the apple has been lost:
theatre mask (not one they'd wear, one that would be in the theater or whatever):
Pan trying to get some from Aphrodite while Eros helps fend him off. That's her sandal she's going to hit him with, so one wonders: where's the other? is just one sandal and nothing else the vogue for Greek goddesses?:
The Sounin Kouros (statue from the temple of Poseidon):
Another Athena for mommy:
After that, I could barely walk. We went and bought Holly a backpack and then I went back to the hotel for a nap while she bought sandals from the poet. Only she actually got a signed copy of his poetry, lucky girl. She joined me on my nap and we both got up for
dinner, but when I woke up my back was completely out of wack. It was killing me so much I could barely breath and didn't really eat my dinner. So we went back to the hotel and packed - well, she packed, I took paracetamol (acetaminophen) - and went to bed.
Thursday:Got up, checked out, shared an (annoying) cab ride to the airport. Said goodbye to Holly. Got a flight to Milan (ah, Milan - wish it wasn't just a connection) and then London. Got my tired, sore self home and to bed for work the next day.
And that's it. A lot's happened in the last 4 days, but I've been working on this for far too long and need to get some work done. Lots of posts to come soon, I'm sure.
