Awash in History and Heineken

An early morning call at 8:00am found us not quite ready to relinquish the night, but alas, our tour guide Stamatis had grand plans to spend the day in Athens soaking in the sights and the history.
As we left the hotel, it was clear from the overcast sky that the weather for out of doors sightseeing might be dicey at best. Rising up from the bowels of the metro under the main city we heard a low rolling thunder which we thought was the forbearance of pending storms. As the light of day from above grew stronger so did the thunderous noise rising and falling in crescendos. I thought that it might be the welcoming of the Gods for their wandering son, Herby (as Pete is known to Stamatis) who had at long last returned from his Odyssey. Alas, it was only the throngs of thousands of Liverpool football fans chanting their pre-game rallying songs while spraying their robust red clad bellies with beer, Heineken only, if you please.

Later the real storms did come forcing us to dash for any cover we could find sharing the shelter of doorways and awnings among swaggering beer swilling, Liverpool fans who were speaking completely incoherent English and uttering strings of obscenities such as a sailor’s daughter has never heard before. Apparently in Liverpool all sentences both begin and end with F**k or F**ken. Determined to reach the Acropolis we forged ahead crossing against rain gorged gutter rapids and the rapidly moving pedestrian and motorized traffic, all of which seemed to flow incessantly. The later ignoring all signals and attempts by the police to control or direct them. Atop the Acropolis the sun finally broke through and sanity seemed to reign as even the sulliest of fans stood in awe of the Parthenon, the Temples, and the incredible views of the surrounding city.

After hours of hiking, climbing, and gawking we finally found respite at a café where we dined on Moussaka and lamb. Struggling to find our legs we once again headed back to the city stopping along the way for Haagen Das to fortify us as we dove into the belly of the beast (aka the metro) as the football fans were all trying to get through the same area enroute to the stadium.

Thankfully, once we maneuvered the throngs at the metro station we headed off in the opposite direction of the cheering, beer swilling crowds to our peaceful hotel and blissful sleep.
By Phyllis