Day 2 - Thanks Rick Steves!

While we were atop the Acropolis yesterday we encountered 2 couples walking around listening to their iPod, playing an audio tour by travel expert, Rick Steves.  They raved about how great the tour was, and how informational it was, so, although a little jealous we didn't have him to guide us through the Acropolis, we licked our wounds and downloaded the City Tour and Ancient Agora Tour for today.

The City Tour started us at the Syntygma Square, where the Greek Constitution was formed and where the Greek Parliament exists.  This is also the location of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which is guarded by the two soldiers shown standing under the roof of the little huts in the image below.

The tour then took through Ermou Road, an absolute fantastic pedestrian walkway/shopping corridor, that has a very rich history of shopping, debauchery, and political protests and assassinations.  From here, we walked through the Plaka and down to Hadrian's Arch, and the Temple of Olympian Zeus.  We walked around here for a bit, saw the ruins, and made our way to the Panathenaic Stadium, which is both an ancient ruin restored, as well as the track that saw the 2004 Olympic Archery Shoot and Marathon finish (not both at the same time, mind you ;)  The photo below shows Lindsay, sitting listening to Rick Steves, with the Temple of Olympian Zeus in the backdrop.

The next photo was taken purely for Heather Boyko and Courtney Almendros, with whom Lindsay traveled Europe with 11 years ago.  "These are pineapple trees!" Lindsay informed me; she is not a credible source of Greek Botany.

After Hadrian's Arch and the "pineapple trees" we followed the tour along through winding roads, narrow corridors, and steep walkways to the suburb of Anafiotika.

Anafiotika is a time warp from the old days and people of Anafi, who moved to Athens and tried to maintain and keep their Cycladic traditions and lifestyles alive.  Today it is still inhabited by many of the descendants of the original Anafians, but is also being bought up by many rich Athenians who want to experience an island getaway in the heart of Athens.

The tour eventually took us to one of the Plaka centres and restaurants, where we ate our modest lunch (18 euro for both of us) and enjoyed the cool of the shade and the high-powered fans that also spray a watery mist, to act as a crude outdoor air conditioner.

After lunch we powered through the final tour we had of Rick Steves on the Ancient Agora.  Time was against us, as it closed at 3pm, but thankfully we made it through 90% of it before closing.  Lindsay is standing here, below, in the long corridor of the Stoa of Attalos.  It is a modern reconstruction of an ancient building, where people gathered to discuss politics and philosophy.  The Ancient Agora was wandered by many great minds in such a short period of time: Socrates, his pupil Plato, and his pupil Aristotle.

From here we went back into the Plaka and found ourselves sitting in an Internet hub updating our blog, looking at photos, and cooling off.  We plan on heading back to the hotel, cooling off a bit more, possibly showering and changing before we head out for a later dinner and stroll through the Plaka and the, before going to bed around 9 or 10.  Tomorrow we are renting a car and travelling up to Delphi and Meteora, so we'll see how the driving goes...Athens is nuts!