The general strike was on and many of the archaeological sites including the Parthenon were effected, so we walked around to Hadrian’s Library which was open and then also found that the Temple to Olympian Zeus was open - walked around it and could hear some noise from further up the road….
Hadrian's Library - an archeological site right up the road - surrounded on all sides by more modern buildings.
Nearly didn't notice this little guy........
The museum was next door to the ruins - the marble was lovely
Parts were being restored and the columns should all weather together over time
Graham made an effort to keep in touch with his mother.... in the middle of one of the most ancient sites!
Temple of Olympian Zuess - we were dwarfs in comparison
hard to imagine that mere mortals made this..... almost enough to make you believe in the gods...
The view to the Acropolis, from the temple past Hadrian's Arch...
Again the view to the Acropolis, this time with the temple in the foreground
As we got to Hadrian’s Arch, we could hear the demonstrators coming down the street, so we stayed to watch - looked like any march seen on the streets of Sydney…. Orderly and well behaved. We moved off to find somewhere to eat and hours later after we had lunch and Graham had his hair cut and I had my wax job, we heard that three people had been killed in a firebomb attack on the banks…
On our way out to drinks on the rooftop at Athens Gate Hotel, we realised that we had been standing exactly where one of the firetrucks and media vans were set on fire. The street was closed to traffic but people were still allowed to wander through… some banks and other businesses had their windows broken.
Hadrian's Arch in the foreground to the left - was weird to see a road with no traffic... usually this one is packed!
The road was closed for hours, but even during the cleanup, it seemed tourists were allowed to just wander through.....
We had drinks and dinner and watched the Parthenon (cloudier this time, so not quite so spectacular but a better view of the structure itself from this side), the temple to Zeus and the clean up. The road was opened again at about 10pm and everything seemed to return to normal.
The light show came on gradually over at the Temple of Olympian Zuess
and we got a different view of the Parthenon
just to prove we were on holidays together!
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