Athens - non-ruins (mostly)

So enough of broken rocks and ruins.  Let's see what else Athens has to offer.

One of the challenge of travelling in Greece is the Greek script.  Street signs and even maps on our iPad are written in Greek.  That makes for some frustrating navigation. 

YL (while looking at the map, trying to get us where I want to go): OK, tell me where we are now.

SY (trying very hard to help): Erm...ok, ok. We are at Omega, Delta, Omega, Sigma, Ky-Delta-Alfa- no that's Omicron.... (looks up to see YL has gone away)

Changing of the guards at the Parliament Building in Syntagma Square.  They wore white kilts, red caps and red clogs with pompoms (why not?), and marched around by lifting their legs as high as they could without losing balance.  Serious.

Also in Syntagma Square.  We were resting there one afternoon when this street magician with his film crew was doing his thing.  He came up to us and did some tricks with us, too.  They said their show is aired in Malaysia and Singapore.  Did anyone see??

View of the Acropolis from one of many rooftop restaurants in central Athens

The Acropolis in the background, taken from Filopapos Hill.  He was a happy camper, despite the heat and the walking.  Aaah...the simple pleasures of being a two-year old...

View of Athens from the top of the Acropolis

At the Stoa of Attalos in the Ancient Agora, or marketplace. A stoa is a covered walkway where vendors can sell their wares, and public gatherings can take place.  Today it houses the Ancient Agora Museum which displays artefacts they found in the agora.  

Here's one example: a kleroteria, or allotment machine for jury duty made from slabs of stone, found at the entrance of every courthouse.  There are columns of narrow slots arranged horizontally.  Into the slots were inserted the bronze identification tickets carried by citizens who are eligible for jury duty.  Several black and white bronze balls are released into the slab from above, and then depending on which balls emerge at the bottom first, the citizens represented by the one horizontal row were accepted for jury duty that day.

The bronze tickets and ball

The golden domed ceiling of the 10th century Byzantine monastery of Osio Loukas.  Here you can see Jesus washing the feet of his apostle Paul.

Souvlaki (skewered pieces of meat).  We also had our fill of keftedakia (fried meatballs), and fava (puree of yellow split beans), Greek yoghurt, and feta cheese in salads.

But I think our favourite experience was the simple traditional souvlaki at this hole-in-a-wall, Kostas.  We were there at the end of the lunch hour, but there was still a queue.  We had no idea how to order - actually I still don't know how YL ordered - but voila... 

...juicy, filled to the brim with meat, onions, chilies, and yum yum...