Inter Rail 1987 Day 7 and Day 8

We were 2.5 hours late getting into Athens. Just before arriving at the main station the train stopped, and the train leafleteers joined us to persuade us to stay in the place they were recommending, thus earning them commission or a free night in said establishment. We had been recommended a place by Sally and Graham, so when the guy from Hotel Joy appeared we asked him to show us the way there. We got a double bedded room with private bathroom and private balcony for £4.50 each.

After such a long train journey, we didn't feel like doing much to start with, so sat on our balcony in the sun listening to Genesis "Invisible Touch". We finally stirred our stumps, had a hot shower (well hottish), and at about 5.30pm, when it had got a little cooler, headed off towards the Acropolis.

We caught a bus and actually paid! We couldn't actually get on until we did. This bus took us slightly off course but we couldn't be bothered waiting for the right one. Once it turned away from the Acropolis we hopped off and ended up wandering down a side street and being overtaken by a bunch of very strange Greek soldier types.

There were 4 of them marching along line astern with a strange shuffling action and accentuated swinging arms. They were all very tall and wearing khaki pleated skirts and had pompoms on their red clogs!

Subsequent research revealed these to be the Evzones on their way back to their barracks. They are the Presidential guards who perform the ceremonial changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

We also went past the Panathenaic Stadium which was used in the original 1896 Olympic Games. It was also used in the 2000 games as the finishing line for the Marathon from Marathon.

We walked up the hill to the Acropolis and just manage to get in before it shut for the evening. The view from the top was quite spectacular including the ancient city of Agor, but the Parthenon was a knockout. It was a pity the modern crane was up there but it was still an incredibly stunning site.

We actually met up with the German lass from the train again. She was having a major moan about the early closing of the site. We sat on the rocks opposite for a bit and then had a wander around Ancient Agora. Wasn't impressed. Seemed more like a building site containing rubble.

Bought some postcards in the local flea market plus 1.5 litres of local white wine plus a luxury, pistachio nuts for Jon. After being offered a romantic evening meal we checked out the menu and decided to take them up on the offer. Sat outside under a roof of leaves and had mousaka with greek salad plus dolmades (stuffed vine leaves).

Wasn't impressed by the poor chained dancing bear we saw in the flea market, but wandering around it gave us a fabulous atmosphere. Took us a while to work out where we were in relation to the hotel but eventually strolled back. At 10.30pm the temperature was 20C. Wrote the postcards whilst quaffing the wine and had a darned good nights sleep.

Saturday 6th June 1987

Woke up to the alarm clock, packed and went downstairs to a great full breakfast including orange juice. Changed some money to pay for the room, and set off for the train station where we passed the time of day in French with a woman who had just got off the train from Turkey. The train to Argos was absolutely packed.

Getting on was a case of avoiding little Greek ladies dressed in black with enormous elbows.We then got to play "Let's see how many people we can cram into a tiny train compartment. Every seat seemed to be reserved and my rucksack ended up upside down in the corridor having been displaced somehow from its spot in the luggage rack. We ended up securing 1 seat somehow, and spent the journey alternating between sitting on the seat or on my rucksack.

One of our travelling companions was an Attila the Hun type who spent the entire journey shouting at everyone but mostly his poor wife. He also had an obnoxious spoilt brat of a daughter who got everything she shouted for and kept kicking everyone. We ended up arriving in Argos 30 minutes late.

We needed to decide our next destination so found a small cafe and had a cold Coke. We were sat looking at a very interestingly shaped junction which made for some interesting driving manoeveres and human responses! We decided to go to the seaside town of Nauplion. There was a bus due in 15 minutes so we decided to catch it. For our 20 minute ride we paid 35p and were treated to a very pleasant drive whilst listening to silly bazouki music.

On arrival in Nauplion we wandered down to the shorefront and had some food (mousaka and greek salad.) We had to decide whether or not we could afford to hire a car as the public transport in the Peloponnese is limited to say the least. We decided we could, just, and went along the prom to find somewhere to sit in the sunshine to wait for the hire car office to open. We joined some French speaking stranded whales until 5pm when we got the car sorted. £120 each for 7 days unlimited mileage, leaving the car in Patras. We couldn't go for the cheapest option as Jon couldn't fit in the car without sticking his knees up the middle of the steering wheel.

The hotels proved a little more expensive than we wanted, but we eventually found somewhere for £5 each a night. We did get some good views up to Fort Palamidi. After a bit of a sit in the sun we climbed the 857 steps up 709ft up to the fort which was built as a Venetian Castle in the 1680's. The views from the top were spectacular but the fort itself was shut. Ended up totally sweaty, out of breath and knackered.

Once back down in the town, we had dinner in a restaurant where we had been invited in to look at the kitchen. The waiter took his life in his hands to serve his customers as the tables and chairs were all on the opposite side of the road from the kitchen. Out meatballs, chips, greek salad and beer cost us £2.48 each. Spent some time back at the hotel, sitting on the roof planning our next day's moves.

Jon Athens

Jon Parthenon

Me Parthenon

Athens

Jon Argos

Palamidi Steps

Bourzi Island