Up and out of our hotel by 11. We caught a metro into town and went to a new Athenian cultural centre. A lift to the top – the lighthouse – provided spectacular views of Athens and the Acropolis. We also explored the national library and took a photo by a water feature. Then we caught a bus into town, passing Nik’s Uni, and tonnes of brothels and strip clubs – “dream girls, whatever you need”. It was an odd place.
As we got off the bus Miles got trapped behind an old lady and a man with a mop and the bus took off with him inside! Luckily by the next stop he had extricated himself and wondered back to us. We took a metro to the centre and took a look at parliament. It was defended by fluffy shoed guards and hung in endless Indian flags in honour of a coming visit by Modi.
On the walk further into town we met Nic’s friend Nadia or Konstantina – I could never work out which. She took us to a bar on a terrace overlooking the Acropolis, which was a sick experience. I also got a decent Iced Tea. When I was in the bathroom another of Nik’s friends arrived, but I never caught her name.
Eventually all of us wondered over to a good souvlaki place, walking slowly to keep up with the Greeks. I got a pork Gyro. When we’d paid we wondered over to the Acropolis and me and Miles went in alone while the others went off to a café. It was, of course, amazing, if covered in scaffolding. We saw a closed off amphitheatre which I’m sure I went into last time I was here when I was 6 or 7 [turns out that was actually elsewhere]. I have a core memory from there of a man with his trousers around his knees as a fashion choice.
After exploring the place thoroughly and taking in the view of the city we went to the nearby museum, where the others were supposed to join us. They didn’t, so we looked around alone. I’ve never seen so much marble in my life. 15 mins before closing at 8 we were ushered out so we didn’t get to see it all.
Outside we caught up with the guys. The girls has gone but a new, male friend was there. We got a beer and wondered the streets for a while. At 8:30 we headed off to the bus station. Once there I bought an unnecessary box of cookies and we bumped into Nik’s friend Kris, who happened to be taking the same bus home as us.
I spent most of the journey listening to tunes in a state of half sleep. We were back in Patras by half one, took a taxi to Mirto’s apartment, put some washing on, and slept.
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