Every picture tells a story, don't it

 

After a morning run--around the Acropolis, up to the Pnyx Hill, and into the Sanctuary of Zeus Hypastis--Nia and I set off on a walking tour and a shopping spree. (With limited resources, "spree" is an overstatement.)

Our perambulations through Athens are best described with photos.

Morning view from our apartment roof

Morning run by the east side of the Acropolis

Acropolis Museum--next time

View west from Pnyx Hill

View north to Lykabettos Hill, while out running

Stoa of Atticus in the ancient Agora

Running down the stairs in Plaka

More ruins in Plaka

Ruins of ancient library in the Plaka

Ancient library

Old Turkish mosque near Monastiraki

Fruit vendors in Monastiraki

Morning run up Pnyx Hill

Partial view of Athens

Pick your juice

Temple of Hephaistos, ancient Agora

Byzantine-era chapel near Metropolitan cathedral

Plaka run

Fruit vendors in Monastiraki

Defending democracy--much needed in America

Another worthless franchise...

On the Areopagitou, near the Acropolis

Typical 19th-century Plaka architecture

Standing tall near the law school

At the sweet shop in Kolonaki

Modern-day, unmasked

Metropolitan cathedral

Evzones at the Parliament

Juicing pomegrantes--we need this contraption in Messinia

Back in Athena's Shadow

 

I woke before sunrise while Nia slumbered just a bit longer. Here on the eastern edge of the European time zone, the sun pokes over the mountain in Akritohori at around 7:45.

Neither of us has slept particularly well this last week. Between the anticipation of departure, the horrendous weather (massive rainful, high winds), and the cooler nights without the benefit of blankets, sleep has been fitful at best.

 

I set off alone down the mountain to the coffee shop on the main road, chewed the fat with a couple of fishermen, then headed to the beach to watch the sun rise.

 

Nia and I tidied up the house, locked the door and then the gate, and set off for Athens at 10 a.m.—stopping first to give our dear friend Niko a hug and a pretend kiss on the check. Covid protocol in Hellas.

 

We returned our old friend Carmen (the little red buggy) in Markopoulo, near the airport, then proceeded for Covid tests at the Athens Medical Center, which has an office in the arrivals terminal. In just twenty minutes, the results were in: negative! While I was positive that we’d be negative, we could not board Tuesday’s flight to Munich without the certified document in hand. So that was one little hassle that we could put behind us.

 

We took the Metro to the Monastiraki station, wound our way through a suprisingly frenetic crowd of vendors and tourists, milling about the Areopogitou, the cobbled pedestrian walkway at the base of the Acropolis, manipulated the keybox and—voila!—we were in our AirBnB apartment overlooking the Parthenon.

Hot water, electricity, light switches—we had arrived in a veritable paradise!

Shortly after settling in, we hailed a taxi and zipped off to Kaisariani, the neighborhood where our old friends Thanasi and Koula live. Together we enjoyed a delivery order of souvlaki, salad, and pita.

Monday is our last full day in Greece. After a morning run, we have shopping and museum plans, a coffee date, then another visit with my koumbaroi in Kaisariani.

---------------------

Saying our goodbyes, shoving off for Athens

Τζιμης...Jimmy's souvlaki stand in Kalamata

 

Scene from the Greek Revolution, 1822

Long live the revolution!

Finikounda long beach--A big surf in a still-warm ocean 

Our last week in Finikounda was marked by extreme weather—not just here in the southwestern Peloponnese, but throughout all of Greece. It blew 9 on the Beaufort scale (category 4 "Medicain"). We have endured heavy rains, strong winds, and an earthquake off of Koroni. We didn’t feel the earthquake because the wind was howling and there was a driving rain.

In Corfu, in the northern Ionian Sea, the island received 29 inches of rain in just 12 hours. Apparently it was even worse in northern Italy. No one can remember such a prolonged rain so early in the fall. The refrain in the village--"Climate change." Skeptics be damned.

After an aborted first attempt, yesterday morning we drove to Kalamata, Messinia’s main city, about 50 kilometers north. We enjoyed a day at an incredible museum that featured original costumes from throughout Greece, dating from the late 1700s to the 20th century, and representing every part of Greece. The museum was high-tech, with touch screens, moving/rotating displays, and lovely traditional music.

The museum staff took a special interest in Nia, who hopes to study fashion design in the coming years.

We ran in and out of heavy downpours, visiting an 11th-century Orthodox chapel in Kalamata’s old city center.

Tomorrow we close the shutters, lock the door, and drive north to Athens for a few nights before heading to Boston via Munich. It is always hard to say goodbye, but we will be back next spring, by hook or crook.

Hopeless attempt to dry our towels

 

Earler today we took our last (we think) swim in the residual surf on Finikounda’s long beach. Tonight we will meet friends for early drinks then head off to one of our favorite tavernas for the proverbial last supper.

Our olive trees are nearly ready for harvest after the first fall rains