08.11 - Day 298 - Athens to Skala Oropou, GRE

Friday 8th November - Athens - Skala Oropou, Greece (Day 298)

We need to leave our apartment by 11 am so this helps justifying to Sienna and Seb why we have a timed ticket for 8 am when the Acropolis opens (and to avoid some of the crowds). Out of season I could buy the tickets the night before but in summer I suspect it would take more planning. 

A 10 minute walk brings us to the entrance just before 8 am. We wolf down some bananas - strictly no food allowed inside - only to see others carrying bags of food in. We spent 90 minutes walking and weaving atop the Acropolis, glad for our shallow knowledge gleaned from the museum yesterday.

The scale of the Pathenon is visually striking along with other smaller temples. The largest single destruction of the Pathenon occurred in 1687 when the incumbent Turks put their gunpowder inside it, only for a Venetian cannonball to set off a huge explosion. 

Although built in 9 years with marble from a quarry several miles away, the fixing up and reconstruction has so far been going for 40 years. 

The kid's interest is helped by an app which brings components to life via augmented reality. 

However, its imagination needed to see Athena battle Poseidon for control of the city - Athena getting the nod for her creation of the first ever olive tree over Poseidon’s salt water spring. 

Athena’s arrival out of Zeus’ head also raises some practical questions. 

Very glad to have seen it, but we make our exit past the amphitheatre as the large tour groups start rolling in. 

We collect our belongings and our hire car - a VW Taigo - from just a few minutes walk away. We navigate out of the city and head north an hour to Skala Oropou on the coast. There is down time at our new accommodation - M+F House, perched right next to the choppy sea that had looked such an enticing blue as we drove down the mountain into the seaside town. 

We’re in Skala Oropou to catch up with Chris. The fifth person from my UEA hockey days - Chris and I were in the same team for 3 years - that we’ve met on these travels. He and his Greek wife Annita live here with Max, their 4 year old son and we go to theirs for dinner where it’s also the second last day of Chris’ parents 5 week visit from Leeds, UK. 

Sienna and Seb confidently settle into playing with Max’s toys before a kids dinner seating followed by adults. Later Chris shares a photo with the hockey team on Whatsapp - it’s been at least 16 years since our last catch up; if we wait another 16 we’ll be touching 60 years old.