Day started as usual, a good breaky and off on foot to take advantage of the sunny day and put to good use the second day of our 2 day open top bus pass. Arriving at the base of the Acropolis hill we hoofed it to the entry gate to be greeted by a large line of people (mainly school kiddies) waiting to enter and climb the stairs to the top of the hill; too crowded for us, so we retreated back to the bus drop off point. Two girls from the bus company who remembered us from the day before,  said ‘you’re back already!’ We replied that it’s ‘to crowded for us’. When they had finished laughing they said ” Athens is empty…. this isn’t crowded…. you should see this place in summer’!      No thanks…..

We delayed the visit to the Acropolis with a brisk walk (down hill) and a relaxed pace uphill over the next few hours, covering more ancient history; hard to believe it can be as old as it is and still standing or recognisable today.

Trouble at the Parthenon
Trouble at the Parthenon

Back to the entry gates with no crowd at all….. (ya) so in we went. It’s surprising how much restoration work is going on on top of the hill, but it doesn’t detract from the beauty and the view. On our way out we struck a little unexpected trouble, well Jo did !  I was innocently holding a KooWeeRup MCC jumper in front of the Parthenon (the building with the big posts as Chezza puts it..) and Jo took a picture, all down hill from here..  An older woman (about our age) came scuttling over and appeared not to be all that happy with us, indicating it wasn’t the done thing holding the KWRMCC logo in front of the Parthenon. Telling us we could go to jail for this, she headed straight to security and dobbed us in !!

Security wanted to see the photo (which was sharply focused with amazing contrast) for themselves, funny…. they didn’t mention the focus or contrast elements of the photo, but did mention that it had to be deleted, and it was an offence to take a photo of any type of logo in front of the Parthenon….. fair chop, so one of the best photos of the trip is now gone forever….. RIP

Now for Jo’s version of the Parthenon fiasco!!!!!

After many photos & exploring everywhere on the Acropolis, we decided to head for home.. BUT not before Span had a brilliant idea.. that almost landed us, well Joey, in jail!!  Span decided it would be a great idea to to hold up his KWR bike club windcheater, with the logo facing the camera for a pic… No sooner had I clicked, than this old dear came rushing up, grabbed hold of  the camera arm & waggled her finger at me. Apparently it is disrespectful to do such at thing at the Parthenon – it is a sacred structure & no other logo / brand can be photographed in front of it! She was telling us it was illegal / disrespectful & that we could go to jail.. that we must go to security immediately, & that they would take our film out of the camera (clearly she is not in the digital age!!!)

We were led off like 2 errant school kids (‘She’ holding tight to Joey’s camera arm to prevent any escape) to the security guy, who really didn’t give a fig (get it we are in Greece .. fig!!); but the old gal was gesticulating & prattling on so much, that he said ‘you must delete the photo’. Well .. what can I say other than that Span folded like a bit of crumpled paper & couldn’t delete the pic quick enough.. what a laugh!!!

At last after many hours visiting various local bike shops we found jackets and boots that hopefully will last the trip, the locals are very interested and can’t believe the plan for the next 18 months. We were lucky to come across salesman and good guy John, from Moto Market who could speak very good english. He understood very well our needs and suggested gear that would deliver good durability and suit everyday wearing. Only thing needed now is the bike !!