This is the End

Sadly this was the last touring day in Greece.  I was correct about my non existent morning as I have to leave by 8:30 tomorrow.  But that's okay, it's hard to get enough time to do anything interesting.  And I can't think of too much else to see or do...  The one guidebook said that if you have extra days get out of Athens because there are more interesting things to see.  And boy have I seen a lot!

Today on the bus wasn't very adventuresome.  It was a 5-6 hour drive back to Athens and they really wanted to arrive before rush hour so that we wouldn't spend another hour stuck in traffic.  We stopped in Meteora to see an icon studio.  It's a religious decoration that is all hand painted.  It's very rich in detail and symbolism.  But if you want a Holy Mary surrounded in gold leaf for a lot of money it was the place to go.  We also drove past the Olympic stadium complex, didn't stop, but wow is it big!  The stop we were to have we did do yesterday.  I expects Thermopylae to be something more than just a memorial on the side of the road.

But the early return did give me the chance to visit Lycabettus hill.  I decided to walk there.  The hots website said that it was 2km away but that feels like an over exaggeration.  I walked there, uphill, in about 45 minutes.  And back in less than 30!  You can either walk up for free or take the fununcular.   After all the walking I chose the ride!  But it was a quick ride.  A little pricey but worth it.  I did have to laugh as it was built by a liquor company so they had ads the whole way up, in very poor English.  But it was worth the effort for the city views.  Even the acropolis looks small and insignificant from up there.  But it was interesting to see all the sites I visited only a few days ago from up above.  Also, whatever is on the rooftops in Athens causes the entire city to sparkle when the sun is out.  It's so pretty.

Up there you get a real perspective on the city.  Our guide was telling us that the population is only 11 million.  I expected bigger numbers, but I guess emigrating has always been a big tradition.  It just puts it in perspective when you think that there are at least 3 times as many Canadians than Greeks.  And half of the Greeks live in Athens and Piraeus, the port city that has merged into Athens.

I did figure out why the car dealerships are so small.  Gas is 1.70 a litre.  Yikes.  And here it was a shock when it was 1.42 that one summer.  But the cars are all so tiny, and they park very erratically.  If your car fits it goes.  You have to be really good at parallel parking here.  I did have a really good laugh when I watched a smart car parallel park in space that could have fit at least two smart cars.  It was terrible.  I'm guessing tourist.

It's a surreal feeling to be sitting in the same lobby I was in just a week ago, having newly arrived in the city.  But I have my bearings now and know a bit of the neighbourhood.

Tomorrow I leave at the same time as the groups going for the cruises so I suppose we will all do our goodbyes then.  Thankfully, people have mellowed out as the tour went on.  The know it all who asked a ton of questions finally stopped a few days ago.  I was a nice change.  My hotel room tonight is a little nicer.  I do have a Murphy bed, weird right, but it isn't a hard and I have some space to move around.  Which will help when I pack tonight.

But I'm off to go pack and get everything in order for my flying tomorrow.  It's a bit longer on the way home so the flight is just under 11 hours.  Hopefully air canada isn't as bad as the way here!  Or at least I'll try to whine less!

But I shall put up pictures as soon as I can, keep checking back for the final excitement!