Here we are in Athens, so it's time to revive the blog! We arrived two days ago and are starting to feel more normal after the time zone change which has Athens 9 hours behind home. Athens is a lively place, full of people and motor scooters. It's about 30 C so warm but not too hot, and everyone is dressed for summer. There is more graffiti than we are used to, many of the buildings look rather neglected or halfway through some sort of repair, and also the footpaths and kerbs are often uneven or broken in the narrow streets around the centre, but everyone looks very neat and prosperous and there are plenty of up-market shiny shops and big department stores. Our hotel is right in the thick of it, so we can easily walk to many of the sights in the city and there are plenty of cafes and shops.
 |
| Graffiti and motor bikes are very common in the streets... |
 |
| ..and there are very nice leafy streets not far away. |
On our first day we explored the local area. We found Syntagma Square, the centre of things here in Athens and just across the road from the parliament and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This is guarded by the Presidential Guard 24 hours a day, with two men at a time standing absolutely motionless until they are relieved by the next team after one hour. They then conduct a bizarre hand-over ceremony which draws crowds of tourists who come to watch.
 |
| The new guards arriving for the hand over. |
 |
| A snapshot from their bizarre slow-motion handover dance. |
 |
| Holding a rifle like this will not be easy. |
As you can see they are dressed in a comical outfit, with white stockings and big pom-poms on their shoes. However they are all deadly serious and you would not want to laugh at them. They are highly trained and are selected partly for their size - they are all big men.
We arrived to watch this changing of the guard and found there was a protest going on, with a singing and chanting crowd waving a sea of Greek flags. The tourist guides warn you to be wary of getting caught up in demonstrations, which are quite common in Athens and sometimes turn violent, so we stood back a bit to assess the situation. After a while we decided the protest looked ok, and there were plenty of other tourists around so we we sidled in closer. It was all quite exciting, with the Presidential Guards starting their change over and the protest going on around us.
The protesters were adding their voices to the general Greek outrage that the new country on their northern border is called "Macedonia", which is also the name of a large chunk of northern Greece. The official name of Macedonia is supposed to be the "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" (FYROM) but is is now generally referred to as "Macedonia", which infuriates many Greeks. The governments of FYROM and Greece are struggling to find a way out of this.
 |
| The protesters were making a lot of noise. |
 |
| A Greek Orthodox priest joining the rally. There are quite a few of these guys on the streets. |
So it was an interesting first outing into the mean streets of Athens. We feel very safe walking around, and there are few beggars or touts trying to sell you things. We had not known quite what to expect, given that Greece is several years into a deep financial crisis. They all look pretty relaxed and happy. The news today reported that tourism is doing well, but the manufacturing industry has had slower growth this year.
