Leaving Athens by sea

We have spent the day in Athens, in the evening we depart for Monemvasia.

Athens is quiet, its centre mostly populated by tourists, it seems. Today is a day of obligatory rest for the politicians, the heat has for the moment gone out of the protests.

The new Acropolis Museum gives pride of place to the marbles which were not removed by Lord Elgin. This museum is just stunning. Greek art through its various styles and ages is explained and demonstrated. And you can look straight up to the nearby Acropolis from inside the museum building.

The town is difficult to assess. Some streets look fairly prosperous, others are depressed and depressing. But the sun is weather is beautiful and Athens looks at her very best.


In the afternoon we go down to the Piraeus, Athens' port, and embark on our ship. The photo above is taken as we sail out of port. The sun has set, Athens is illuminated by a post-sunset glow, the street lights are coming on, we are looking northwards towards the town centre. The Parthenon (already lit by its spotlights) can be seen high up, just to the right of the conical hill at centre right.


Tonight we sail southwards through the Saronic Gulf and then southwest across the Myrtoan Sea towards Monemvasia, on the easternmost "finger" of the Peleponnese. Sailing? We are travelling under sail, an envigourating feeling as we carve our way through the sea with a strong wind behind us.

The wind is not a boon to everybody. To our port side Greece is burning: as we approach the southern tip of Attica, the sky is suffused with a unhealthy red glow. With my binoculars I can make out three separate fires raging through the tinder-dry forests or scrub land.


POSTSCRIPT: A useful Greek driving lesson

We this witnessed in central Athens from the other side of the road, just a few metres away. It was beautifully demonstrated by an elegantly dressed young lady.

Her car was parked on the roadside, so she started the engine. Then she dialled someone on her mobile phone. It was a complete waste of time and petrol to leave the engine idling, so she reversed. The result of this was that a motor bike just behind the car tipped over sideways, but somehow only to a 45 degree angle. Our lady driver was irritated at the car's sluggish progress - well, perhaps she was also irritated by her interlocutor on the phone - so she put her foot down further. Now the bike hit the ground, and petrol immediately gushed from its fuel tank.

The good news was that our driver had gained enough space to pull out into the road. At that point a shopkeeper shouted at her and ran up to her car. The driver graciously interrupted her phone call for a few seconds, but as the shopkeeper was so difficult to understand (well, we couldn't understand him either) she went back to her phone call and drove off.

That's what I call concentrating on the really important task in hand.