Woke up fairly early after a restless night. The jukebox in the nearby café had been blaring out Greek music until the early hours of the morning. The strains of the wild, violin dominated, almost Eastern music died away at last. Then what had been until now a placid evening breeze, gradually developed into a strong wind which kept the tent walls flapping and me awake. I don’t think it bothered my fellow traveller.
It is now ten o’clock and the wind continues unabated. No sunbathing today, so Allan will be coming with me to Marathon.
By the way, I forgot to mention that the way down to the beach was barred by a small gate over which we had climbed to gain entrance. This is because it is a private beach and the admission charge is.5 Dr. Next time we intend to pay up like law-abiding Greek citizens.
Don’t feel like getting up, but I suppose I must if only to make the tea. We have managed to procure some English magazines, and are busy polishing them off. Finally had a wash and shave before setting off for the run to Marathon.
The wind still continues but not too bad. Marathon was reached at around three-thirty.
There is a burial mound on the edge of the plain which contains the remains of the one hundred and eighty-three Athenians who fell in battle against the Persians. It is – about thirty feet high and at a rough guess, around forty feet in diameter. From the top there is a commanding view of the plain of Marathon, now covered by trees. The road terminates at the village of Marathon – about two-miles further on, so we drove on down. It is a squalid, poverty-stricken place. There doesn’t appear to be any social life at all, nothing to – warrant our getting out of the car even. It was decided to return to Athens by a different route. On the way there, we had our first puncture. The tyres are easy to change on this car so really the only inconvenience was in taking the tyre in for repair.
Once in Athens, we went for a look at the royal palace and the temple of Olympian Zeus. The latter is the much more impressive of the two. The royal palace is very much like a large hotel, surrounded by trees, the only thing of interest to see was the sentry in his traditional Greek costume.
The temple and its surroundings are still under excavation. It is a large area in which the temple once stood, enclosed by its own walls. Outside the walls are the remains of 4th. Century B.C houses. At one corner of the site stands an arch built by Hadrian, easily recognisable as Roman. I took a few photos, then as the light was fading we set off back to camp. But we never reached it!
A restaurant by the side of the road attracted our attention. We parked the car. Before we had even a chance to get out, the waiter came galloping out to greet us, we being the only customers. The place was clean – a novelty in itself and the prices reasonable. So we stayed to have a traditional meal of meatballs cooked in olive oil, tomatoes and caraway bread.
We had of course, heard of the famous Greek wine “Retsina”. What the hell! We ordered half a bottle. Mistake!
The half bottle was about the size of what we call a full one. But we drank it, liked the taste and ordered another one. I read later that Retsina is notorious for its delayed effect. It made no exception in our case. By the time we got to camp we were what might be termed “merry.”
The first thing we did was to go for a swim even though it was now eight o’clock and dark. The water was warm, and we thoroughly enjoyed the dip.
Thus sobered, we decided to go take a look at the nearby Athens airport.
We changed into our suits, and set off. At the airport we had a coffee. Allan paid, and was nearly swindled out of 10 Dr. by the waiter. But he caught on and gave the waiter a right “bollocking”. He got his money back, incurring the wrath of the waiter who obviously was not used to being told off in public. Who cares? We strolled around inspecting the airport, had another black coffee then left to take a look around outside.
A few yards down an alley, we saw a ladder leaning against a wall. What are ladders for? To climb of course. Scaling the ladder, we found ourselves on the roof of the airport building. The roof was flat. We walked along it until we came to the visitors’ balcony where we surveyed the scene for a short while before deciding it was time to go back to the tent.
We had progressed a couple of hundred yards down the road when we realised that on the Continent, they drive on the right – not the left! Since I was driving, I immediately corrected the situation, and we reached camp without any – further incidents.
Thus ended our only bout of “merryness!” It will do us. But we enjoyed it, which is more than we can say for most nights. We won’t be sorry to leave Greece. Next time, I will make sure I have plenty to spend – whenever that will be!
Two more days left here. It looks as though the good weather has deserted us. See what the morrow brings.
