lost in Athens

They say you have to be mad to drive in Athens so I guess that sums me up. But before I get on to that adventure, on Thursday 10th we explored the one peice of Athens that actually WAS designed by an architect - Killikrates and Iktinos to be precise. We ventured to the Acropolis and the imposing Parthenon perched on its hill. Sitting in the theatre of Dionyson (the most ancient theatre in the world) you could almost hear the ghosts of Aeschylus or Sophocles performing their plays with the applause of 17000 spectators.

But after visiting the big cities we decided it was time to see some country side so the next day we hired a car to go exploring. Driving through the country side it seems everything is either in a state of repair, being built or in neglect. The countryside could not be described as beautiful but had its own unique look with barren limestone hills and valleys of orange and olive trees. Passing over the Corinth Canal - an amazing bit of engineering where a mamoth 23 m wide slice through the earch has been dug to join the Agean and Ionian Seas to allow ships to pass. From here we drove to the fortified palace of Mycenae then on to epidaurus with its magnificant theate built in the 4th Cent. BC.

The day over it was just a simple matter of driving back to Athens and our apartment....or so we thought! Getting to athens was fine until we hit the maze of one way streets, poor street signs, dead ends, billions of cars and three tired and cranky kids in the back seat. Driving around hopelessly lost and Kathy having a nervous breakdown i was having fun....NOT!. After 1 and half hours we finally stumbled across our apartment.

Now - just a simple matter of driving to the airport tomorrow?????????