All too quickly our two week cruise was coming to an end and we found ourselves back in Athens with the larger than life character Michael the taxi driver waiting to take the guests back to the airport. After doing all the boring but necessary post charter tasks we took a day off to explore Athens. The flea market was very busy and loud with lots of smells coming from the different vendors and the parliament sits in contrast to most of the other buildings in that it doesn’t look like it took 10 minutes to build or is about to fall down. A highlight was finding the shop of Pantellis Melissinos the “poet sandal maker” whose father and grandfathers have been hand making leather sandals to the stars and public for 5 decades. The shop smells strongly of new leather and is adorned with Pantellis’artwork and letters from various dignitaries including Prince Charles. Clare bought a pair of his sandals which he personally fitted and adjusted as we waited. It was really nice to see the smile on his face when he had got them the way Clare wanted. Quite different from the usual faceless branding we are all used to. That evening we splashed out and had an excellent meal on the roof top terrace of the Hotel Grande Bretagne which has a commanding view over the Acropolis. Great food, attentive service, awesome setting and a colossal bill, well you only live once!
The View of the Acropolis from the Restaurant
Unfortunately while we’ve been in Athens, massive forest fires have broken out to the north of the city and while I write this some 30000 acres are affected with 1000’s of people having to flee their homes. Thankfully no casualties have been recorded yet and with international help from France, Italy and Cyprus hopefully it will be under control soon.
The Smoke from the Forest Fires over Athens taken from the Marina
Gordon