Day Seventeen -- Rain, Rain, Go Away

We had agreed at dinner the night before to meet in the lobby at 7:45 a.m. so that we could get up to the Acropolis before the crowds. It was gently raining when I got up and the forecast said it would keep raining until 6 p.m.  Matt and I didn't go to the Acropolis while we were here before, wanting to save the experience to do with the whole fam. This is our last day in Athens so our only chance to see the Acropolis. There was only one problem with our plan.  No one had shared it with Brett. When I stopped by Brett and Brendon's room they were fast asleep. I told them that if we didn't see them in the lobby at 7:45 we would go ahead. Brett has been feeling ill for the last several days and I wasn't sure what he wanted to do. But they rallied and met us for breakfast in the hotel. I had brought an umbrella with me but couldn't seem to locate it on this particular morning...of course. We took the gentler route up the hill on the side that houses the Acropolis Museum.  Once inside the entrance we got a better view of the Odeon of Herodes Atticus.  

 

The rest of the group went down the steps to the Theater of Dionysus. I stayed up top where a German woman got me to take photos of her with her flip phone, barking instructions to me in German and then shaking her head in disgust. Then we started the ascent to the Acropolis, through the Buele Gate.

 

We could see the dark ominous clouds coming our way. Brett kept us moving by letting us know that the rain was soon to make our way back down treacherous. Plus, we could see bus loads of people arriving behind us.  We enjoyed the Parthenon, 

 

the caryatids on the Erechtheion,

 

the views of the city below us,

 

and views of the scope of the Acropolis.

 

Our next stop was going to be to sit and enjoy some coffee at a sidewalk Taverna on the other side of the hill.  We made our way there but the rain was not letting up. We started down the stairs, lined with little cafes, but by now the water was running down the steps.  We had one spill but not fatalities. This was not a place to enjoy a relaxing cappuccino. At the bottom of the hill I bought an umbrella from a wandering salesman. Matt told him I wanted the purple one with polka dots.  Tourist!  We found a nice restaurant to sit down. By now we were pretty well soaked through.  

 

Our next hope was to stroll leisurely through the Monstiraki Flea market.  The man at the restaurant assured us that they were open, rain or shine.  It was nothing like the last time Matt and I had been there. Brett and Brendon headed back to their room to get dry. Matt, Jane and I wandered through the permanent shops of the flea market looking at furniture, jewelry, gramophones, juke boxes, ivory carvings and other treasures. 

 

By then I wasn't feeling well.  I headed back to the hotel and Matt and Jane headed off for more exploring in the rain.  When I got back to the hotel Brett and Brendon made me tea and gave me some medicine.  Then I headed for my room, put my pajamas on and went to bed. I slept and shivered for the rest of the afternoon.   I am the latest recepient of the illness we are all sharing with each other. Around dinner time, Matt checked in on me.  He and Jane will bring me back some soup.  When they returned with the soup they shared their photos of their afternoon. They had walked through different parts of Athens and then enjoyed a couple hours at the Athens Museum of Contemporary Art. That was one of the things I loved about traveling with my sister in Italy, finding modern art in a city known for the ancient.  We all went to bed early. Tomorrow our ride to the airport arrives at 4 a.m.