Day One
(Transcribed from notebook)
Well, made it to Athens in one piece, though this involved getting up at the ungodly hour of 4am, which nearly finished me off to begin with. I'm used to *staying* up that late, not *getting* up. Left the house by 4.30, drove to Heathrow, blah blah, all nice and simple.
In flight entertainment was good though. Got to see some of 'Hornblower' at last, which has convinced me that I really must read some at some point, as it really is camper than a row of pink tents. The 'everyone loves Horatio' society was flourishing under the leadership of Paul McGann with a silly hat and Greg Wise with an even sillier accent. Ioan Griffudds himself was *wonderfully* gay - his look of vague horror and fear when he proposed to The Girl To Whom He Felt Obligated at the end was *priceless*. Must read.
Oh yes, and I think the pilot was on crack.
In any case, made it to Athens and the hotel in one piece. The front's currently covered in scaffolding, probably to get it ready in time for the Olympics, but it seems nice enough inside, with damned good showers and a v. good restaurant with views of the Acropolis.
The afternoon was spent scaling a small hill in Athens from which there are wonderful views out over the city. I hate acting like a tourist, but it really was amazing - the views of the Acropolis in particular were stunning. It's just really weird for me to *see* all these places that I've been learning about for god knows how long. The Parthenon is *right there*, the Pnyx, the Areopagos, the Agora - everything. It's a really odd feeling.
Due to visit the Acropolis tomorrow. Likely to make me feel even stranger.