My four days of shooting. After enjoying the sea a little I finally leave Kea Island to go in Athens. It is 6:15 p.m. when I get there. The Acropolis is all I have on my mind right now! I drop my stuff in my hotel room and head out there. On my way I couldn’t help but stop and take photos so when I got there it was closing! I kept taking photos of the city.
Next morning I show up right as it opens! Can you guess what my feeling was when I finally laid eyes on the Acropolis? I thought it sucked! This historical site is quite inviting when you look at it from afar, but when you get in it actually loses its appeal. To make matters worse there were scaffoldings all over the place! I managed a few nice pictures but that was it. How can you frame right when everywhere you look your vision is obtruded by scaffoldings? I left feeling deceived.
Athens is assuredly a historical destination but it has scene better days. To me it lacked in charm, because what’s left of the old architecture is not enough to enchant! As you leave the older parts of the city and reach the more modern ones, it feels as if you were actually changing cities! Exactly the opposite of Paris, London, Milan Barcelona or Stockholm! Those cities have managed to marry the old and the new in more efficient way.
I thought the reception was a little cold also. You can feel the economic tensions. As a tourist it is hard to say if you are wanted or not! People look at you with envy and loathe in the same time. It’s a little unsettling. In short I had the feeling that the people felt abandoned from their government and that their resentment was transferred onto visitors. You might experience Athens in a different way though; maybe it’s just me. You’d have to see it to tell.
So my stay in Athens ends and I am getting ready to go out on a rock climbing trip. Not without difficulty I found a site right by the Mediterranean Sea that supposedly allows for bouldering. Although I don’t have much information about the place, I decide to rent a car and head out there. It’s near Nafplio, 200 kilometres from Athens.
Here are my best photos for this part!
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Speak soon!
Sam