The Original Ministry of Silly Walks

I think I have found the original Ministry of Silly Walks.

It is the Greek Guards outside of parliament in Athens. With their beige skirts, tassels on their knees and pom pom’s on their shoes, they certainly look the part, but when they start the changing of the guard that’s when you realise you have stumbled into a Monty Python sketch.

It also happens to be the site of all the protests they have been having in Athens. To be honest, I wouldn’t be that scared either of those guards. As a tourist in Athens though, you soon quickly realise that Athens is a horrible dirty city. There really is nothing going for it except the Acropolis. The protesters could do something useful with their time and do some cleaning, but as what is quite clear around the city, they tend to be a bit lazy. Most of the motorways intended to be built for the 2004 Olympics have only just finished being completed. After the Olympics, the stadium buildings have just been left, the area now a wasteland for rubbish and homeless people instead of being built into a nice park like setting. It’s no wonder the country is running out of money. Shops aren’t open on Mondays, and opening hours are sporadic at best. We went to go to the Acropolis museum, which you have to pay to get into, it was shut. The city is so filthy that you don’t want to spend any time in it anyway.

Temple of Poseidon

The Parthenon (translated = Virgens Apartment) 

Instead we spent the day on a local island, Aegina. In contrast it was a beautiful place with crystal clear waters. You can’t swim in the beaches of Athens because of the pollution. We spent the day driving round the island on a 50cc scooter, cheap as to hire, no wonder either, bits kept falling off it which we had to run down the road to retrieve and replace. Struggled a bit as well, going up the hill to the temple ruins with two people on it.

Temple of Aphaea

Speaking of silly walks, it turns out that the main reason people go to the ancient site of Olympia is to take photos of themselves being silly and posing as athletes in the Olympic games or running on the stadium track. I have photos of said silly poses, much more interesting than photos of a bunch of rocks.  

These people are in our tour group. Hmmm....