Jan 25, 2013
Got up at 04.30, went running at 06.45. Today no public transport, everything is on strike.
Here yesterday's newspaper:
Greece's government announced emergency powers Thursday to force striking subway workers back to work, with those defying it risking dismissal, arrest and jail in an escalating standoff over austerity measures.
Striking metro workers stand under a banner that reads: "Strike 8th Day'' at the the central depot in Athens, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. Greece’s conservative prime minister is holding emergency meeting after a deadline for striking public transport workers expired, leaving Athens’ subway system closed for an eighth day. Strikers protesting pay cuts refused to return to work Thursday despite a court decision declaring their protest illegal.
Jan 24, 2013
In the morning I walked north on Oktovriou and continued where it became Patission Street. Definitely the richer part of town. No graffity, Marc & Spencer, women sitting at tables drinking coffee and and looking expensive.
There are three women who do all the work in the hotel: cleaning rooms and lobby, setting up breakfast. One of them has been upset the last couple of days. I talked to the guy of the hotel about it. He said that management cut the women's hours to 15 days per month, salary down 25%, and providing insurance for 4 hours per day instead of 8.
The Greek economy. Youth between 25-35 is 40% unemployed. (That would explain that I saw so many young guys sitting around in squares at 3 o'clock in the afternoon).
Pension levels are uncertain. The guy of the hotel was angry about ALL the Greek politicians sitting in Parliament. Protecting themselves and their kind (google Lagarde, Papandreou, missing tax dodgers names, for background info)
On a different subject, you have to be a confident driver to navigate the narrow streets in Athens.
In the afternoon took the bus to Syntagma (subway is now running in the morning, but closed in the afternoon and evening).
Walked to Monastiraki. Greek people love songbirds, on Odos Athina there are 2 pet stores where you hear them from far away.
Back to the hotel. Finished Harry Potter, part 1 on my e-reader last night, started on part 2.
Jan 23, 2013
Yesterday nothing special. Got up early, read some newspapers on the internet, walked to Victoria Square. Pedestrians have to be fleet of foot, drivers feel that they alway have the right of way. (Like it was in 1973, that did not change) Often cars will be parked were pedestrains going over a crosswalk have to get back on the sidewalk.
Lunch and dinner on my balcony.
Jan 21, 2013
Went to bed last night at 20.00hr. But...I also got up this morning at 04.45hr. Read some newspapers on the lobby computer, the night clerk still asleep on a couch.
At 06.00 the cleaning ladies came in. There are two of them. Doing everything. Setting breakfast and cleaning lobby and rooms.
At 07.20 went out for a run, starting at the hotel. 15 minutes later I arrived at Syntagma. No problems with my right knee, 2x times a twinge in my left knee..same route as last time.
Arrived at the Starbuck cafe sweating and feeling good. Had tea there, went outside to sit at a table watching people walk by, probably to work. Subway personell still striking.
Walked to Athina Street and at the Agora market got oranges, olives and tomatoes.
Back to the hotel. Lunch: Yoghurt with honey and walnuts. And oranges.
Last night I did some laundry in the sink, shirts almost dry now.
Walked north on Acharmon Street to Odos Kizikou, a friend of mine used to live there.
The whole area is changing in a Roumanian neighborhood.
Throughout Athens from Plaka to Vicoria Metro station, quite a few old houses completely run down.
Police bus
Walked south on Odos Oktovriou.
Had another at a coffeeplace across from the National History museum, frequented by cab drivers. Took it outside and watched traffic go by, listening to American cowboy music on my headphones. Reflecting on past and present. My present time in Athens a trip through memory lane. But also remembering pieces of myself, left here and only now collecting them. This week saying goodbye to Athens, same way I did in Gouda 4 years....
It is good to have lived here, and in Amsterdam, and Nijmegen and New York and Los Angeles....
But I would not want to live there again. Now....The Greek islands, that's a different story. Anybody having a job for me there......
Walked back to the hotel, Siesta....
Jan 20, 2013
Today relax day. Not going out in the morning. Lunch on the balcony. Subway still on strike, day 4th now. In the afternoon Skype in the lobby with Els and Jose using my tablet. Siesta....Went out in the evening for a souvlaki..
Jan 19, 2013
It is sunny today and the subway is stil on strike. In the morning walked to Monastiraki.
I used to make sandals in Nijmegen. Long story.....
Building art, Grass growing vertically
Tonight eating nearby. Ina is leaving tomorrow.
I have now about 2 hours of video footage of Athens that I have to edit when I'm back in The Hague.
Jan 18, 2013
Todays project: The subway is stil striking, but on Odos Oktovriou is a bus that runs along Odos Stadiou to Syntagma, I got off there and ran from there through the National Garden and ran one time around the track of the Olympic stadium,
Athletes entrance
Battle of Marathon
continued running to the Acropolis museum and Monastiraki.
Jan 17, 2013
Project for this morning was to take the subway to the Acropolis station, get out there, and walk from the East side of Plaka to Monastiraki. Except the subway was closed. A strike. Walked to Monastiraki and went to visit the Ancient Agora market instead.
The Acropolis ticket costs $12, but that includes an entrance to Hadrian's Library and the Ancient Agora ($4 each)
Ancient Agora
Each door housed a store originally.
Jan 16. 2013
Yesterday it was too late to go to the National Archeological museum (most museums close at 15.00 hour), so this morning. It rained hard. Luckily the museum is close to the hotel. Very impressive collection, and you are allowed to take pictures!
National Archeological Museum
This pottery looks a lot like the Native American pottery in the USA around 800AD
Two hours in the museum, on the way back to the hotel I bought sheep yoghurt, about 1 pound in a ceramic bowl (3.65 euro) and a pot of honey for lunch. Siesta....
Late afternoon, it was dry, to a taverna near the Polytechnion.....
Athens subway system
Jan 15, 2013
Up at 05.00, worked on this diary. This morning I ran from Omonia Square to and through the National Gardens and around the Acropolis. 42 minutes. Had tea in the Plaka, at the Starbucks.
Hadrian's Library
All the lunch supplies are finished, time to go back to the Agora market.
Siesta after lunch on the balcony. Around 16.00 back to the Plaka. Ouzo at the bar, and later dinner at a Taverna with a good bouzoukia player.
Jan 14, 2013
Up at 06.00. I feel good. I'm back in a Greek sleeping ritme. Siesta included....
One project per day. This morning visit of Lykabettou.
Subway to Syntagma Square, walk to Kolonaki Square, city bus line 60 (4th Lykabettou stop) to the base of the mountain and from there a tram to the top of the mountain.
There is a little white church and a cafetaria.
The view of Athens from the top Lykabettou is magnificent, 360 degrees.
Olympic stadium
Got up at 04.30, went running at 06.45. Today no public transport, everything is on strike.
Here yesterday's newspaper:
Greece's government announced emergency powers Thursday to force striking subway workers back to work, with those defying it risking dismissal, arrest and jail in an escalating standoff over austerity measures.
Striking metro workers stand under a banner that reads: "Strike 8th Day'' at the the central depot in Athens, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. Greece’s conservative prime minister is holding emergency meeting after a deadline for striking public transport workers expired, leaving Athens’ subway system closed for an eighth day. Strikers protesting pay cuts refused to return to work Thursday despite a court decision declaring their protest illegal.
In a swift backlash, unions announced immediate strikes that halted all public transport across the capital for the rest of the day, forcing commuters to trudge through a thunderstorm or vie for taxis to get home in the evening.
The disruption was set to continue, with some declaring further labor action.
"We are protesting and if they fire people, let them come, they will take us dead from here," said Antonis Stamatopoulos, head of the Athens metro workers' union. "Starting tomorrow there will be a transportation blackout."
Subway staff angered by pay cuts which they say will reach 25 percent of their salaries had defied a Wednesday night court order to return to work, pulling their strike into an eighth day. With traffic clogging the capital's major streets, the government announced a civil mobilization order for the Athens metro.
Under the law, amended in 2007 to deal with "peacetime emergencies," defying a civil mobilization order carries a three month to five year prison sentence.
Civil mobilization has now been used nine times since the 1974 collapse of a military dictatorship in Greece - three of those in the past two years in strikes related to austerity measures imposed in return for international bailouts that are keeping the country from outright bankruptcy. Considered an extreme measure, use of the law tends to spark an outcry but does tend to end a strike.
I am going to sit on the balcony in the sun, and then have siesta....
Jan 24, 2013
In the morning I walked north on Oktovriou and continued where it became Patission Street. Definitely the richer part of town. No graffity, Marc & Spencer, women sitting at tables drinking coffee and and looking expensive.
There are three women who do all the work in the hotel: cleaning rooms and lobby, setting up breakfast. One of them has been upset the last couple of days. I talked to the guy of the hotel about it. He said that management cut the women's hours to 15 days per month, salary down 25%, and providing insurance for 4 hours per day instead of 8.
The Greek economy. Youth between 25-35 is 40% unemployed. (That would explain that I saw so many young guys sitting around in squares at 3 o'clock in the afternoon).
Pension levels are uncertain. The guy of the hotel was angry about ALL the Greek politicians sitting in Parliament. Protecting themselves and their kind (google Lagarde, Papandreou, missing tax dodgers names, for background info)
On a different subject, you have to be a confident driver to navigate the narrow streets in Athens.
Jan 23, 2013
Yesterday nothing special. Got up early, read some newspapers on the internet, walked to Victoria Square. Pedestrians have to be fleet of foot, drivers feel that they alway have the right of way. (Like it was in 1973, that did not change) Often cars will be parked were pedestrains going over a crosswalk have to get back on the sidewalk.
The subway strike still going on.
Jan 21, 2013
Went to bed last night at 20.00hr. But...I also got up this morning at 04.45hr. Read some newspapers on the lobby computer, the night clerk still asleep on a couch.
At 06.00 the cleaning ladies came in. There are two of them. Doing everything. Setting breakfast and cleaning lobby and rooms.
At 07.20 went out for a run, starting at the hotel. 15 minutes later I arrived at Syntagma. No problems with my right knee, 2x times a twinge in my left knee..same route as last time.
Arrived at the Starbuck cafe sweating and feeling good. Had tea there, went outside to sit at a table watching people walk by, probably to work. Subway personell still striking.
Walked to Athina Street and at the Agora market got oranges, olives and tomatoes.
Back to the hotel. Lunch: Yoghurt with honey and walnuts. And oranges.
Walked north on Acharmon Street to Odos Kizikou, a friend of mine used to live there.
The whole area is changing in a Roumanian neighborhood.
Throughout Athens from Plaka to Vicoria Metro station, quite a few old houses completely run down.
Police bus
Had another at a coffeeplace across from the National History museum, frequented by cab drivers. Took it outside and watched traffic go by, listening to American cowboy music on my headphones. Reflecting on past and present. My present time in Athens a trip through memory lane. But also remembering pieces of myself, left here and only now collecting them. This week saying goodbye to Athens, same way I did in Gouda 4 years....
It is good to have lived here, and in Amsterdam, and Nijmegen and New York and Los Angeles....
But I would not want to live there again. Now....The Greek islands, that's a different story. Anybody having a job for me there......
Walked back to the hotel, Siesta....
Jan 20, 2013
Today relax day. Not going out in the morning. Lunch on the balcony. Subway still on strike, day 4th now. In the afternoon Skype in the lobby with Els and Jose using my tablet. Siesta....Went out in the evening for a souvlaki..
Jan 19, 2013
It is sunny today and the subway is stil on strike. In the morning walked to Monastiraki.
I have now about 2 hours of video footage of Athens that I have to edit when I'm back in The Hague.
Jan 18, 2013
Todays project: The subway is stil striking, but on Odos Oktovriou is a bus that runs along Odos Stadiou to Syntagma, I got off there and ran from there through the National Garden and ran one time around the track of the Olympic stadium,
Jan 17, 2013
Project for this morning was to take the subway to the Acropolis station, get out there, and walk from the East side of Plaka to Monastiraki. Except the subway was closed. A strike. Walked to Monastiraki and went to visit the Ancient Agora market instead.
The Acropolis ticket costs $12, but that includes an entrance to Hadrian's Library and the Ancient Agora ($4 each)
Ancient Agora
Jan 16. 2013
Yesterday it was too late to go to the National Archeological museum (most museums close at 15.00 hour), so this morning. It rained hard. Luckily the museum is close to the hotel. Very impressive collection, and you are allowed to take pictures!
National Archeological Museum
Late afternoon, it was dry, to a taverna near the Polytechnion.....
Athens subway system
Jan 15, 2013
Up at 05.00, worked on this diary. This morning I ran from Omonia Square to and through the National Gardens and around the Acropolis. 42 minutes. Had tea in the Plaka, at the Starbucks.
Hadrian's Library
Jan 14, 2013
Up at 06.00. I feel good. I'm back in a Greek sleeping ritme. Siesta included....
One project per day. This morning visit of Lykabettou.
There is a little white church and a cafetaria.
The view of Athens from the top Lykabettou is magnificent, 360 degrees.
The tram runs every 30 minutes, going back you have to walk 69 steps down to the main street. Walked back to Kolonaki Street, through the National Gardens to Syntagma Square. Back to to the hotel. Siesta.
Late afternoon back to the Plaka. In 1973 Anafiotika (where I lived)
Late afternoon back to the Plaka. In 1973 Anafiotika (where I lived)
used to be known as cat city.
Whole generations of cats were living there. One old man came by every day to feed them.
Jan 13, 2013
Up early. At 08.15 in the subway to Monastiraki Square, from there walked up the steps in Plaka to the Acropolis. Entrance is 12 euros, you can visit Hadrian's Library with the the same ticket.
A couple of old dogs and cats were guarding the Parthenon.
A lot of of the original sculped inlay pieces have been taken out. Cleaned up and replaced by replicas. The "Elgin Marbles" were taken by the British and are now in London. The British government refuses to give those back. Restauration is ongoing: the white pieces of marble are new.
Teatro
On the way to the new Acropolis museum lots of Greek families were walking, coming from church. No picture taking allowed in the museum. This is where all the original ornamentals are displayed.
Walked to Syntagma Square, took the subway back to Omonia Square. Walked to the hotel from there.
Went to bed early last night, so up early this morning. Finally posted pictures to this blog. Sunny again. Went out for a walk. Quiet outside, early saturday morning, but at the National Archeological Museum was a police bus parked with police in riot gear.
Not sure if they were there for an upcoming manifestation, or if they were there permanently.
Back to the hotel, lunch on the balcony. 20 degrees Celsius in the sun, with no wind.
This afternoon going to Piraeus, by subway. A 7 day, unlimited public transport ticket is 12 euros!
Piraeus subway station
Jan 11, 2013
It rained last night! Didn't notice it, although I was up at 05.00hr.
The WiFi connection is a lot better in the lobby than in the room, so I went there to work on blog and photo's. Downloaded a free photo-editing program, works very well.
This morning went running through the city.
Lunch on the balcony of my room. Bread, cheese, tomatoes and olives (3 euros per kilo)
In 1973 there were only a few taverna's in the Plaka. Now they are everywhere, with lots of outdoor seating.
Jan 10, 2013: Schiphol - Athens
Up early, at 04.00. Shuttle to the airport.
Small room, but clean with a balcony that has sunshine from 09.00-12.00.
Jan 09, 2013: The Hague - Schiphol
My brother drove me this afternoon to the Schiphol airport. It took 30 minutes. Grey skies but dry.
Ina showed up at 16.00 hour at the train station. Overnight in the Ibis hotel.
Tomorrow an early flight to Athens.
