More Ancient Athens
Fred woke us about 8am saying we must get up and go into Athens, otherwise the day would be wasted. After the usual delay in rising we motored into Athens, parked in a no parking area and went into the ancient Agora and straight into the museum. Here there were plans of the development of the agora from about 6th century BC to 2nd century AD when sacked by Barbarians then rebuilt for a spell in 5th century. Most interesting, the present subway runs in the "great drain". We found a complete model of the Agora in 2nd century AD and Acropolis. Below there was a series of "remains" in the museum going back to about 1500 BC the "Early Geometric" period. Striking examples: child's potty, device for picking people to be jurors, complete tomb of young girl, coins, weights and measures. As well as several sculptures and a column.
After this burst of culture we went to the flea market, via the Odeon of Herodes Atticus which is located on the southwest slope of the Acropolis. The flea market is a fascinating place with the most amazing collection of "junk". Here we searched for a tap for the heater (which works) and spent a long time in this pursuit. They were asking 70 Drax for a suitable gas tap, offered 30 but no response. Finally went back to some other tap we had seen earlier - kitchen sink variety. On the way, yet another was espied, an exceptionally fine specimen. 30 Drax was asked, 20 offered and accepted. Then we had a celebration souvlaki and headed for "home".
On the way we stopped to look at the Daphni monastery, they had just closed! We had a consolation retsina and soda at Fred's "café" and then the usual goat cheese and tomato lunch. This was interrupted by Fred showing me the mods he had made to his cooling system, and his machine in action. He is going to take the 70 HP diesel out of his Pontiac and put it in a hypothetical boat, replacing it with a Rootes 3-cylinder 2 stroke double piston 135 HP diesel. Somewhere in this discussion Fred strongly recommended that we return to Thessaloniki via Meteora where there are spectacular monasteries built on pinnacles of rock. As a bonus we could take in Delphi on the way.
When I finally started eating I was required to assist Jeremy with repairs to his Spanish Renault 4L. He had a wobble in his front wheels, and brake problems. This took up most of the afternoon. Then Fred appeared with his gas tap spanner (30mm) which was adapted to 36mm. Then with the aid of a piece of tube and a file as levers the steering lock nut was induced to move. Steering tightened, but the problem was found to really lie in one of the steering joints, between the drop arm and the middle linkage. This is in urgent need of replacement.
Meanwhile Brian had washed the car and taken Jane and Sue into Athens to catch their bus to Igoumenitsa. We had "hamburgers" for supper, but they disintegrated so it was mince. Then coffee, then coffee with Jeremy and repacked a lot of things in the car, mostly in an attempt to move more weight forward, so bedtime was not all that early.
