Athina (Athens)

Tonight, I blog from the St. George Lycabettus Hotel in Athens. I cannot believe I have a view of the Acropolis from my window. Unfortunately I did not get in to the Acropolis today. Apparently, the workers there are "having a meeting"--probably a euphemism for a strike. So I may be the only tourist in Athens not to make it to the Acropolis.
I still have not found out how to append photos to Blogger and may not manage to do so until back home on my own computer with a reliable DSL connection and time to trouble shoot.
Despite the disappointment of not wandering the ruins of one of the great wonders of the world, I still feel honored to step out on the balcony and see it from afar. I will just have to resolve to come back.
I'll have to blog another day about the wonders of Greek hospitality, the horrors of Greek driving and the amusement of sparring with Greek Taverna staff over whether a Jamaican 20 cent piece ought to be given in change as 2 Euros (not). We left the Jamaican coin as a tip--I hope this got the message across. The moral of that story is count and examine your change.
My impression is that the coin switch is an Olympic sport here in Greece and in tourist spots in Italy. It is interesting to see who has coins that can pass for one or two Euros (so far something that looks Korean to me, the above Jamaican coin, and an old Italian , pre-Euro, coin). One could set up a collection.
Wish I could share photos with the world. I'm not much of a foreign correspondent without them.
Tomorrow, I go to Kea, which will probably be an internet free zone. So no blogs for a few days.
Wish I could say so long in Greek.
I'll stick with ciao today.
Sarala