I left the apartment at 11:30am, expecting to meet up with at least one person at the bus station. On the local bus to the station, I received phone calls and texts from almost everyone I'd invited/asked/begged saying that they needed to bail for various reasons. At that point, however, it was lovely out, I'd waited too long as it was and I was already on my way, so I decided to go it alone.
Finding the bus station was less simple than had been reckoned. I missed the stop the first time round as I had never been to that particular part of Athens before and was watching for a specific name for where to get off - a name which did not appear on the station list. I was only certain I'd gone too far when the bus stopped and I had to get on another one going back the way I came. I got off at the right place this time, but didn't have a good map of the area on me, took two wrong turns and got completely lost looking for the station (which doesn't really exist as you might picture a bus station. It's a bit like a small parking lot for buses, with a few benches and a kiosk for tickets, drinks, magazines, etc. All this to point out that it's perfectly reasonable for me to have missed it.) In any case, I finally ask someone wearing a uniform who looks like they might speak some English, and after a bit of strained communication in a mixture of English, Greek and Pointing, she told me what to do.
I finally got on my way on the bus at 1:30pm. The woman who had helped me back at the station turned out to be our conductor and she would smile and tease me in Greek every time she passed. There was a bit more drama as the trip went on where I lost my ticket (found it in my wallet, of course) without having left my seat, but that was resolved by another very kind conductor, who I feel must deal with tourists a lot. :-P
The bus ride there was incredibly gorgeous. So much so that I barely worked on the crochet I'd brought along at all, in favor of staring wide-eyed out the window. The bus went along the shoreline and stopped at several beaches to let people off (I know how I'm doing this next time!) and took all the windy roads to give us the best possible view of the water and cliffs. We finally got to Sounio (which consists of one hill, one restaurant and one archaeological site with one temple, all on a cliff) at around 3:30pm.
Enough build up! Onto the pictures!
The reconstructed path leading up to the archaeological site and the temple.
First view of the Temple of Poseidon!
The first of many shots of the cliff. I was more enthralled by the landscape and the water than by the temple, although it was stunning, too.
The Temple of Poseidon, close up.
And even closer up.
New angle with tourists for a little scale.
New angle sans tourists (I was really enjoying this temple!)
The water below, with a passing sailboat, who had no idea that they were setting up a brilliant photograph.
Hundreds of years of graffiti. Ancient graffiti is the best. I believe this is the Temple containing Lord Byron's etched signature, but I couldn't get close enough to the temple to tell. They just don't trust us like they used to - though perhaps this is why. :-P
Turtle! How did you get here and what are you doing?! (These guys even get on the acropolis. I'll never understand it.)
The beautiful cliffs and the lovely sea.
Even though there is no soil (the entire cliff is bedrock) these little flowers were everywhere. I wanted to pick them for pressing, but I didn't think they'd last the bus ride back. Still, so lovely!
This now on the opposite hill, the only thing left of what is believed to have been a temple to Athena. This cliff offered the best picture and picnicking area. It was also almost completely deserted, which was nice.
A view of the neighboring town and the bluest water I've ever seen, including miniature golf courses. It doesn't look real.
Looking straight down about 40ft from the cliff where I was sitting. How can you not believe in the power of the natural world looking at this?
A final view as I ran back to catch the leaving bus.
The buses to and from Sounio run every half hour or hour (it was hard to tell as I couldn't really read all of the schedules) but there are two buses - one that goes along the coast and one that goes through the mainland. I'm glad I took the one along the coast when I was alert for it. The one by mainland is a little cheaper (hardly worth the difference) and no faster, but it was the bus that arrived, so I took it. I only stayed in Sounio one hour because I had gotten there so late and wanted to be back in a part of Athens I was actually familiar with before nightfall, which I just barely accomplished. Now, exhausted back at the apartment, I believe it is time for bed. Tomorrow will hopefully involve some early morning shots at the Acropolis, and a relaxing day of sketching at the museum. Maybe a bit of Plaka Shopping, too, but that's undecided.
Kαληνύχτα!
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