Each evening we had a meal at our “local”, The Collage restaurant (actually the menu was all Italian!); We sat outside in full view of this wonderful small Greek Orthodox church ..a standard style repeated throughout Greece (on the islands with white walls and blue domes!).

Friday 3rd July

Today we had a “chill” day sussing out the Athens underground to the airport which is currently free owing to the financial crisis..Athens is providing workers free transport because they are unable to take out more than 40 euros each day.  We took the wrong bus to Piraeus, eventually jumped out after good advice from locals  and found an underground railway station and returned to base; found the right line for Piraeus and got there and realised it was not a good move for a relaxed day…it is a busy port city with five major island ferries and shops filled with chandlery and lots of industrial workers.

We came back to our favourite area, had a long lunch and Ann endangered our luggage weight shopping for amazingly good value quality shoes. The whole Syntagma Square was building up for the huge rally with the Prime Minister and we watched from our balcony as many thousands came into the city to hear him speak for the ‘no’ vote with national anthem, a choir and other items,  and thousands of others to another venue for a ‘yes ‘ vote rally.  The after “party” went on till 4.00am in the morning but it was a happy and good humoured scene.

BBC News has been full here also with the tragic news of the death of the Adelaide Crows coach. We have been stunned by this news and a thinking of his family.  It is the only time we have seen Australia on any international news so far!

We will be sorry to farewell Greece ..its people are warm and friendly and care deeply for friendship; their culture and sense of history is everywhere and a spirit of ancient thought and intellectual conversation is highly valued. There is much of deep value here and I hoped it can be saved and enabled to flourish.