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Athens, the eighth day
Aug. 19th, 2011 06:12 pmYesterday, after I got back from spending two hours in the BSA's library, my give-a-damn took a holiday. In the face of god-so-hot, I came home, pancaked in the air-con, and read a book.
The BSA itself is located in Kolonaki, an upmarket quarter of the city on the slopes of Lykavittos Hill. It's near Evangelismos Metro and directly to the rear of Evangelismos Hospital, and its nineteenth-century buildings - adjacent to the American School, with which it is closely associated: their gardens are contiguous - are only slightly overshadowed by the giant modern hulk of the hospital.
The library of the British School at Athens is a multi-levelled warren, with more short staircases and corners than any ordinary person would care to shake a stick at, stools and step-ladders and tall shelf-ladders. The largest room is high-ceilinged and many-windowed, and thankfully well-provided with air-conditioning - unlike the basements or the small upper rooms.
It's not that giant, but it is Full of Books. And there is something peculiarly comforting about hearing British accents after so long: the half-assured understanding of a shared language.
Alas, they charge through the nose for scanning. And I had much to scan. I spent three hours today beside the scan machine, until I ran out of a)patience, and b)money that I was willing to spend on converting books to easily-transportable data. "Sod this for a game of soldiers," sez I, and off I go to buy a Frozito in the coffee shop (chocolate and ice, yay) and to do the tourist thing on Lykavittos Hill.
Lykavittos Hill peaks 207 metres above sea level. It's the highest point in the urban agglomeration of Athens, and at its topmost point is the 19th-century foundation of Aghios Georgios, a church that - by virtue of its commanding position - dominates the landscape.
Now, me, I had two working feet and a full canteen of water. I had the clever idea of not taking the cable car to the top. I was going to walk! All the way!
Lykavittos Hill is steep and wooded. The path trails up through open woods of coniferous growth to the bare rock at the top. I was serenaded upwards by barking dogs, who seemed to think I was invading their territory, until the trees thinned.
Don't, by god, do this walk unless you're in the fullness of your cardiac fitness. Especially do not do it at 1530 in the afternoon in 35 degrees of heat. The views on the way up are worth it, and so is the sense of achievement when you come out of the woods to the sight of the steps leading up to Aghios Georgios looming on the peak ahead of you. (This is Georgios, btw. Dragon-slayer.)
The view from the top is incredible. All across the city, in all directions. The most incredible is down to the Peiraeus and across the strait, here - I think that's either Salamis or Aegina you can see, as an island - looking down from above the acropolis.
But I was flagging by the time I poked around the church's dimly-lit, frescoed interior, and took sufficient pity on myself to get the cable car, walk down the steps of Odos Ploutarchou to Patriarch Ioakeim, and wait for the 060 bus back to the museum.
I was hungry enough to eat horses at this point. And it was getting on for 1730. So I walked up to Exarcheia Square and ate divine chicken and chips at a taverna - if you ask for potatoes in Greece, you're going to get chips, which I'd managed to forget - and had dessert, too. The most amazing chocolate mousse with a strawberry jam layer - I'm talking a religious experience here, really excellent food.
And then it was time to go home and do laundry. I need to repack my suitcase to play musical rooms tomorrow, and to sort out my plans for daytripping to Sounion, and it's already getting late. So hard, my Athenian life. :P
The BSA itself is located in Kolonaki, an upmarket quarter of the city on the slopes of Lykavittos Hill. It's near Evangelismos Metro and directly to the rear of Evangelismos Hospital, and its nineteenth-century buildings - adjacent to the American School, with which it is closely associated: their gardens are contiguous - are only slightly overshadowed by the giant modern hulk of the hospital.
The library of the British School at Athens is a multi-levelled warren, with more short staircases and corners than any ordinary person would care to shake a stick at, stools and step-ladders and tall shelf-ladders. The largest room is high-ceilinged and many-windowed, and thankfully well-provided with air-conditioning - unlike the basements or the small upper rooms.
It's not that giant, but it is Full of Books. And there is something peculiarly comforting about hearing British accents after so long: the half-assured understanding of a shared language.
Alas, they charge through the nose for scanning. And I had much to scan. I spent three hours today beside the scan machine, until I ran out of a)patience, and b)money that I was willing to spend on converting books to easily-transportable data. "Sod this for a game of soldiers," sez I, and off I go to buy a Frozito in the coffee shop (chocolate and ice, yay) and to do the tourist thing on Lykavittos Hill.
Lykavittos Hill peaks 207 metres above sea level. It's the highest point in the urban agglomeration of Athens, and at its topmost point is the 19th-century foundation of Aghios Georgios, a church that - by virtue of its commanding position - dominates the landscape.
Now, me, I had two working feet and a full canteen of water. I had the clever idea of not taking the cable car to the top. I was going to walk! All the way!
Lykavittos Hill is steep and wooded. The path trails up through open woods of coniferous growth to the bare rock at the top. I was serenaded upwards by barking dogs, who seemed to think I was invading their territory, until the trees thinned.
Don't, by god, do this walk unless you're in the fullness of your cardiac fitness. Especially do not do it at 1530 in the afternoon in 35 degrees of heat. The views on the way up are worth it, and so is the sense of achievement when you come out of the woods to the sight of the steps leading up to Aghios Georgios looming on the peak ahead of you. (This is Georgios, btw. Dragon-slayer.)
The view from the top is incredible. All across the city, in all directions. The most incredible is down to the Peiraeus and across the strait, here - I think that's either Salamis or Aegina you can see, as an island - looking down from above the acropolis.
But I was flagging by the time I poked around the church's dimly-lit, frescoed interior, and took sufficient pity on myself to get the cable car, walk down the steps of Odos Ploutarchou to Patriarch Ioakeim, and wait for the 060 bus back to the museum.
I was hungry enough to eat horses at this point. And it was getting on for 1730. So I walked up to Exarcheia Square and ate divine chicken and chips at a taverna - if you ask for potatoes in Greece, you're going to get chips, which I'd managed to forget - and had dessert, too. The most amazing chocolate mousse with a strawberry jam layer - I'm talking a religious experience here, really excellent food.
And then it was time to go home and do laundry. I need to repack my suitcase to play musical rooms tomorrow, and to sort out my plans for daytripping to Sounion, and it's already getting late. So hard, my Athenian life. :P
