'Let's get physical'  In Athens there's no avoiding that. A great many people all trying to inhabit the same space. The demonstration which closed off Syntagma for half the day, helped the claustrophobia along a little too I guess.  A far cry from a quiet holiday around Florina and the north of Greece. Oh well, make hay while the sun shines, whatever that means. It's off around Thiseo and the area, that before the Olympics, was dingy to say the least, now it's been done up and made pretty, giving the back view of the Acropolis a more flattering angle from the tourists' point of view. Stone pavement, cafes and views of gardens all the way from the Plaka to Zappion. For 20 years I managed to avoid the Acropolis, now every turn seems to lead me to it. Fate, making me catch up for lost time?  More like a bad sense of direction or the consequence of aimless wandering.

A month ago, when I was last in Athens, tourists were noticeably absent from the city landscape, now, late March, the short sleaved and sandal-ed (even when the skies are black, there is rain on the horizon and a forecast of 14C is predicted for the day) are back, giving the Plaka shop keepers and street merchants something to live for, a purpose to get up in the morning and a reason to keep their accountants on the payroll.