Exiting the station, I headed up Ermou Street and made several treks into the back alleys between Ermou an Andrianou Streets where you could find hole- in-the-wall antique shops selling old chairs, books, money, and god knows what else. I ended up at the Monastiriki Station and continued up Mitropoleos Street to get to the Sindagma Station, and arrived at Vassilissis Sofias Ave – a major boulevard that passes by the uninteresting (for me!) Parliament Building. There were numerous shops – each with store fronts about 10 feet wide, selling the ubiquitous Olympic T-shirts. I was able to buy a backpack and that was a wonderful moment. I had just bought presents for Sue, Emily and Stacia and it was great to be able to stuff it al in my new pack to free my hands. From there I made my way through the narrow side streets to Kolonaki Square and looked at all the expensive shops. I had hot chocolate at a Starbucks, which was a real treat. It was starting to get pretty warm. I then walked down Partriarhi Joakim Street and took a left onto Marasli Street, and hiked up the steep stairs until I got to the trail that took me up to the Georgios Church at the top of Lycabettus Hill.

The view of the entire city from up there was simply wonderful. I was grateful I had bought water at one of the kiosks because it was hot up there and I was very thirsty by the time I reached the summit. The church was a working Greek Orthodox Church and you couldn’t go inside unless you were properly dressed – and I was certainly not. I was accosted by a man that took two pictures of me, and then wanted my address so that for 5 Euros he could send me the pictures. I said no and walked away.

Trudging back down the hill, I got a bit confused by the streets but found myself at Vassilissis Sofias again, near Irodou Atikou Ave. I took this street down past the Presidents House, and ended up at the Athens Stadium with its flags and Olympic preparations in full swing.

It was a popular tourist spot. From there, I headed over to the remains of the Temple of the Olympian Zeus whose tall Roman columns you can see from everywhere. I crossed Amalias Ave and walked up Lissikratous Street when I heard ‘Sten!’ shouted from one of the sidewalk cafes. It was Ron from the Exploratorium having lunch with his group. We chatted for a while and then I resumed my walk, this time walking down Thrassilou Street to Dionissiou Areopagitou Boulevard, which was a broad paved (with marble!) street that ran beside the Akropolis and Herod Atticus Odeon and would take me up Filopapou Hill to marvel at the Akropolis again. I was getting pretty hot by this time and worrying about burning my nose and scalp, but there was nothing I could do. After enjoying the breathtaking view from up there, I walked back to Thissio Station along Apostolou Pavlon Boulevard with its numerous street cafes, and again traveled up Andrianou Ave to Monastiriki Station. From there I wandered a complex path through the Plaka until 3 PM, before returning to Thissio Station a last time. I ran into Fred Espenak and his wife in the Plaka and we had a great chat about the Transit of Venus. I bought a cap to protect my head too! By this tie I was getting pretty tired, but I still wanted to see what the end station Pireas looked like so I took the ride down the line and basically saw a busy port area with huge passenger ferries embarking cars and passengers. Not my cup of tea, so I got back on the ferry and rode it to Kifissia Station. There, I was able to flag down a taxi driven by a young guy who spoke good English. I was back at the Supermarket by 6:00 PM and after buying milk and orange juice I was back at the apartment and in the cool shower by 6:45 PM!

The entire day trip had taken nine hours and during this time I estimate I walked 24 kilometers (15 miles) based on my map which indicated a kilometer is 10 centimeters long, and using a shoe lace to mark the trail. This has got to be a record for me!! But the effort was well worth it. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the people, women, and stores. Much of what I saw was repetitive. Many stores were selling the same clothes, shoes, museum replicas, Greek art, illuminated icons of Jesus from the Orthodox Church. But there were a few unique stores in the mix. I especially liked the old book stores that I found in the area near Thissio Station. I said ‘parakalo’ and ‘efcaristo!’ all the time, and this got appreciative smiles from women store attendants. I realized as I walked that I really should have stayed two more days and taken a ferry to one of the islands, if for no other reason than to get some fresh ocean spray on my overheated face!. But the truth of the matter is that I really don’t like traveling alone without my wife and family. I feel sad that they can’t take some time of with me and experience something other than Washington DC and the Berkshires. What minor things I will remember about this trip is that the Coca Cola tastes horrible, and the taxi hailing process is formidable if you happen to l on a street that no one seems to know exists. You really have to tell them ‘Nea Kifissia’ and specify you are near Elion Ave! Dogs and cats are found everywhere and no one seems to pay them much attention.

Once I returned to the apartment, I called Sue after I had showered and eaten my spartan dinner. She said that there were 200 people at Holy Redeemer watching the transit, and that everyone saw it!!! But there was lots of other confusion. Rachael Weintraub at Goddard called Sue at 2:30 AM on Tuesday and was frantically trying to reach me because CBS and other news organizations wanted to interview me. That would have been impossible even if Sue had had Noel’s cell phone number – the only contact at Penteli Observatory and that was reserved for their calls to Exploratorium. Anyway, I thought that Phil Plait was going to field those questions according to Wade Sissler. Not sure why that didn’t happen. But the good news was that the Discovery Channel and NASA-TV both carried our web broadcasts, and Sue was able to get into the Exploratorium site to see the RealMedia web cast too! I don’t think there were any losers in this whole show. 2004’s transit was definitely a propitious event with lots of good fortune. Perhaps a few of those old Greek gods were smiling upon us too!