Getting lost

Whenever I visit somewhere new, it takes about two days for me to ketch mi bearings. 

After that, I venture out using public transportation.

Syntagma Square is the urban center of Athens and it is very near to our VRBO apartment. 

So we learnt how to just walk through the National Gardens to get there.

So all's well. (We thought).

Honestly expected!

The first thing we learnt on the trek to town, is how some people expect everyone to be honest! For we ran into a bunch of souvenir magnets on a board hanging on a tree with a sign bearing the price and inviting buyers to  leave the money on the stool beside the display!

Next, we discovered that the straight street leading to the Marble Stadium, had been transformed into a market overnight. 

It closed at 3 pm sharp, everything was  removed and the place cleaned up and cleared for the next day. 

This I hear happened every Friday.

Most of the fresh food and vegetables are grown on the adjoining Greek islands.

 The metro (subway) where we buy bus tickets, is beautiful, clean and spotless! (It is obvious not too many new Yorkers visit or live in Athens, as theirs is so disgusting.😫)

 Seriously though, American subway  operators need to learn a thing or two about cleanliness!

Some artwork displayed in subway station 

Everywhere at the subway station is spotless

We found our way to and from the Archeological Stadium, no problem. 

The problem arose when we entered the National Gardens through a different entrance, having no idea the place was  huge and had so many different paths.

That's how come we got lost, for we were .just browsing, not recognizing that night was fast approaching. Sonja and I even got separated and she was the one who had a working GPS😡.

I got separated when Sonja who was overwhelmed by the plants and me, the animals.

Lots of people speak English though, thank heavens.

 Interestingly, everyone who hears the Jamaican accent is shocked to learn  that we know about Greece, its Gods and its enthralling mythologies! However while they know of, and love Jamaica, they don't know where it is. 

The closest one came was guessing 'it's near to America'😊.

Anyway all were helpful in directing me towards the stadium.

It was on the way there, that I passed what turned out to be the official residence of the President, where I was just in time to get a glimpse of this intriguing scene.

Ever since we arrived in Athens and passed the Parliament building, we had seen hosts of tourists hanging around outside to witness the 'changing of the guards'.

 This ritual is done every hour.

People waiting outside to witness the changing of the guards.

Well if I didn't get lost, I wouldn't have seen the spectacle. 

Happy I did😁.

It's raining!

I have been very happy for a week in Ghana as we had been told it was the rainy season, but we never had a drop.

Well all that changed as we undertook the 4 hour journey to Kakum National Park yesterday, as it rained all the way there, non-stop after we arrived and all the way back!

It was a pleasant outing though.

This park covers approximately 145 sq miles and was the initiative nitiative of the local people

It has a canopy walkway which is over a thousand feet long, rising atop some of the tallest trees I have ever seen.

As one who is unashamedly scared of heights I refused to do more than one of the 6 walkways.☺

The theory is that you can see some Ghanaian wildlife from above, but the animals are smarter than us though, for they stay home on the rainy days, so we saw none.

There is a tree house there for those who want to overnight and try their luck the next day.

 I did see a mad human though.

He had his passport and wallet with money , credit cards id etc in hand while trying to take a picture with his phone.

Then somehow everything fell overboard into the thick forest below. 

 A guide did say he would go down (he marked the spot) and try to find it, but I would be shocked if they found anything under that thick undergrowth.

My daughter, her friend and and my granddaughter loved the canopy walk and did the entire circuit.

Good for them.

They didn't have a sign which says I 'partially' survived the walk, so I was allowed to stand under it anyway.😷

I learned a few interesting things on this trip though. 

1) Most of the trees, foods and plants they have, we have them too. (In Jamaica)

I didn't see any breadfruit though and in describing it, I concluded that they have never seen or heard of ii.

2) They make wine from palm but although am an unapologetic wine drinker, didn't try it and was told I was wise as it was bitter and tasted weird. 

And it explodes if you don't drink it right away!😡

3) They tend to use plantains more like how we use bananas and only use the banana as a fruit. (ripened)

4) Although we Jamaicans imported Anancy from them, they haven't taken scamming to heart wholeheartedly as we have.  So for example, praedial larceny ( stealing farmers' crops) is non-existent.

5) Ghana has no natural disasters. No earthquakes, no hurricanes, no volcanic eruptions. 

All that happens is that sometimes they have a little landslide and some flooding during the rainy season.

We got a great experience in how disciplined they are as drivers. On our return trip there was a landslide that affected our side of the dual carriageway and all drivers simply  turned around and took the lane on the other side of the carriageway. 

No serious boring, no impatience, no honking of horns, no fights, no pulling of weapons, no cursing and swearing at others, no mishaps etc. 

It was an amazingly disciplined operation although there were no police there to maintain order or give directions.

I was  very impressed.