Mining the Diaries 92: Italy
Acropolis Ami Hotel, Athens, 8th June 2019
After an early breakfast we set out to try to beat the crowds visiting the Acropolis; we joined the small queue that had already formed at eight-thirty. Even at that hour it was a hot climb up to the entrance; it was already busy and we were soon enveloped in the sense of being over crowded, first with individuals and then with the influx of tour groups. People endlessly posed and took pictures; a TUI tour group peered down at their tablet screens edged with by little blue logoed sun shades. A Japanese camera crew filmed a presenter in a long scarlet dress doing a piece to camera against the backdrop of the Parthenon Temple of Athena. Does it need the publicity? It was hot, dusty and noisy; the guardians blew whistles at transgressors getting too intimate with the stones. Why do people bringing small children and bored teenagers here? How many are here because it’s a traveller’s box to be ticked?
It was impossible to appreciate the genuine grandeur, beauty and importance of the buildings, the symbols of the glory that was Greek culture and learning. We struggled back through the crowds.