After class ended at 12:45pm, my friends and I headed over to cross some things off our “Athens scavenger hunt” (an assignment we have to do, where we document certain things to get ourselves oriented with Athens). The two major things we hoped to do were go to the flea market and the Agora. We wanted to spend more time at the Agora, so we figured we could hurry through the flea market to get our picture, have a quick look, and spend the rest of the afternoon frolicking in the Agora (an ancient marketplace).
The flea market was a huge waste of time. Everything was ridiculously overpriced, and the stuff I could barter for, I didn’t really want. Most of it was gross, and groping hands were reaching out everywhere. We hurried around and got to the Agora by around 1:30, 2 pm.
After spending some time in the Stoa of Attalus (which was recreated and now houses a small museum), we made our way through the ruins of the larger stoa, heading towards the Hephaesteion (temple of Hephaestus, and possibly the best preserved temple in Ancient Greece).
Then, it happened.
We heard the shrill sound of a whistle. Some… guy… was blowing on his whistle and telling everyone to leave. At 2:45pm. When the place is supposed to be open until 5pm. Was there a fire? Were bandits in the area, looking to seize the artifacts? No, no… it was nap time.
Alright, guy, I know you want your siesta—I want naps all the time, trust me, I understand—but you can’t close the Agora at 2:45pm! It’s kind of a big deal and a lot of people come from all over the world to see it, and you’re turning them away because you want to leave! You are not more important than the Agora!
We decided to sneak in some time between a class and a field trip tomorrow to come back and finish seeing everything. Because this is just ridiculous.
I had a consolatory gelato before heading back to the hotel. There's nothing like ice cream to cheer me up.
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