Day 0157

Strange how quickly this apartment feels like my own! I think it's the contrast with the sterility of the studio-hotels on the islands, which though nice were very impersonal.

Woke up early, which I'm grateful for. Think it might be the lovely early sunlight that does the trick. Spent ages washing shirts in the shower. Extremely unglamorous but it works. They dried out on the terrace in under an hour.

Plotted out a more fun route back to England for the wedding I'm involved with. Booked on to the overnight sleeper train from Milan to Paris, have a couple of nights in Paris then eurostar back to London. Should be interesting, though I have very low expectations of the 4-berth sleeper I've got!

Went out and about. Stumbled on the changing of the guard somewhere, which was both comical and unsettling. Dehumanising to see people performing mindless actions in lockstep. A strange spectacle. Relaxed in a lovely park full of gorgeous Mediterranean flora; jasmine-covered walkways, palms, flowering trees, acanthus; everything looking lush and verdant in the May sun.

Saw the temple of Olympian Zeus with its colossal corinthian columns.

Went to the Acropolis museum and was very impressed. As most of Athens that I've seen so far has resembled a grubby town from the 90's I was blown away to be in a properly modern museum. Glass, concrete, air-conditioning, wifi, good labeling and lighting. Expensive facilities but a cheap entrance price.

The collection is outstanding. I loved the polychrome kore. Amazing to see the pigment still on the sculptures. Everything well presented. Spent so long there I didn't have time today for the actual Acropolis, so i just sat and admired from a distance.