To understand Greece is to understand the Gods they worshipped. In the old days. Before… before God came along. And that’s ‘our God’, of course, the one, the only, the bestest, the meanest, leanest, the undefeated champion of all Gods, God. The One God, who was made famous in his best-selling book, the Bible.

And the problem is, the Bible is pretty dull reading. Compared to tales of The Greek Gods. Their Gods appealed to everyone’s inner Keith Richard. Their Gods were sexy. Beautiful. Debauched. They ate babies, FFS, you can’t get more sick than that, yet still retained their status. No-one wanted ‘historical abuse’ to be considered, back in historical times. But most of all, they were a fiction. Much as our God is, but the Greeks made sure everyone knew it was just a series of fabricated tales to explain everything from dry seasons to thunder and lightening to infertility and mad cow disease.

I’ve done extensive study into Greek mythology. An entire 12 hours in Athens, devoted almost exclusively to studying their Gods and eating their kebabs. Not necessarily in that order.

Mel and I walked over 10 miles today in pursuit of the soul of Athens. We started with a walking tour and just carried on, from Museum of Modern Art to Acropolis to Parthenon to wherever our little feet would carry us. And everywhere you are filled with tales of Zeus and Athena and Apollo and Minotaurs and eating people and swallowing whales and all manner of incest, copulation, fornication, masturbation, dedication, indoctrination and castration. And abdication.

One god had a terrible headache so demanded his head be cleaved with an axe. And out came Athena, fully grown, fully dressed, armed like a Ninja and ready to rock’n’roll. And that really, is going to give anyone a headache, having a warrior inside your head. Can’t remember which dude it was, but I’ll name him Migranius. Gods who turned themselves into bulls to have sex with their own daughters who gave birth to man/bulls. It’s all true and really happened. In an Athens near here.

Greek mythology is simply wonderful. And totally explains why the Greeks are the most fucked up people in Europe. Though whilst being so, are lovely, friendly, happy and quite delightful.

And Athens is magnificent. Not just the old wrecks and archaeological stuff, but everywhere. The vibe here is just fantastic. It’s hot, sunny and fabulous. So fabulous that we’re leaving tomorrow.

To go to… Vouliagmeni, just down the coast.

Happy Sunday

A xxxx