1936 On the Continent

sharply against the sky, while at other times it bathes everything in rosy and violet hues.
    The sunsets of Athens are miraculously lovely.
    This exceptional nature of the climate is attributable to the dryness of the air and to the imperceptible variations of the humidity, which is usually very low.
    Athens has an average of no more than twenty-one sunless days throughout the whole year. Of the 344 sunny days, 123 are radiant days without the shadow of a cloud in the blue sky. The rains are often torrential, but of short duration.
    The seasons are distributed as follows:
    W INTER (from mid-December until mid-March):
    It snows rarely and very little, and the temperature seldom falls below freezing-point. The wind which blows from the high snow-clad plateaux of northern Greece is often violent and makes the cold very perceptible, although the actual temperature may not be very low. But the period of bad weather is short and interrupted by a series of beautiful sunny days which the Athenians enjoy with delight. Attica presents a ravishing sight towards the end of January with its orchards full of almond trees in blossom, and the fields covered with anemones.
    S PRING (from the middle of March to the beginning of May):
    This beautiful season of flowers is of rather short duration.In April the air is filled with the perfume of the orange and lemon blossoms.
    S UMMER (from the end of May to the end of September):
    July and August are the hottest months. The temperature rises, but the heat is never unbearable, as it is tempered by cool breezes from the sea or from the mountains.
    This is the season of periodic winds from the north, called “meltemia,” which are often very violent, especially in the Grecian Archipelago.
    The summer nights are mild and pleasant. There is rarely any rain during this season.
    A UTUMN (October and November):
    One of the pleasantest seasons in Attica. The temperature is ideal, especially after the first rains. Marvellous chrysanthemums and dahlias are in gorgeous bloom everywhere.
Drinking Water
    Constant warm weather suggests a cooling drink, and one thing that used to be held against Athens up till a few years ago was the lack of satisfactory drinking water. This is now changed, for Athens now has an absolutely up-to-date water supply.
    At the same time there are those who use water not necessarily for drinking purposes, and Athens caters for such people with a plentiful, good and cheap supply of wine.
Orientation in the City
    But we must first learn our way about the city.
    For purposes of orientation the visitor should mark two points of reference: Plateia Omonias, situated about a mile from the northern end of the Acropolis, and Plateia Syntagmatos, somewhat over half a mile to the south-east of the former square. These two squares are connected by Odos Stadiou. Under Omonia Square is the station of the electric railway between Athens and Piraeus, while at the upper part of Constitution Square are the Old Palace, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and the Hotel Grande Bretagne.
    What to see in Athens is a question that the visitor alone can decide when he is on the spot. For myself, as a Greekwriting about Greece, I say without hesitation that mine is the one country that would be worth visiting on account of the so-called sights alone—apart from its physical beauty—for those “sights” carry an atmosphere that cannot be defined otherwise than by the word cosmic.
    That atmosphere is accentuated in a most dramatic manner by the present-day life of Greece, the youth, vigour and temperament of an old-young nation that is in the throes of a titanic struggle for a “place in the sun.”
    Thus I think that I cannot do better than call your attention to our historical monuments, which really belong to the whole world and which, in a sense, will also belong to you personally once you have seen them.
Monuments of Athens
T HE A CROPOLIS
    Open to visitors every day from 8 a.m. till sunset.
    Entrance fee, including visit to the Acropolis Museum, 50 drachmas per person.
    At full moon, as well as on the two previous and one following night, the Acropolis is open from 9 a.m. till midnight. General entrance fee, 20 drachmas.
    On the sacred rock of the Acropolis (512 feet) the primitive town was originally built. Later, at the time when Athens extended all around it, it became the religious centre in which were constructed the beautiful temples whose ruins still command the admiration of the whole