If you compare the outside of the Greek Prime Minister's residence in Athens with that of 10 Downing Street in London or 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in DC there is a striking difference. In Athens there are two guards decked out in the Greek dress uniform who stand at attention for four hours. Unlike London or DC where there are a raft of machine gun toting guards aided with barricades and all sorts of other guardy-type stuff, these Athenians are right on the sidewalk. You can stand next to them and pose, as some do or you can walk up to them and point a camera lens at them to see if they blink, as I did...well I did use a telephoto lens from some way back to avoid being in their faces and being an obnoxious American. But these guys do their stuff with great professionalism. As the heat of the Greek summer approaches and they are tempted to wipe their brow, an assistant comes to their rescue and pats them dry.
They were a bit more alert than usual with the 40,000 protesters up the street in the park across from the Parliament. Perhaps you have seen them on TV protesting the mess that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has made of things.
Down in front of the Parliament Building there are more guards...these guys are protecting the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Again decked out in full dress uniforms they stand for four hours in the blistering sun reflecting off the white marble steps. They must internally jump for joy at the sound of the changing of the guard. From down the plaza comes three soldiers doing their high-stepping cadence. Hobnail shoes click on the marble and as they do their various menuevers with their feet their shoes screech across the marble worse than any fingernails on a chalkboard. There are few commands given but the precision with which they carryout the changing ceremony is incredibly tight.
A guard gets patted down at the beginning of his four hour duty at the Tomb of the Unknown.
You can see them squint against the sun reflecting off the marble around them.
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