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Day 471, 26 Sept '15, Athens Walk (Hadrian's Arch, Temple of Olympian Zeus, National Gardens, Panathenaic Stadium - home to the first modern Olympics in 1896, Kolonaki, PM's House, Syntagma Square, Parliament, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Changing of the Guard, Ermou Street, Plaka lower, upper, Anafiotika, North slope ascent to Acropolis, Areopagus Hill), Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Acropolis (Parthenon, Erechtheon, Propylea, Temple of Athena Nike), Ancient Greek & Roman Agoras, Theatre of Dionysis, Museum, Shops, Dinner, Odeon of Herodes (by night!)
Let it be said from the outset that we knew our three days in Athens was going to busy... but even we admit to outdoing ourselves this time. We arrived at the hotel at about 1.30 am and were sound asleep by 2 am. Before we knew it, the alarm went off and we were flopping about like untrained seals. Day bag sorted and after breakfast, we headed to Omonia Metro Station, less than 5 minutes walk away. One of the big challenges of planning this 3 day venture was finding a hotel that was central, a short walk to the metro, had breakfast included and was less than €45/night. Our place, Hotel Solomou ticked all the boxes and we finally got the right price through Getaroom. We research all our possible hotels on Tripadvisor and at the moment, anything less than €200/night has scores of reviews b****ing about the "sketchy/dodgy/unclean" neighbourhoods covered with "graffiti/druggies/prostitutes". Obviously they've missed the fact that the country has fallen off a financial cliff and that the vast majority of Athens looks like this. We're pleased to report that should we review our hotel, it had all of the above right nearby! But still, less than 5 minutes to the metro. Snappy purchase of a 5 day ticket for €10 each and away we went. This was one of the few things we had to spend money on as we were lucky to be in Athens for the last weekend of September (European Heritage Days) when all the ancient sites and most of the museums are free. Saved a total of €55 euros... which we proceeded to spend on shopping - but still! From Omonia metro, it was a quick 3 stop trip to Acropoli station and a short walk to Hadrian's Arch and the Temple of Olympian Zeus - the starting point of our walking tour. One of the first big-ticket sights of Athens from the modern era (1896) was the Panathenaic Stadium - the only stadium in the world built completely from marble and still used in the 2004 games. Our guide was Bill - an Irishman who's married a Greek woman and lived here 23 years. So pretty much on top of all things Athenian. The tour had multitudes of highlights, best seen in the photos, but one big highlight for us was a massive thunderstorm and rain - the first rain the Greeks have seen in 4 months. Aside from anything else, it washed all the tourists away and the stroll through the old town area of Plaka was great. We love doing free walking tours because we get a real sense of the city. Anafiotika (pictured) was an area where stonemasons settled. Most came from the island of Anafi and that's where the greek island atmosphere of the area comes from. It really was a case of so near and yet so far looking back up this street to the ruins on the Acropolis. We continued our ascent of the North slope of the Acropolis and climbed to the top of Areopagus Hill for outstanding views of the city. This rocky outcrop is also known as Mars Hill and was the site of various courts over the centuries as it was believed it was impossible to lie whilst standing upon it. Not just a great view point, it's also where the Apostle Paul made a speech in 51AD to the Athenians convincing them that the unknown god in their pantheon of gods was in fact his god... "the" god. The 3 hour tour finished near the turnstiles for Acropolis entry. It seemed a shame to waste the climb, so we continued up (free - saved €12 each) and there we were, looking down upon modern Athens from the peak of the Golden Age - a mere 2500 years ago. Incredible. The main structures on the Acropolis have been going through an in depth conservation/restoration for over 30 years now and there's no sign that the Parthenon will be finished anytime soon. Still impressive though. Our favourite structure was the Erechtheon - almost intact. Due to the earlier thunderous downpour, the marble was slippery (again - less tourists) and it made us think of a story from the guide. In Athens marble is nothing. Literally everywhere. Most homes have marble floors, stairs etc. He said if one of our friends gets a wooden floor, it's such a novelty that everyone will troop around for a look! The Acropolis makes such an impact on the skyline of Athens, it was great to finally be up there looking down. We headed back to ground level via the north slope and strolled in the footsteps of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle through the leafy green ancient Agora of Athens. We took a stroll through the Museum of the Agora (housed in the heavily restored/rebuilt ancient Stoa of Attalos) and saw the only Spartan shield in existence. We refilled our water bottle from a bubbler at the museum. May not sound like a highlight, but Athenian tapwater is lovely stuff - crystal clear and cold straight from the taps. The Temple of Hephaestus is the other "intact" building in the Agora and is sometimes called the Little Parthenon. Onwards to the Roman Agora and down into Monastiraki we checked the time. Hmmmm... 4 pm... still got some feet left so decided to keep going. We just missed the entry time for Hadrian's library so that was shelved for Sunday morning and we joined the shopping throngs instead. The main touristy shopping street in Athens is Adrianou and it was fun to be tourists. We avoided the olive oil soaps, the ouzo gift sets, the blue eyes to ward off the evil eye, the jewellery and summer clothes... but were sorely tempted by the fuzzy greek slippers. Very lightweight and squashable thus perfect for travellers. Our route was taking us slowly and gently back to the New Acropolis Museum (vs. the old one that was actually up on the Acropolis). This one sits neatly just near the Acropoli metro station and is the proud owner of all the marbles off the Parthenon except for the ones at the British Museum and in the Louvre. We had a time target. This museum was only going to be free from 5 pm til 8 pm (saving €5 each). We had time to spare and visited the theatre of Dionysis on the south slope of the Acropolis. Wondrous to think of the ancient bottoms that have sat on these very seats and cheered on the ridicule of the politicians of the time in Greek comedies. We eventually arrived at the museum at 4.30 pm and frolicked in the air conditioning and had a look in the gift shop. We lurked, loitered and lounged for 20 minutes, then stood at the front of the empty queue. Amazingly even up until then people had been buying tickets. Standing where we were caused a few people angst, but we said "please go right ahead, we're waiting another 5 minutes until it's free". Before you knew it there was a massive queue all waiting patiently for their free tickets. All good fun. The museum was a marvel of engineering. Underneath it, visible through thick glass floors, are the excavations of this part of Athens. These sections and artifacts from them can also be seen at several of the metro stations around town. Within the top floor of the museum is a pole structure the exact size and shape of the Parthenon and the "marbles" are attached in the correct places. From this floor you can look out the floor to ceiling windows and see the real Parthenon. Cleverly done. We must admit to being footsore and weary after our massive day of sightseeing, so by 7.30 pm it was definitely time for an early dinner and we eventually navigated back to an eat street in Plaka and sat down to enjoy a lamb and pasta dish and some roast chicken. After dinner, because we just couldn't get enough of the Athens vibe, we walked along the street in front of the Acropolis and took a night time look at the Odeon of Herodes (aka the Herodeon). This was a posh theatre in its time and has been heavily restored. The only way to gain access to it now is to buy a ticket if there is a concert or theatre performance on - but we saw it from above during the day and from below at night - enough. It was coming on to 10.30 pm or so when we finally metro'd back to the hotel and collapsed. We'd pretty much fitted our "3 days in Athens" into just one day. Wow. Plans for tomorrow? Monastiraki flea market, Hadrian's Library and the National Archeological Museum. At least.
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