Athens was my most anticipated city at the start of my trip. In the end, it was the least of my favourite among Paris, Athens and Rome. There was a certain deteriorated aura to Athens; and the number of people and cars in most areas were busier than anticipated. There was also certain unsafe feeling among dense crowds even away from the tourist attractions. However, the ruins of Athens were breathtaking and their beauty should be appreciated beauty. In saying so, I do love Athens and anticipate visiting Athens again.
I arrived in Athens at 4pm. Again, my time in Athens was extremely limited with only one evening and one morning in Athens. The itinerary was extremely packed and there was a 3pm ferry to catch the next afternoon. There was no room for error.
The first destination of the early evening was Hadrian's Gate…
…and the Temple of Olympian Zeus.
Just across the street was the Zappio Megaro. What an elegant structure!
Somehow, I was unable to find the Olympic Stadium! Looking at the map later that night, I realized a wrong turn was made and it was just a short backtrack away! Since my time was limited, I could not explore too much. Next time…there’s always next time
I backtracked a bit to the giant walkway of Dionysiou Areopagitou…
…leadin to the Odeon of Herodes Atticus and Acropolis.
The plan was made to visit Acropolis during sunset. However, the lady at the gate said there was only 30min left until closing. This was an issue since I bought a combination ticket that only allowed a one-time admission to the Acropolis. I decided to save the ticket for the next morning.
Unexpectedly, with time on my hands, I wandered under the Acropolis to find a staircase to a rocky outcrop with a view!
Toward dusk…
…and into the night.
Returning to the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, crowds were just arriving for a theatrical event. There were vendors selling cheese pastries and the temptation was just too great.
A toasted chicken pita with more cheese finished off the meal for the night.
It was advertised that my hostel has a lively bar scene at night. I returned to the hostel at 10pm to find the bar was closed? It was a little disappointing to say the least
Instead, I headed to bed early.
Next day, it was an early start at 7am. Most hostels provide a free breakfast so don’t miss it! At this hostel, it was some Greek bread, hard-boiled eggs, cereal, milk and juice. A good breakfast was definitely needed for the morning ahead.
I started the morning where I left off the night before…at the area surrounding Acropolis.
Following the tour guide map, the first stop was the Odeon of Dionysus…
…and the Odeon of Herodes Atticus (it is still a working amphitheater today).
There were many other smaller ruins to see between the two famous Odeon, but it is not possible share them all unfortunately.
Finally, the highlight of the morning has arrived.
Escaping the crowd a little this was a better picture.
The morning sun made it extremely difficult to take a good photo of the front side of the Parthenon, but the back side was nicely illuminated. You can see some of the reconstruction work that was occurring.
Next was the Erechtheion
And the Maidens of Caryatids
A random picture of the columns.
So much history, so little room to share
Next stop was the Ancient Agora. There was a little Byzantine church at the entrance to the Ancient Agora.
The Stoa of Attalos is an piece of absolute art. The sense of style and balance is very evident.
Outside the Middle Stoa was an immense structure if you can use a little imagination.
A little up the hill, the Stoa of Zeus was one of the most preserved ancient Greek structure.
After an hour at the Ancient Agora, my plan was to visit the Roman Agora. However, another wrong turn took me in the wrong direction. Instead, I found another site from the same time period that was under excavation.
A stroll to the plaka was in order to get some fresh fruits, bread and lunch…and of course to appreciate some of the local sceneries…
…and to get fresh bait at the fish market!
My next leg of the trip would take me to a Saronic island called Ydra where I would concentrate on catching some unique Mediterranean fish species.
This was all the Athens I managed to take in for the short evening and morning. Next time I would like to visit other ruins as well including Delphi and the temple of Poseidon. I would definitely return to mainland Greece in the future.
Alright...that's it for now...Part 3 and Part 4 maybe 2-3 days later.
