Day 2 in Athens started with sunshine, and a note from our house sit couple. While the girlfriend/fiance was already in England for their house sit, he was here finishing work but was ill and needed us to wait to come until 7 instead of the planned 4 pm arrival time. We had a few more hours to enjoy Athens.
We started at the Acropolis after our “free” meal at Niki Hotel. Bob had found us a great hotel in the Placa section of Athens — near the Parliament House for $43 US a night with breakfast. The area was great — with lots of local restaurants and shops but without the high tourist section annoyances of workers hollering at you to get you to go inside.
The Acropolis is amazing! It sits on a hill far higher than any other in town, so you see it a lot and are reminded of the long, long history of this amazing city and country. Due to its age, it is in a continual state of restoration. The Acropolis is a section of Athens consisting of various temples, theaters, stadium, etc. However, it is most well-known for the largest building set on the highest part of the hill — the Parthenon. I have to say as amazing as it is to stand near structures that have survived (at least partially) for so long, the view of Athens from the hilltop is just as impressive. See below for some highlights with evidence of the restoration work underway.
We then wound our way back down the hill to see the ancient Agora (market/meeting place — think of Socrates and Plato leading their discussions). Again, an area and group of structures rather than a building. We spent most time at the Temple of Hephaestus and the Stoa of Attalos.
From the Acropolis we wandered over to the City’s Central Market where the crowds were busy shopping for the freshest fish and meat (including skinned goat’s heads with eyes intact). We just tried to hang onto our bags in the throng and didn’t buy anything. We had an interesting bathroom experience on the way to our next stop. We had stopped at a public toilet in a little square but we’re waiting patiently (and then beginning to be not so patiently) since the red light indicated that it was in use. Finally, a nice little older Greek gentleman came over and told us to go into a nearby building where we could use the facilities for free. We took his advice. Bob had no problem, but the men sitting in the room near the restroom kept trying to tell me something in Greek. I finally figured out that I needed a key for my door. Turns out it was a veterans hall and apparently they don’t have many female members.
We decided to check out what are known as the Trilogy of Neoclassical architecture in Athens — The Academy, The University of Athens, and The National Library. The exist side-by-side on a Main Street. The Academy was the most attractive from the outside, but the English nerd in me loved seeing the old card catalogs and spiral staircases in the National Library.
Probably the two of the most intriguing sites we saw on Thursday were a social protest (never did learn what exactly it was about) and the changing of the guard near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside of Parliament House. We heard warnings about the protests, but it didn’t seem terribly large and was certainly completely non-violent from what we saw. The changing of the guard ceremony, however, was something like no other guard ceremony we have ever seen. Picture grown military men wearing what appears to be Catholic school girl uniforms with stockings, garters, a little beanie with a long tassel, and clog style shoes with fluffy balls on them doing some type of weird high kick ( front, back, side) march and then getting their outfits restyled by the head guy in camouflage. And then they have to stand at attention while tourists pose with them! I couldn’t do it, they had already sufficiently made my day. All military should be required to dress and act in this manner to limit actual fighting. See below.
Peckish Travels 