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Published: December 31st 2009
Hadrian's Library
Hadrian's LibraryWe decided that the first thing we should do is go to the Acropolis. We walked back through the Plaka the way we went the night before only to find out that we were on the back side of the Acropolis and need to go around to the other side to the entrance. Well I think that we actually had a pretty intimate tour of Anafoitika, which is the cluster of small houses built on the slopes of the Acropolis above the Plaka.
We paid 2 Euros each and went into the archaeological site of Hadrian’s Library on Areos Street just past Monastiraki Square . The site overall was interesting, but for sure the columns by the street were the most impressive thing. The marble is very beautiful and it’s amazing to think that we were standing on steps that have been there for almost 2,000 years. We got scolded several times by the attendants for being too close to the artifacts.
We finally made our way around the base of the Acropolis to the entrance. We went up the walkway and steps to the Acropolis stopping to check out the Theater of Dionysos, which used to have seating
Pathway
Pathway to Acropolis - this pathway was really slippery due to thousand's of years of foot traffic! for 17,000 people and is amazing in my opinion. Finally we neared the top of the Acropolis; the walk up was really steep. We entered through the Propylaia and up more steps with the Temple of Athena Nike on our right and the Agrippa Monument on our left. The marble that makes up the steps is super slippery; I wouldn’t want to try to walk up them in the rain. There’s lots of scaffolding and construction going on around the Acropolis including the Parthenon as they are trying to reconstruct some of the damaged sections. We walked all around the Parthenon (which is roped off) taking pictures of it and of Athens .
We sat on the wall for a while and walked over to the Belvedere and took some more pictures. Then we went into the museum which is right at the top of the Acropolis. On the way out we went by the Erechtheion and the Caryatids. It was unusually humid for Athens and even though it was a little cloudy we were sweltering! We probably spent only 2 hours or so on the Acropolis, but we had tons more places to go and see and only
Parthenon
Parthenon on the Acropolis 2 days to do it!
We walked down from the Acropolis and stopped to buy some post cards and souvenirs. Steve bought some naughty Greek sex playing cards as a souvenir for Steve's friend Nick. We walked straight down the street and came out right at Hadrian’s Arch. We walked around the corner from Hadrian’s Arch to the entrance to the Temple of Olympian Zeus . The columns are absolutely massive. It’s hard to get an idea of the size when you see photos of the columns, but when you are standing next to them you have to tip your head all the way back to see the tops. We only spent about 15 or 20 minutes here as it was really hot and humid. We took a quick biological break here and I was confounded by the sink for a moment, then I realized that you have to step on a rubber dome thing on the floor to make the water come on, actually a pretty good idea so you don’t have to touch the handles.
As we left the Temple of Olympian Zeus we crossed the street into what we believe is part of the National
Temple of Zeus
Temple of Olympian Zeus Gardens , but not sure. We then came to the Zappion, which I guess is an exhibition hall. It looked like there was some sort of formal reception going on there so we just peeked in and took some pictures of the courtyard, which was rather cool. Behind the Zappion is the rest of the National Garden . We pretty much just cut straight through the middle of it and only branched off to see the (dry) big pond and the zoo area. The zoo only had a few goats, peacocks and I think an antelope or two. There were a few cats hanging around the zoo and a couple sleeping in with the goats. Also we did see the turtle pond with a whole bunch of turtles piled up on each other. It looked like there was some big koi fish (maybe goldfish?) in the pond also. I read about a duck over population problem in the Garden, but I don’t think I saw any except maybe at the zoo in cages; maybe we just didn’t go to that part of the Garden. The whole garden smelled kind of funky to me and I didn’t really want to spend
Zappion
Zappion much time there.
We came out the other side of the National Garden on Irodou Atikou Street right near the camp of the Evzones, who guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and what was once the King's Palace across the street and is now the home of the Prime Minister. I got a couple of quick pictures of the Evzone who was on duty and was marching up the street. I think we were near Parliament also.
We crossed the street and walked down to Syntagma (Constitution) Square and sat down to rest for a minute in front of the Grand Bretagne. At this point we had been walking around for about 8 hours straight and were kind of confused as to how to get back to the hotel. Alice and Steve disagreed with my idea to take the metro and wanted to walk. I wish I had realized that the Syntagma metro station is the one I really wanted to see as it is like a museum in itself, but since I forgot all my printouts and notes at home I didn’t remember.
We found a metro map and decided to walk back to the
Evzone
Evzone Plaka via Ermou Street if we could find it. We realized also that we were close to Fantasy Travel’s office and decided to stop by and say hello to Marcos if he was there. We found Fantasy Travel no problem, but of course Marcos wasn’t working that day. I noticed a Hard Rock Café on Filellinon Street and since we were hungry we decided to go in and get some lunch. From here I wanted to go by the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens (Mitropoli). We ended up asking some people outside of a store if we were headed in the right direction. The guy was really nice and walked with us almost all the way to the Cathedral. We stopped by a tiny little chapel named Ayia Dynamis that was literally in the sidewalk under the overhang of the building housing the Ministry of Education, it was very cool. The chapel was on the corner of Pendelis and Mitropoleos and is about 3 feet below street level. We asked if we could enter (we were wearing shorts and sleeveless shirts) and if we could take a few pictures, the caretaker was nice and said we could.
Mitropoli is the
Plaka
Us walking in the Plaka Cathedral of the Archbishop of Athens and all of Greece . Of course there was renovation underway and scaffolding on the cathedral. I did the best I could to get a picture anyway, it was tough as the sun was getting low in the sky and there was too much backlight. Right next to the Cathedral is the Byzantine Church of Panagia Gorgoepikoos.
Went up to the rooftop restaurant of the Hotel Attalos and took some photos of the Acropolis. Napped until about 10:45pm. We headed back to Psirri in the same area we went the night before and ended up at the Smart Bar. The host guy was really persistent; as a matter of fact they were all persistent trying to lure people into their bar. We only stayed for one drink and when we asked for the bill (in Greece you have to get a bill, it’s the law), the server just blurted out 28 Euros. Steve paid her, but I had looked at the prices on the menu when we were ordering and I thought it sounded too high. It was, when confronted and a bill was demanded, the server admitted ‘her error’ and gave us
Acropolis Night
The Acropolis at night - the view we had from our hotel rooftop restaurant! back 4 Euro. I know it’s not much, but if she does that to all her customers she’s making out pretty good! We stopped off at another bar on the way back to the hotel that was not as fancy, but had much nicer staff. We got some sausages from a street vendor and some really awesome ham and cheese in flaky pastry things at a little shop on the way to the hotel also. In bed by 4AM!!
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