Blogs from Pláka, Athens, Attica, Greece, Europe

From UNESCO: The Acropolis of Athens is the most striking and complete ancient Greek monumental complex still existing in our times. It is situated on a hill of average height (156m) that rises in the basin of Athens. Its overall dimensions are approximately 170 by 350m. The hill is rocky and steep on all sides except for the western side, and has an extensive, nearly flat top. Strong fortification walls have surrounded the summit of the Acropolis for more than 3,300 years. The first fortification wall was built during the 13th century BC, and surrounded the residence of the local Mycenaean ruler. In the 8th century BC, the Acropolis gradually acquired a religious character with the establishment of the cult of Athena, the city’s patron goddess. The sanctuary reached its peak in the archaic period (mid-6th ... read more

Over the past two years, my visit to Athens has been postponed a half dozen times, due to Covid. Well, Greece opens up to tourists on May 14. When will I get there? May 14! I plan to fly into Athens from northern Europe, and spend a week here, splitting my time between Athens and the island of Santorini. You are probably amazed that I have not been to Greece heretofore. Rather than take you back to Neolithic Age, Pericles, the Ottomans and Greece's long (3400 years old) and colorful history (you can refresh your European history on your own), let's just focus on the present. Athens became the capital of the modern Greek state in 1834. Best of all, the city's historic center has been converted into the largest pedestrian zone in Europe. Let's save ... read more

Day 21 - The Acropolis and Filopappou Hill (and points in between) Our plan was to get to the gates of the Acropolis early to avoid the worst of both the heat and the crowds. We also entered from the eastern gate, the one not used by all the tour companies. This took us past many of the sites lower on the hill such as the Theatre of Dionysus, several temples, caves that had been turned into churches, the work sites of various craftsmen, and a roman era theater that is still used today. We finally made it to the gates of the Acropolis and walked up the marble steps to the summit. We were able to see the Parthenon, the temple to Athena Nike, and many other smaller temples on the summit. The whole area ... read more

Apologies for taking so long to write this. It is now Tuesday night (actually, now Thursday night), the first part of my flights home left Athens at 4.20pm on Thursday, after a wait of around four hours at Dubai we left at about 2am Friday morning, landing at Kuala Lumpar at about 1pm and landing at Melbourne at 1am Saturday (local times used). Having an awesome daughter who insisted on picking me up from the airport regardless of the time of my landing, I decided to book a room at the Parkroyal at Tullamarine Airport (with super comfy beds). Last Thursday turned out quite interesting. Another Greek breaky of ham and cheese on buttered bread, this time with full confidence (all the awkward peering under lids to inspect the contends having been done the morning before). ... read more

Day 178 Thursday 14th July 2016 – Larnaca to Athens We have a 1.00pm flight today so it is a nice easy start to the day, we had breakfast in the apartment and then packed and got a taxi at 10.30am to the airport. As we arrived we saw three dogs entering the airport and at first glance we thought sniffer dogs then looked at the people with them and they were tourist. It turned out they were dogs from the Nicosia Dog Shelter going to new homes, they were being put into cages in the terminal for their flights, first time we have seen dogs lining up for a flight. This is a quick flight to Athens only 1.5 hours making sure we got stamped in, we have been to Athens twice before ... read more