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Published: June 26th 2017
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Olympic Stadium
The Olympic stadium from 2004 Geo: 37.9833, 23.7333
As it was nearing the end of our trip, we decided to have a slow start to the day before heading out, so we had a delicious breakfast and we were on our way. We walked down the grand promenade and negotiated our way into & onto the metro. The metro journey was quite a substantial one, but we were hoping it would be worth the trip. Our destination was the Olympic park from 2004 - we had heard mixed reviews of the site so we were anxious about what we might find.
The park was a shock to say the least. The site was massive with a scattering of buildings - most in state of disrepair - but for the most part what caught the eye were the wide open spaces of cracked concrete, broken paving slabs and tumble weed.
The Velodrome was the first venue we came across - this was a spectacular looking building, and you could get right up to it and peer inside. The stadium looked immaculate inside, like it could be still used at any point. What drew our attention however, was the winners platform used for the 2007 Champions League final brazenly discarded on the middle of the track. Despite its relatively good condition therefore, it sadly does't look as though it gets used still today.
The next set of structures were all outdoor swimming pools - we counted at least 3. There was the main one which was used for the Olympics (we couldn't remember it being outdoors!) - the stands were desolate and in a bad state of repair, but there was a lone swimmer putting the pool to use. Another pool was smaller and appeared to be the smaller accompanying training pool. The next pool although the surroundings looked tired, was in full swing with multiple parties swimming. We later read that this was the pool used for synchronised swimming and water polo.
There was then a much larger indoor building, which you could actually get inside - one in we were greeting with a large swimming pool and diving area. This was a hive of activity with children swimming lessons, and people in the main pool swimming. This also had lots of other ongoing activities around the outside such as indoor rock climbing.
Next there was the indoor sports centres - these were all boarded off and we could not enter them - these were 2 huge buildings so back in 2004 must of held a lot of events.
The main building, of course, was next - this was the Olympic Stadium itself. The stadium looked in a bad repair from the outside, however the stadium itself is used by AEK Athens football team whilst they gain funding for new one. This meant we couldn't get too close to it, but it definitely looked impressive.
The whole site was a little depressing - that something that was once such a hive of activity and excitement could be left to rot and rust away and be no longer used was rather sad.
We then got back on the metro and headed back into the city centre, where we spent the afternoon flitting between coffee shops, and tourist shops looking at all the various goodies on offer.
We then went for a delicious dinner on the roof of a restaurant which gave us beautiful views of the Acropolis all lit up. Then took a lovely walk back to the hotel, and even managed to squeeze in an ice cream.
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