New adventures in Europe - Athens

The move back to European pastures marks the start of new adventures into Europe. Given our decision to move back to the UK originated in IndoChina, where better to visit than the equivalent in Europe - Athens, Greece. Greece in my view is the birth place of philosophy, arts and science in Europe and for a large part the world.

We arrived in Greece on Saturday evening, getting to the central of Athens is easy you have a number of options train (EUR 8), bus and Taxi (EUR 35). Given our family we opted for a taxi to take us directly to our hotel.

Athens - Day 1

We avoided doing the Acropolis on our first day as we had time and we wanted to orient ourselves with the city. So we started Sunday at Syntagma Square to watch the changing of the guard at eleven o'clock. The changing of the guard is a twenty minute ritual. But worth the entertainment value of the toe twitching legs of the gregariously dresses guards. Who are all immensely tall by anyone's standards.

We then walked along Metropoles from Syntagma Square to Monastriaki along the way you see a number of byzantine churches and Athens Cathedral (under scaffold when we went). But there is a quaint little citadel next to the cathedral.

We ended up at Monastriaki where on Sunday there is a flea market. The market is mostly tourist souvenir trap (market). There are some interesting antique stall further inside the market.

Out trip resume with walking through the Roman Market (Agora) into the Plaka area in the foothills of the the Acropolis. The area has a lot of coffee houses and restaurants catering for the masses. Great greek food available are some of these.

After a 3pm lunch we went to do some of the acropolis monuments on the lower part of the Acropolis, we saw the Temple of Hephaestus.

Our photographs for Day 1 are below:

Syntagma Square - View of the Bertagne Hotel

Interesting Street Art - Anafiotika

Syntagma Square - Changing of the guard photos

Metropoles - Kapnikarea

Anafiotika - the back streets this time with a race track

Athens Back Streets - Tatoos and Acropolis

Roman Agora (Market)

Mertopoles - Athens Cathedral a quaint chapel

Athens - Day 2

Our second day in Athens started how most people's first day would start with a hike up to the Acropolis. We walked up from behind Monastriaki station. The walk up takes about 20 minutes.

The Acropolis is a combination of structures, the leaflet that goes with the entrance ticket explains the structure of the complex. The area consists of the Propaleya (entrance), Temple of Athena, the Parthenon and a number of open air theatres.

The Acropolis took a good two hours to walk. We then walked down the hill towards the Plaka again and visited the Acropolis Museum. The museum is new and is definitely worth a visit to explain the decorative reliefs of the Parthenon. Unfortunately most of these reliefs are held by the British Museum and with the new Acropolis Museum, Athens has a great argument to have them returned to their rightful home.

We finish our day visiting the Temple of the Olympian Zeus and Hadrian's Arch. These are near the Acropolis station where we finished our day. The station is a good place to finish with lovely coffee shops and ice creams

We went on an absolutely brilliant day pictures from our visit that took the whole day below

Acropolis - Theatre of Dionysios

Acropolis - The perpetual works of the Parthenon

Acropolis - The straight curves of the corinths

Acropolis - Temple of Athens

 Day 3 - Sunion and Lake Voulgamani

After the walking on the first two days we opted for a few easier days doing museums and some day trips out of Athens the most notable of which was our trip to Sunion on the southern tip of the Attica province.

Sunion houses the temple of Poseidon perched high up on cliffs facing the Aegean sea. The trip out to Sunion takes about an hour from central Athens. You take the scenic road along the coast going south toward the southern tip. We went on a pretty grey day but if you're luckier then us that you will be greet by emerald blue seas and a fantastic drive. I get the feeling that its worth going to Athens again just to do the drive south on our own. One day ....

Our pictures from Day 3 are below

Sunion - The cliffs keep the ocean at bay

Sunion - Temple of Posiedon on a cloudy day

Our Athens list

We did the following on our trip to Athens. Day 1 and Day 2 will be the core to any trip.

Day 1

• Syntagma Square
• Changing of the guards at 11am (Sunday has a major change of guards)
• Walk along Mitropoles (road from Syntagma to Monastriaki)
• Athens Cathedral
• Kapnikarea
• Roman Agora (Market)
• Anafiotika
• Lysacretes Monument
• Temple of Hephasetus (can be done with Acropolis)

Day 2

• Acropolis - The Propylaea (Entrance)
• Acropolis - The Parthenon
• Acropolis - Theatre of Dionysios
• Acropolis - Temple of Athena
• The Odeion of Herodes (on the way down from the Acropolis)
• Acropolis Museum
• Temple of the Olympian Zeus
• Hadrian's Arch

Day 3

• National Archeological Museum (must do)
• National Gardens (can be skipped)
• Lycabettus Hill (A view point of Athens to do at sunset)

Day 4

• Lake Voilgamine
• Temple of Poseidon
• Sounion
• Byzantium Museum
• Old Olympic Stadium

We'll close this blog with a view across this wonderful city

Our Athens photos on Flickr