No photos yet. Getting to Athens from Sicily was full of challenges as Ryan Air delayed the 9:30 pm flight until 1:10 am which put us in Athens about 3:50 am on Tuesday. I mean, I go to bed at 10 pm so staying up this late/early was a challenge. But made it ok and my airbnb is lovely. Also challenging is the weather – 98, 96, 91 most of the days I will be here. Makes walking around the Acropolis challenging. Trying to schedule outdoor things for very early in the morning. I will really try not to complain about the rain when I am in England/Scotland/Ireland but right now it sounds wonderful.
My airbnb is quite comfortable. More space than I am used to. It is about a 30 min walk to the busy parts of town. If it wasn’t so hot outside the walk would be easy.My first dinner here – pasta bolognese and a mojito…which turned out to be pretty strong. I had signed up for a food walking tour but was unable to find the group in time. The restaurant is Callas as in Marie Callas the opera singer. Picture of her and Onassis hanging on the wall.The Olympic Stadium. I started on a city tour that will eventually include the Acropolis. It is hard to see the Olympic rings.These are guards at the Parliament Building. They change every hour. It is quite a performance – a certain marching style and all in sync. The first photo above shows the replacement soldiers coming in. It is very special to be chosen for this honor and most of the young men are in their early 20s – before they might go off to college.Part of my tour group. Good guide through the company Getaways Greece, booked through Viator. The other members of the group were very nice – a couple from Mexico, a family of 4 from India, an extended family from California/NewYork, etc.It is really special to be almost anywhere in Athens and be able to see the Acropolis with the Parthenon, the Temple of Athina Nike and the Erechtheion. It was Pericles in the 5th Century BC who coordinated the construction of the buildings.The Temple of Athina Nike.There are over 4 million people who live in Athens.
After the walk up to the top and tour of the buildings at the top and the end of the tour, I was tired and very hot. So I stopped at the New Hotel and got a cocktail and some very cute french fries. So yummy.
The following day I went to the Acropolis Museum. It is relatively new museum and it is very nice. I did not take that many photos inside although I was very happy with the attention given to the Goddess Diana. My mother was taking a Greek Mythology class when she was pregnant with me.
The statue on the right is closer to how the original would have looked, more colorful.
Today (Monday the 10th) I walked up to an area called Anafiotika. The is a small neighborhood of the old historical neighborhood called Plaka and is on the northeast side of the Acropolis. When workers from the island of Anafi came to Athens to work on refurbishing a palace they and future other workers located here. The neighborhood was built according to typical Cycladic architecture with white walls and small spaces. People still live in the remaining homes.
A pathway down from Anafiotika. This ends in an area called Plaka. Hadrian’s LibraryMy lunch – yummy salad and mojito.
Tomorrow, the 11th, I head to the island of Paros, Greece and get to see my friends Noma and Gail.
Comments
3 responses to “Athens, Greece”
Lori
I like the new blog format a lot! Greece doesn’t look overrun by tourists, so that must be nice! (Or is that a function of being up and out early?)
Comments
3 responses to “Athens, Greece”
I like the new blog format a lot! Greece doesn’t look overrun by tourists, so that must be nice! (Or is that a function of being up and out early?)
Athens was very crowded. Paros and Naxos didn’t feel overwhelming. I took a day trip to Mykonos and that island seemed very busy
I got someone to fix the format so that it is easier to get through. Glad you like it.