Athens

Parthenon on left; bad grass fire on the right from rooftop of our hotel

After the mountains, we took the train back to Athens and spent a few days there before we boarded our cruise to the Greek Islands.  Our plan was to play tourist some and to just hang out at the hotel some.  A good plan since it was hot and very windy while we were there.  Luckily for us the taxi driver who picked us up at the train station told us we should go to the changing of the guards the next day at 11 since on Sundays they also do a short parade. 

Syntagma Square and the Changing of Guards

Syntagma Square is where their parliament building is which used to be a palace and is the site of the tomb of the unknown soldier and of changing of the guards.  The Greek military have a very unique way of marching at least for ceremonies.  It is very slow (hot climate?) and you better have good balance!  They hold their weapon in their right arm and when they lift up their right leg then their left arm and the guards also have a very slow 3 step or so process. Kick leg out, hold it, bend leg, place it down and I think I skipped a step or 2 in there.  On Sunday's, there is a short parade that includes a marching band which I suspect played a common Greek military march and later did play their national anthem.  The band was followed by a small battalion mostly in ceremonial dress.  Oh the pompoms on the top of their shoes: we were told in Metsovo that was to help block snow.   Click on video Jeff shot below to see what I mean.  

Changing of the guards

National Garden

The national garden is right next door to the Parliament.  It is not a botanical garden but more a park.  It is a nice size and includes some palm trees and some lakes.  I mention the palm trees because they date back to when it was the royal garden and a queen planted them.  I mention the lakes because supposedly there are 6 of them and we had to go back a 2nd time and wonder around till we found 1!  It is a nice green oasis in the city.

Pond is on the right

Hadrian’s Gate & The Temple of Olympian Zeus

Staying in the area, Hadrian's Gate and the Temple of Olympian Zeus are on the opposite side of the national garden.  The gate is out in the open and you can just walk under and around it.  The temple is a protected area and requires a fee.  We were not inspired to pay the fee and were happy to just look through the fence.  A word here.  Jeff and I are not big fans of Greek or Roman mythology so we dabble in the ruins and then move on to something that interests us more. 

Hadrian's Gate

Temple of Zeus

Hop on Hop Off Bus

We had shared our train car coming back from Kalambaka with a family from California who had told us the hop on hop off bus was good here.  Oh man were they wrong!  We waited to get on about 10 minutes - first bus overflowing, 2nd bus we slip on and stand so no audio.  Quickly able to sit, but it is hot - heat wave in Europe hot and the first floor of the bus has no air conditioning nor windows that open.  We were able to move upstairs - most people were doing the circuit so not  much movement and get some seats up there were in the sun.  We stayed on for a little bit and then gave up.  We  did see the Zappeion which is the only remaining building from the first of the modern day Olympics and we saw the Panathenaic Stadium or I did at least.  One of the last stops we made it through was an interesting square and we got off when they got to Plaka.  We would later see the Zappeion up close on our second visit to the National Garden but could not enter it.

Zappeion is in the background

Acropolis Hill and the Parthenon

You can see the hill from most hotels.  It is kind of like Edinburgh in that it is a key structure built on a nearly vertical hill in the middle of the city.  I now know that it has had many uses over the years and this is not the original structure since that was wood and burned down.  The acropolis has multiple buildings on top.  The Parthenon is the one you see the most.  The Parthenon is a temple dedicated to the Greek Goddess of Athena who was the patroness of the then city-state Athens.  I think it was built in 6 years and there are some visual gamesmanship done up there like corner pillars are larger than theothers so you can see more and it is not and was not meant to be perfectly squared off rather it is a little pyramidal on purpose.  The Greeks and the Persians fought a lot back then so it was ransacked once and had many of the statues vandalized.  The site was then left to sit for awhile before the Athenians finally decided to rebuild the area.  Later on the Parthenon would be remodeled into a church and I think even a mosque at one time.  Currently the Greek government is working hard to rebuild parts of it.

looking town at Athens from a viewing site on the Acropolis

Jeff selfie - do you see Carol in the photo too?

photo taken from the museum

Another building on top of the hill is the Erechtheion.  This building's unique feature is that on one of its facades are six statures of women being used as pillars.  This might have been the building that was built for maidens.

the Erechtheion

the ladies

One of the first things you see as you reach  the top of the hill is Sanctuary and Theatre of Dionysus.  Dionysus was the Greek god for festivity, wine and grape harvest.  Theatre was first only and it was Thespis who first originated words on the stage.  You look down on the theatre and its seating - I did not see anything listed, but it sure looked like it was set up with some modern day lighting and chairs for a possible show.  The seating had different rows for the Greek royalty versus the common man.

looking down into the theatre

shady spot on the acropolis - like my new hat?

Acropolis Museum

The Acropolis Museum opened its gates to the public in 2009.  It is a great museum and a unique building.  Like many buildings and even sidewalks in Athens, part of its floor is clear plexiglass so you can see the ruins beneath it.  Additionally part of the top floor is built to reflect the Parthenon - oriented the same way.  Once you finish exploring the 3 floors inside (which may take a couple of hours), you can go outside and explore the excavations under the museum too.

under the museum

Plaka

Plaka is a nice neighborhood in Athens that everyone tourists and locals alike visit.  It is a rarity in the city - very little graffiti in a city full of it.  There are cobblestoned streets that are heavily pedestrian, cute little outdoor cafes under shady trees, everything under the sun for sale and lots of people watching.  We got a snack one day and sat and watched the people go by.  Observing fashion choices and enjoying the view.  One positive for Greece and Athens is while people smoke here not nearly as much as they did in Great Britain.  Here it is the occasional smoker there it was most people especially vaping.  Plaka did get some money from us.  Pair of Birkenstock sandals for daughter (man I hope I can get them home), couple of decorative pillow cases and a trinket for a friend.  Oh the Roman Agora is on the edge of part of Plaka and we did stop and look through the chain length fence.  The Agora was a neighborhood and marketplace at one time.

reverted to my car's hat for a very windy day

pretty street in Plaka

Art museums

There are a couple of nice looking art museums here and we had planned on visiting one on our last day, but I decided to ram and I do mean ram my foot into a coffee table so with a very bruised toe we stayed at the hotel and worked on our blog and postcards.