In Athens for a couple of days in temperatures of 34 to 37!!!
We stayed in a hotel with a roof garden view of the Parthenon and walked into the old quarter at the foot of the hill, where we found bustling life, street stalls and entertainment, bars, cafes, shops and a smart restaurant with an even better view of the Parthenon lit up. These tiny streets were crowded with people, bikes, motor bikes and even tourist 'trains'. Pandemonium, but lots to see.
We rather rashly attempted to visit the Acropolis the next morning but found an enormous queue and could see the entrance was teeming with people, so we came away and re-thought. Instead looked around our area; shops selling song birds and rabbits (live ones!) a fish market and a fruit and veg market, old run down classical buildings alongside modern. We checked out where to get the bus to Lavrio port, which is the next stage of our journey.
Athens is very scruffy, the streets quite dirty and there are homeless people sleeping rough. There is a lot of graffiti everywhere even on the edges of the archeological sites! All very run down and a sign of their times I guess. The pedestrian is second to the car too, slightly scary when you get a green man light at a crossing and something still comes at you, motor bikes and scooters being the worst and it appears they can drive on the pavements. Helmets are obviously not law and you can still smoke in restaurants, which seems so alien now.
All that said we liked our time here, it's an interesting, vibey place. Went up to the acropolis at a much more sensible time when it was cooler and far less crowded; 6pm. And what an experience in the still fierce sun. Such a grand place it must have been and how on earth did they build such enormous marble temples on top of a high hill in whatever BC? The mind boggles.
Also they must all have been blind, the glare is ferocious and they didn't have ray bans then!!
We stayed in a hotel with a roof garden view of the Parthenon and walked into the old quarter at the foot of the hill, where we found bustling life, street stalls and entertainment, bars, cafes, shops and a smart restaurant with an even better view of the Parthenon lit up. These tiny streets were crowded with people, bikes, motor bikes and even tourist 'trains'. Pandemonium, but lots to see.
We rather rashly attempted to visit the Acropolis the next morning but found an enormous queue and could see the entrance was teeming with people, so we came away and re-thought. Instead looked around our area; shops selling song birds and rabbits (live ones!) a fish market and a fruit and veg market, old run down classical buildings alongside modern. We checked out where to get the bus to Lavrio port, which is the next stage of our journey.
Athens is very scruffy, the streets quite dirty and there are homeless people sleeping rough. There is a lot of graffiti everywhere even on the edges of the archeological sites! All very run down and a sign of their times I guess. The pedestrian is second to the car too, slightly scary when you get a green man light at a crossing and something still comes at you, motor bikes and scooters being the worst and it appears they can drive on the pavements. Helmets are obviously not law and you can still smoke in restaurants, which seems so alien now.
All that said we liked our time here, it's an interesting, vibey place. Went up to the acropolis at a much more sensible time when it was cooler and far less crowded; 6pm. And what an experience in the still fierce sun. Such a grand place it must have been and how on earth did they build such enormous marble temples on top of a high hill in whatever BC? The mind boggles.
Also they must all have been blind, the glare is ferocious and they didn't have ray bans then!!
No comments:
Post a Comment