After some breakfast in Monastiraki on Friday, we stumbled across our first historical site - clearly not difficult in Athens. Not even sure what this one was called. We then headed across town to Hadrian's Arch and the Temple of Olympian Zeus (below). The sheer size of the columns is amazing - 1.5m in diameter and 17 meters high.
From there we went to the Acropolis. It's quite a walk up to the top where the Parthenon sits (below) but is broken up by a variety of other buildings/remains on the way such as the Theatre of Dionysos and the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, among others. Temples were originally built on the Acropolis in celebration of the goddess Athena. People lived there until 6th century BC when it was declared the 'province of the Gods'. After 480 BC when the existing buildings of the Acropolis were destroyed, Pericles (seemingly the Donald Trump of his time) embarked on a massive plan to rebuild the city as 'a showcase of lavishly coloured colossal builidings, with gargantuan statues of bronze or marble plated with gold and encrusted with precious stones'.
The Porch of the Caryatids, just opposite the Parthenon -
After an overcast Friday, we awoke to a beautiful Spring day on Saturday, perfect for our trip to the Greek island of Hydra (pronounced Ee-dra), just under 2 hours by high-speed catamaran from the port of Pireas.
Hydra is basically one main town around a port (the imaginatively named 'Hydra Town') and doesn't allow any motorised vehicles, using only donkeys for transport on the island. After arriving, we set out to the Koundouriotis Historical Mansion, but found it closed. We then set out for the museum, but that was closed too. Clearly all that was left to be done was sit in one of the tavernas and gaze out to sea...which is what we did for the rest of the day. Lovely.
Hydra parking lot -
Me trying to pose with a donkey who wasn't having any of it -
We caught the catamaran back to Athens in time for dinner - our first proper Greek souvlaki. Delicious.
On Sunday we took in some more sights/sites, including the Ancient Agora below and the Roman Agora.
On Monday we went to Parliament to see the changing of the guard - a very strange event. The two guys below (evzones - Presidential Guards) are on duty for 1 hour, during which time they conduct a series of highly choreographed routines involving high kicks (more low key than say, 'A Chorus Line' high kicks, but high all the same...) After an hour, they are replaced by 2 more guards who arrive and then go through the same process.
Me at the Olympic stadium -
The Parthenon is amazing up close, but even more amazing is how it can be seen from all over the city. The photo below was taken on Filopappou Hill, another of the huge jutting rock/mountains that are common in Athens that we felt compelled to climb. But it was worth it.
After so much sight-seeing including so many high hills, we were totally worn out so spent our last few hours in the Plaka -
(Yes, Nick has had a hair cut!)
After that it was back to London.
