I believe that any time you can go on a leisurely walk through a new city it gives you an opportunity to see things a differently than when driving around or riding public transportation.
When strolling along – you have a chance to experience the vibe of a community – the energy, the smells and the sounds of a different culture. After our “on and off” bus tour yesterday – today was our day for a City Walk in Athens.
Noel headed out early to an all-day retreat with the IEEE Board – which left Andrew and myself to do a modest stroll through historic Athens hosted by Rick Steves. From leaving the hotel, doing the tour, and then returning to the hotel it was about 10,000+ steps (or about 5 miles).
Through no planning on our part – it turned out that the tour started at Syntagma Square in Athens – which conveniently was right outside of our hotel door.
Sometimes I would rather be lucky than good.
Andrew and I opened the Rick Steves app, popped in our earbuds (at least I remembered mine today) – and started on our stroll of historic Athens.
Syntagma (which means “Constitution”) Square is right outside of the Greek Parliament building which in turn is next to the Greek version of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Every hour there is a changing of the guard with the Greek soldiers wearing traditional military dress uniforms. The guards are part of an elite military unit and are notorious for being at rigid attention and not ever smiling – despite the best efforts of many tourists.
We then set off down Ermou Street – which is a wide pedestrian-only shopping throughway that led to a number of older Greek Orthodox Churches. These churches were open to public – but understandably no pictures were allowed.
It was interesting to learn a little bit about some of the religious rituals and worship practice of the Greek Orthodox Churches as part of the audio tour.
We made our way to Hadrian’s Arch – built by the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the same location as Zeus Temple (now in ruins). Given all of the wars and conflicts over the centuries – many items are remarkably well preserved.
It was time for a short break – so we stopped at a local cafe and had a coffee and a pastry. After a few minutes we were re-energized and ready for the remainder of our Athens City Tour.
We then wandered through a beautiful neighborhood (Anafiotika) at the base of the Acropolis with small cottage-like homes build into a steep hillside.
After strolling through this unique neighborhood, we walked down hill from the base of the Acropolis to the ruins of a Roman Forum (called Roman Agora).
After wandering down another street filled with shops and vendors hawking souvenirs – we finished our Walking Tour at Monastiraki Square – home to the main Athens Train Station.
It was time for lunch – so we headed to a street known for having a lot of Souvlaki restaurants and went to O Thanasis for a pita wrap with souvlaki meat and an ice cold Mythos Beer.
As we were sitting in the restaurant enjoying some quiet time away from the hustle and bustle of the square – we observed a sign that listed O Thanasis as the #42 Legendary restaurant in the world (according to tasteatlas.com). Interestingly, Cafe Imperial, where we ate dinner in Prague last week was listed as #38.
As the knight guarding the Holy Grail said in Indiana Jones “He chose wisely”. Our restaurant choices the last week have all been excellent.
Since I did need a couple of souvenirs – I snagged a T-Shirt at Hard Rock Athens and a “We Were There” Athens coffee cup at the Starbucks located on Syntagma Square.
Finally, for you Birders that might be reading this – I added a Monk Parakeet to my “lifer list”. These colorful birds were numerous near the fruit trees in the various squares over the course of our tour.
Up next tomorrow – time to explore Ancient Agora and some more walking tours in Athens!
Kirk’s Travelogue 