Walking through Athens is a surreal combination of big city bustle and chaos, throngs of both locals and tourists, and stunning archaeological sights on a scale that will stop you in your tracks. Some of them are huge and famous (The Temple of Olympian Zeus, with the Acropolis in the background), and some of them are random (a spot where they were digging a new ventilation shaft for the subway and stumbled across an ancient bath house). Today, after a bit of a lazy morning to recover from a big travel day yesterday, we went exploring and took in as much of it as we could.
The Temple of Olympian Zeus is massive and spectacular. It was started in the sixth century BC but not finished for over six hundred years. It originally had 104 columns like the few surviving ones that are still there today. The scale of the few that are left makes you realize just how awe-inspiring the complete temple would have been. It was one of the most interesting things I have ever seen.
Following in the footsteps of famous performers such as Frank Sinatra and Luciano Pavarotti who have done live performances in ancient ruins, April and Fiona felt inspired to put on an exclusive show of their own at the Temple of Olympian Zeus today.
Afterwards, on our walk from Zeus's temple to a little neighborhood near the Acropolis for lunch, we stumbled across an archaeological site we had not heard anything about. It was right beside a busy road and a subway station. The sign explained it was an ancient bathhouse that was recently discovered while digging a ventilation shaft for the subway. Apparently, sights like this are common all over the city. When construction begins, if there are any indications of ancient activity, they stop, preserve the site and work around it to finish the project.
In this case, it is right beside the road, the sidewalk is only separated from it by a railing and there is a roof over the site to preserve it.
Eventually we found our way to the neighbourbood of Plaka, which is known for restaurants, shops and a great place to stroll in the city. The streets on the outskirts are quiet and residential, and the core is lined with patios, bakeries, shops and hotels.
After lunch and a bit of wandering around this great little part of Athens, we headed back to our apartment to get cleaned up and turned around for a dinner reservation at Senses, which is on the roof of a hotel overlooking the Acropolis. Laura was here with her friend Susan when they were in Athens last year. It was definitely worth a return trip!
A quick ice cream stop for the girls on the way back home again and we called an end to another glorious day.
Tired, content and looking forward to tomorrow,
Matt, Laura, April and Fiona ⚡
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