I’d decided to save the big one for our last day, mainly because I knew we’d be having an early start . So we arrived at the breakfast room shortly after they opened at 7. The lights were still shining up on the Parthenon and the sky wasn’t fully light yet, but there were plenty of people having breakfast. Many of the guidebooks suggest getting up there early in the day to beat the heat and the crowds, so I’d booked tickets for the first timeslot, 8am to 9pm.
The walk up to the West Entrance was really pleasant as the streets were quiet. That entrance is higher up than the southern one, so we did a fair bit of climbing before we even reached the entry gates. As we climbed we passed the little Church of the Metamorphosis and had a good view down to the Roman Agora. There were also more cats!
There was already a queue but it moved quickly and soon we were climbing up the main entrance steps. Many years ago in Rome we had used an Audio guide from the Rick Steves Europe app to guide us through the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. They had been excellent ( and free!) so I’d decided we would use his guide for the Acropolis. We plugged in our earbuds and synchronised our phones and started the tour. It was great! For about 50 minutes we were guided to the major spots on the hilltop and had its history explained to us. It really helped bring the place to life.
We started first with the view down to the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. The 5000 seat theatre built by the Romans is still used for performances today
Next we arrived at the massive marble steps leading up to the Propylaea, the grand entrance to the Acropolis. It was designed to impress! It’s central columns are flanked on one side by the Temple of Athena Nike and on the other by a tall massive plinth, the Monument of Agrippa. Originally it supported a bronze statue of a four horse chariot but over many hundreds of years it’s supported various different statues. When Rome occupied Athens , Marc Anthony placed a statue of himself and Cleopatra on it!
At the top of the stairs we finally got a good view of the west end of the Parthenon, standing tall at 490 feet above sea level. It really does take your breath away, one of those pinch me moments .
One bizarre sight were the ( mostly Japanese) princess types doing their poses in front of the monument with their phones on eye height selfie sticks, stuck into the ground. Over and over again they would flick their hair, adjust their costume and strike a pose. The one that really amused me went in for a series of mournful expressions, she was going to make the Parthenon look like a very sad place to be! Now I don’t despise selfies, as is clear to anyone who reads this blog! But I dont think they had any real interest in what was behind them, the whole thing was about getting that fabulous photo of themselves. Ok, grumpy old lady rant over ..
We walked along to the other end, which was the original entrance. Most of the pediment at that end is gone and we had a good view of the scaffolding and crane inside. There is an ongoing project to attempt to restore the structure, funded by the Greek government and the EU. There are bits of column and marble blocks scattered around all over the place.
Down below the Parthenon we took a closer look at the smaller monument, the Erektheion and the Porch of the Caryatids . The Caryatids are the pillars in female form that support the roof. The ladies here are actually reproductions, we had seen four of the originals yesterday in the museum and the others are in London and Paris!
At the far eastern end of the Acropolis there is a raised observation point with a Greek flag flying. The views down to the city were great!
Around the southern side we could see down to the Museum we had visited yesterday.
And also across to the Aegean sea.
Finally after over an hour on the hill we made our way back down the steps and out the gate. I was keen to return to some of the shops in the Plaka to pick up some mementos of our visit here. We were a little early, the shops weren’t all open, so we stopped at a little cafe for coffee and a very tasty cinnamon roll.
I always like to buy a Christmas decoration if I find one I like and to add to my spoon collection. Neil has a growing collection of magnets ( which are displayed on our garage fridge!) . I looked at some clothes and handbags but couldn’t find anything to tempt me there.
There were a lot of other souvenirs in the shops, some a bit questionable, which I believe Neil will mention in his blog post!
We had done our 10,000 steps ( and more!) by now so headed back to the hotel. We wanted something light for lunch so stopped at an artisanal bakery nearby for smoked ham ciabatta rolls. We could watch the bakers at work through the window while we queued outside.
We spent the afternoon relaxing in the room.and catching up with blogs. Neil’s back and knees have taken a bit of a beating the last couple of days…and now he’s coming down with a cold!
A little after 5.30 we went back up to the rooftop bar and were greeted like old friends. We sat at “our” table and once again watched the sun go down. This time a had a Limoncello Spritz .
We had decided to try one of the restaurants in the street near the hotel and we were given a good spiel by the lady greeter at the “In Town Restaurant”, she said we wouldn’t find fresher food anywhere . The menu looked good and the place looked very pretty with twinkle lights and flowers so I was sold! It didn’t disappoint, I had a delicious pork fillet in a creamy wine sauce and Neil had Shrimp Linguine. The atmosphere was very vibrant with musicians in the street as well as the cafes own music. We had to fend off the flower sellers , three times!, but they took no from us more easily than the young couple sitting nearby.
We have really enjoyed Athens. I’m pleased to be able to say that as I’ve heard more negative comments about the city than positive ones. Some people seemed to think there wasn’t much to see other than the Acropolis, but we’ve found plenty to occupy us. The people have been wonderful and friendly. I’m glad we came ! Tomorrow we take flight number 6 of the trip to Santorini.