Arrival and Getting to Know Athens

We had a good flight from Toronto (Sunday March 12- Monday March 13) to Amsterdam (on Jet Airways, an Indian airline that was continuing on to Delhi), followed by a four hour stopover.  We like Amsterdam's Schiphol airport - lots of stores featured "Miffy", the beloved  rabbit of Dutch children's books.  The first Miffy book dates to 1955 and 30 others followed.  The author, Dick Bruna, recently died on February 16, 2017 at the age of 89.

Various commissioned artists' versions of Miffy

Miffy in Delft China colours

We then flew on Aegean Air to Athens and landed on time at about 4:15 p.m.

Our route

Almost there

We took the express bus from the Airport to Central Athens- only 6 euros for about an hour trip as the airport is around 37 km from the city.  We then took a short cab ride to the apartment we are renting.

Patrick was there to greet us and Ellen came by shortly after to show us the ropes.  They are a lovely French couple who have lived in Athens for many years.  Their apartment is in the same building as our apartment and they have a real estate agency around the corner.  We are in a great neighbourhood near the National Gardens and walking distance from all the archeological sites and the older part of town.  It is nice to be in a non-tourist area as we can get a sense of how people live day-to day.  Lots of small stores in the neighbourhood-- very liveable part of town.   Our apartment is a studio and is very modern with a lovely small balcony and a fabulous view of the Acropolis and Mount Lycabettus.

Alain in the apartment - in front of bedroom area

View facing kitchen and bathroom

Modern bathroom

Deck area with views!

View of Mount Lycabettus from the deck of our apartment

View of Acropolis from our deck  (lovely to wake up this view)

We were both jet-lagged so went for an early dinner at a nearby taverna recommended by our hosts.  It was called Byrinis located on Archimidous Street.  We had a lovely Greek salad, a fava bean dip and meatballs (with mint).   Very filling and only 18 euros.

At the Taverna- we were early, so only one other table taken

Great salad with capers, bread, feta, tomatoes, onions and olives

Fava been dip

Meatballs with mint and home-made tomato sauce

On Tuesday March 14, we woke to bright sun.  The temperature got to about 14C, and in the sun felt quite warm.  It does cool off in the late afternoon and evening, but is perfect for walking and exploring the city.   We had signed up for the Athens Free Walking Tour (tips only) which started at 10:00 a.m., about a 35 minute walk from the apartment.

Walking through the National Gardens en route to meeting place

Our tour guide, Maria, was fabulous.  She has a Masters in art history focussing on monuments.  She was from Athens, studied at the University of Athens and in Paris, but returned home to Athens.  It was a much more substantive tour than we have had in other cities.  It lasted for two hours and we learned a lot about the city and it's history.

We met in front of the National Historical Museum, which is located in a building which housed the Parliament between 1875 and 1935.  A Prime Minister was assassinated on the steps of the building in 1905.  There is a statue in front of the building of General Theodoros Kolokotronis, the commander in chief of the Revolution of 1821.

Maria our guide in front of the Old Parliament, now National Historical Museum

Statue of General Kolokotronis

We then walked over to Syntagma Square (Constitutional Square). This is Athen's central square named for the Constitution granted by King Otto in 1844 following an uprising on September 3, 1843.  King Otto was a Bavarian prince who became the first modern King of Greece in 1832.

At one end of the square is the Greek Parliament, which has been housed in the Old Royal Palace since 1935.  The Old Royal Palace was constructed from 1836-1843 and was the home of King Otto and his wife Amalia.  King Otto did not enforce the Constitution and became increasingly unpopular.  He was deposed in 1862 and died in exile in Bavaria in 1867.

Parliament building 

We then walked over to visit the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Annunciation, known as the "Metropolis".  Construction began in 1842.  It used marble from 72 demolished churches to built the walls.  It was completed in 1862.

Outside of the Cathedral

Inside of Cathedral 

Priest inside the Cathedral

There are two statues in the square in front of the Cathedral.  One is of Archbishop Damaskinos, who was Archbishop of Athens during World War II and was Regent for King George II and Prime Minister of Greece in 1946.  Archbishop Damaskinos formally protested the Nazi occupiers' persecutions of the Jews of Greece.  He also ordered the churches under his jurisdiction to distribute Chistian baptismal certificates to Jews fleeing the Nazis, saving many lives.  He was named among the Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Veshem (the Holocaust memorial) in Israel.

Archbishop Damaskinos

The other statue is of Saint Constantine XI the Ethnomartyr, the last Byzantine Emperor.

The last Byzantine Emperor (1405-1453)

To the immediate south of the Cathedral is the 12th century  Church of Theotokos Gorgoepikoos and Aylos Eleytherios, a Byzantine era church.  The Church is quite small and contains a number of styles.  It was built on the ruins of an ancient temple and incorporates pieces of ancient and early Christian monuments.

Church of Theotokos Gorgoepikoos and Aylos Eyeytherios - many different elements

We then went to the site of Hadrian's Library, a vast 2nd century AD structure, the largest structure erected by Hadrian.  It included a cloistered courtyard bordered by 100 columns and a pool in the centre.  As well as books, the building housed music and lecture rooms and a theatre.

Site of Hadrian's Library

Behind the Library, is a domed structure that once was a mosque.  It was built in 1759, by an Ottoman governor of Athens.  It is now an annex of the Museum of Greek Folk Art.  Our guide told us that there are presently no mosques in Athens, a subject that has engendered a lot of discussion.

Another view of the site

A cat of Athens

We next visited the Tower of the Winds, built in the 1st century BC.  The octagonal monument of Pentelic marble is an ingenious construction that functioned as a sundial, weathervane, water clock and compass.  Each side of the tower represents a point of the compass, with a relief of a figure representing the wind associated with each point.  It was in amazing shape and the figures were wonderful.

Tower of the Winds with view of Acropolis in the background

The Roman Agora is near the Tower of the Winds and the entrance is a well-preserved Gate flanked by four Doric columns.

Roman Agora

Entrance to Roman Agora 

We walked through Monastiraki Square, where we quickly grabbed a 1/2 kilo of the strawberries for 1.50 euro.

We then stopped at the site of the old Greek Agora, which has been rebuilt.  Socrates hung out there and it is known as the birthplace of democracy.  There is a lot of graffiti on the old structures and the Metro also comes through the Agora, covered in graffiti.

Site of old Greek Agora-- rebuild and now a museum

Metro passing through the old Greek Agora

On the western edge of the Agora is the Temple of Hephaestus, the best- preserved Doric temple in Greece.  It was dedicated to Hephaestus, god of the forage and built in 449 BC by one of the Parthenon's architects.  In 1300 AD, it was converted into a Church.  The last service held there was in 1834, in honour of King Otto's arrival in Athens.

Temple of Hephaestus

Our last stop was a view of one side of the Parthenon, part of the Acropolis.  We will make a separate visit later this week.

View of the Parthenon

It was a great tour.  Alain and I then headed to Athen's Central Market which has one building for meat and fish and another for vegetables.  We bought a dorade (sea bream) and some vegetables for our dinner.

View of meat market

View of fish market

Beautiful squid, octopus ad salmon

Our fish being cleaned

We stopped at Mokka and Alain got some beans ground for the machine in the apartment.  It was a wonderful old coffee shop and we may return for a traditional Greek coffee.

Alain and his coffee at Mokka

We walked back to a kebab/souflaki place that our guide had recommended for lunch.  Thanasis Souflaki has been in operation since 1956. It was a traditional restaurant with very good, reasonable food.

Inside of restaurant

Tomato salad-- so fresh

Our "Thanasis" kebab special

Outside of Thanasis Souflaki

We started to walk back to the apartment.  We stopped at the Hotel Grande Bretagne to check out the inside.  The hotel was built in 1862.  The Nazi's made it their headquarters during World War II and in 1944 it was the scene of an attempt to assassinate Winston Churchill.

Hotel Grande Bretagne

After dropping our groceries off at the apartment, we went across the street to the Hotel Chelsea bar for a coffee.  The place is busy day and night and it is our hosts' favourite coffee shop in the neighbourhood.  The WIFI password was Bukowski (very fitting), there was a poster of the Chelsea Hotel, and lots of photos of the folks that had stayed at the Chelsea Hotel in NYC.  Of course, when we are in NYC, we stay at our friend Vince's apartment who lives across from the Chelsea Hotel.  Very small world.

Hotel Chelsea bar

Alain at the Hotel Chelsea

With an espresso

We then wandered a bit more in the neighbourhood before returning to the apartment.  Alain made a wonderful fish dinner and we had some very good Greek red wine with our meal.  A very busy first full day in Athens.