Athens

Arrived in Athens at 11.30 at night, after taking the not-so-scenic-route via Munich (flights are in short supply at the moment). One flight was about half-full, the other only about a quarter full.

Therefore, only got to meet our fellow tour members the next morning. All very nice, a young kiwi lady (Sarah), a lady from London (Zara), a couple from Norwich (Brian & Di) and an American (John – aka MAGA) living in Germany.

After the most humungous breakfast (served in our room due to COVID), had a tour of Athens the next morning – first stop was the Panathenaic Stadium (one of the main historic attractions of Athens and the only stadium in the world built entirely of marble) and then we went on to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Saw the changing of the guards, with their unusual outfits (they have a summer and winter outfit), and unusual march. If you haven’t seen it before, here’s a little video.

We then took a walk to the Acropolis via some of the ruins in Athens and through the Plaka; a neighbourhood at the base of the Acropolis with narrow cobblestone streets lined with tiny shops selling jewelry, clothes and local ceramics. Sidewalk cafes and family-run tavernas stay open until late – once again, barely a soul on the streets.

Don’t remember much from my last visit to Athens except the Parthenon as it was a very fleeting visit – only remember waiting over an hour for a bus back to the camp site we were staying at.
Had reports that Athens is a dirty, noisy horrible city but we were quite pleasantly surprised (partly due to our expectations being low).

There were many lovely hidden spots in Athens which we would never have found on our own – highly recommend you take a tour if you’re ever in Athens. There were lovely little outdoor bars/restaurants with trees in hidden courtyards, views of the Parthenon from bars in the Plaka, cobblestone alleyways and little shops full of character. But equally some really dodgy looking, run down, graffitied parts too.

Made it up the hill to the Parthenon where they had a one-way system in place (probably a good idea to keep that post COVID). You’ll see from the photos that there were hardly any people there (it was great not to have the crowds).

A lot of restoration work underway – thanks to EU funding apparently. Appears the whole of Europe is undergoing some form of repair/restoration/construction.

From the Acropolis, you could see the sprawl of Athens. It appeared to be massive and heavily populated, but apparently only 5 million people (half the total population of Greece).

A very famous spot in Athens is “Little Kook” a fairy tale inspired restaurant that occupies about 3 or 4 shops serving everything from beers and cocktails, to ice-creams, cakes and pancakes etc. Part of its appeal is that it changes its theme every few months (except during COVID) and they spare no expense. The current theme is Mary Poppins, and even the servers were in costume.
You can see more pics of current and previous themes, cakes etc on their FB page. Amazing!!

Last stop was a visit to the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens (Greek Orthodox Church) where a baptism was taking place. Our guide (Stefanos) told us that babies are only Christened when they are a year old (they have no name until then) and they don’t celebrate “birthday” but their “naming day” and each name has a date attached to it.
For example, all those named Yiannis or Ionnis (John), or any variation thereof, will celebrate their naming day on 7 January (irrespective of when they were born or christened). And if you have a “weird” name that doesn’t correlate to a christian saint or martyr – all those names have one day as their “name day” (and it changes every year!) Got it?

Next Stop … Mykonos.