Athens on Our Own

Tuesday, February 24

16C.  We could tell who the locals were because they were wearing big puffy coats and toques, and the tourists were in short sleeved shirts.

Today we explored Athens on our own.  Which meant we met a surprising number of our tour group at our late breakfast.  We all slept in!

Our total for today was about 20,000 steps and 15 kms of walking.

Nearby is the Church of Kapnikarea, an 11th century Byzantine church built around 1050 AD.  It was constructed over the ruins of an early Greek temple.  It was almost demolished in the 1830s to make way for a new street and the modernization of the city, but King Ludwig I of Bavaria insisted on preserving it.

We walked through the neighbourhood of Monastiraki ("Little Monastery"), which is one giant flea market of shops, oh my!  Anton bought himself a very interesting cap:

We meant to find the Ancient Agora of Athens, just past the Acropolis.  But we found the Roman Agora instead.  This was built to be the new commercial and political center by Julius Caesar and Augustus in the 1st century BC during the Roman occupation of Athens.  

The Roman Agora of Athens contains the Tower of the Winds, although The Tower of the Winds predates the Romans. 

It was built around 50 BC by Andronicus of Cyrrhus, and is considered to be the world's first meteorological station.  It is built of marble and is an octagonal shape about 12 meters high.  Each wall face is oriented to a compass point.  There was a weather vane in the shape of a triton (merman) on top of it.  

imagecredit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_the_Winds

Besides the weather, the tower also tracked time using sundials and a clepsydra.  A clepsydra was a water clock powered by a system of floats and weights.

imagecredit https://www.the-athenian.com/site/1974/10/01/the-tower-of-the-winds/

Also here is Hadrian's Library, built in 132 AD by Emperor Hadrian.  It was once a major center for learning with thousands of scrolls, some lecture halls, and a courtyard with a pool.  It was deceptive from this view, because when we saw it from the front a bit higher up, it was only a facade.

We accidentally found The Church of the Virgin Mary Pantanassa-Monastiraki.  Oops, Anton wasn't supposed to take pictures, so he gave them a little money.

We did find the Ancient Agora of Athens but didn't buy a ticket to go in.  After awhile, all the ancient ruins start to look the same!  The Ancient Agora of Athens served as the city's commercial and political center for nearly 900 years, from 600 BC to 267 AD.  It was decimated by the Persians in 480 BC but quickly rebuilt.  

The best preserved ruin here is the Temple of Hephaestus.  This was a place of worship for Hephaestus the god of blacksmiths, and Athena, the goddess of pottery and craftsmanship.  It stands almost entirely intact because it was converted into a Greek Orthodox church and used into the 19th century.  The roof is nearly complete and 34 of the columns are intact.

The other well preserved structure is the Stoa of Attalos.  Stoa means walkway.  It was built in the 2nd century BC as a gift from King Attalos II of Pergamon.  It was a commercial hub with 21 shops on each of its 2 floors.  It was destroyed in 267 AD but rebuilt in the 1950s with funding by John D. Rockefeller Jr. 

We walked through the Plaka District, known as the "Neighbourhood of the Gods".  It is the oldest district of Athens and is a maze of narrow cobblestone streets, cafes, and shops, and ruins.  Mostly shops LOL.

This is Hadrian's Arch, 18 meters tall.  It was erected in 131-132 AD as a gateway to welcome Emperor Hadrian's visit.

Also nearby is the Temple of Olympian Zeus.  It was started in the 6th century BC and finished by Emperor Hadrian in 131 AD.  It was one of the largest temples of Greece, measuring 96 X 40 meters.  Fifteen of the original 104 columns remain.

Here is what it likely looked like compared to what it looks like now:

imagecredit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Olympian_Zeus,_Athens

imagecredit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Olympian_Zeus,_Athens

We found the Panathenaic Stadium, built in the 4th century BC.  It is the home of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.  The Olympic flame torch relay still begins here to this day.  The stadium is made entirely of white marble.

We didn't pay the €12.00 to go into the stadium, although we kind of wanted to.  It was open air.  They had a "WC" that Frankie wanted to use.  There was a turnstile and you couldn't pass without inserting one and a half euros.   After we left the stadium, we turned the corner and found a free street one.

We walked back to our hotel via the National Garden, with 38 acres.  This is a free public garden and it is a peaceful escape from the busy city center.  The little walk back actually turned into a 3 hour explore because we enjoyed the Garden so much.  There was a small zoo, ponds with fish, flower gardens, and a pond full of turtles.

There were wild parrots everywhere.  This one was helping himself to some fresh oranges:

We found the white colour of this Oriental Plane Tree very striking against the blue sky:

Anton made a new friend.  Greece seems to be full of stray cats.  The people here treat them kindly.  On both of our last 2 days of touring, our guides brought along bags of cat kibble to feed the stray cats.

Back in the area of our hotel, we stopped for a cup of tea.  Frankie's tea was called Gunpowder China.  It was very strong green tea.  The waiter asked if he should make it less strong in the future.  It seems they mostly serve coffee, not tea.  The outdoor flower boxes are all full of blooming cyclamen.  In a month or so, they will chuck them and plant something else.

We found motorcycle alley:

All the cars here have scrape marks on the fenders and bumpers because parking is so tight.  This guy might have some fun when he tries to leave:

We met Robin and Pierre at 5:30 and went to a restaurant named Athinaikon for dinner.  After the waitress made about a dozen trips to the chef to make sure the food was okay for them, Robin and Frankie ordered drunken chicken for supper.  She was the most cheerful waitress ever.  The restaurants always bring a free dessert "on the house".  Since Robyn and Frankie couldn't eat it, they received a free shot of very potent liqueur instead.