Phrases uttered;: - (sounds like*) "Efharisto": Thank you - (sounds like) "Parakalo": Welcome - (sounds like) "Kalimera": Good morning - (sounds like) "Kalispera": Good afternoon - (sounds like) "Milas anglika": Do you speak English? *- this is because they don't have roman alphabets, but Greek characters :D
Excerpt from the trip planning slides :) -- didn't get to go to Lycabettus Hill and Ancient Agora
We took the cab to get to the Athens Center Square hotel from the airport. The room was an okay size but having the view of the Acropolis from our room was priceless. The hotel may have a market outside of its doors during the daytime, but it wasn't a factor at all.
The view of the Acropolis of Athens from our room
Zooming in at night time
The market outside of the hotel
Later in the evening, we took a stroll to Monastiraki and Syntagma squares. One has to be wary of their surroundings in the Monastiraki square because there are people who would target unsuspecting tourists, like by employing the friendship band scam.
Ermou Street on a Sunday evening
The next day, we took advantage of the Hop-on Hop-off bus tour and made it as the means to get around the city since we only allocated one full day here in Athens.
The first stop is non other than the Acropolis.
On the Hop-on Hop-off bus
The line to get passed the turnstile. It went by quite quick actually
Didn't stop him from climbing up the stairs to get to Parthenon. Maybe I should get that for my dad :)
Can you guys move to the sides please? I want to take a picture... :D
Erechtheion - the temple dedicated for Athena and Poseidon. The statues of the Porch of the Caryatids are replicas. The real ones are in the New Acropolis Museum
The main star of Athens
With the Lycabettus Hill and a big Greece flag in the background
Under the big Greece flag
You can see the Temple of Zeus and Panathenaic Stadium in the distance
Lycabettus Hill
The Theatre of Dionysus and the New Acropolis Museum
I'm not too sure what that is on that hill over there
One massive city
Such an effort :)
Restoration works in progress
Standing at the Propylaia (entrance). More and more people are here
Ancient Agora is down there. But we didn't have the time to walk down there
The Propylaia (gate/entrance) and Temple of Nike seen from the Areopagus Hill.
Even though Temple of Zeus was a short walk away, we opted for the bus. We paid for it so we might as well use it right? :)
The Temple of Zeus, or what's left of it
These are only the side pillars
Hadrian's Arch, which is part of the wall that separated the old and new cities of Athens
From there, we walked to the New Acropolis Museum. Too bad photography was not allowed in all areas of the museum.
The New Acropolis Museum
They actually built the museum on top of the ancient city. Cool huh
They preserved part of the ancient city below the museum
The real caryatids from the Porch of Caryatid. It's cool that the museum at least gave permission to take pictures here
I snapped this picture in secret by simply pressing on the camera button with my mobile phone in my palm
Statue of an owl, which is believed to be Athena's favourite animal
Lunch was had at a nearby Indian restaurant. As we were walking out of the museum, this one guy was handing out flyers. We asked him if they serve halal food and he said Yes. Awesome! Prior to that, we saw a couple of girls were holding roses in their hands. One came closer to me and put one stem in my pocket saying "It's free". I quickly took it out of my pocket and gave it back to her. Nothing is free and there's definitely a catch. She kept on repeating It's free, free. I said I don't want it. Do you want to know what she said to me? "Crazy!" The heck. You're the crazy one girl! You put that rose in my pocket first without my permission.
After lunch, we took the blue bus that will go to Piraeus, the port. It was the last trip of the day so we couldn't alight at any of the stops. Else we have to find other ways of getting back. The marina looked like a cool place to walk around.
I'll be back to do some island hopping, insya Allah
When we were back at the Acropolis stop we continued on with the rest of the red route.
The Panathenaic Stadium
Changing of the Guards happens every hour at the hour
Athens University
The library
In the evening, we went out again to Monastiraki and Syntagma. I did manage to see the changing of the guards at the Parliament while my friends went off to get some shopping done before the shops were closed for the day. They own some interesting style of marching. Check out the video below and you'll see what I mean :)
A member of the Evzones in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
The replacements are here
I don't mind coming back to Athens again but it has to be in the summer time as a stopover to the islands ;)
Comments
Post a Comment