Αθήνα

I returned to Athens mid-afternoon and immediately changed in to…

The weather in Greece at this time of year isn’t exactly cold, but it is the sort of weather where you might want to have a jumber with you. In the sunshine it is pleasantly warm – like an English spring day.

This is in fact the first time I have been to Greece ‘out of season’. It is that time of year when the nights are drawing in, temperatures are dropping and the tourists are leaving.

After breakfast this morning we checked out of the hotel, leaving our luggage in their store room to collect later. We headed down on to the Underground to go and spend our last morning in Central Athens.

We left the Underground at Syntagma/Σύνταγμα and walked through the Kolonaki/Κολωνάκι district, going up Ploutarchou/Πλουτάρχου Street until we reached the cable car which goes up the mountain.

We spent the afternoon down on the “Athens Riviera” coast, down by Glyfada/Γλυφάδα.

The most famous building on the site of the Acropolis is the Parthenon – a building which dates back to 447 BC.

Porto Rafti (and Avlaki) both have a selection of bars and tavernas; listening to people talking around me they were mostly Greek and because of the proximity to Athens many Athenians come here for their days out to the beach.

One interesting site I went to last time I visited Athens was the Panathenaic Stadium/Παναθηναϊκό Στάδιο. Built of marble, it dates back to 330 BC and the stadium hosted the first Modern Olympic Games in 1896.

As 11am approached police officers started getting their whistles out to move people away from the guards so that they are behind the cordon. Then, as crowds started to grow, we heard the sound of the music as the band approached.

We are staying in the Neos Olympos Hotel/Ξενοδοχείο Νέος Όλυμπος which is the same hotel I stayed in 2 years ago. In fact it is exactly the same room with an interesting view over the city.