Greece – Athens (En)
Athens is the capital of Greece. It was also at the heart of Ancient Greece, a powerful civilization and empire. The city is still dominated by 5th-century BC landmarks, including the Acropolis, a hilltop citadel topped with ancient buildings like the collonaded Parthenon.
We stayed in a paid parking in Piraeus (37.947701, 23.646 lats, long) next to the tube to go to the centre of Athens and the Acropolis. The parking is 20 euros for 24 hours, is safe and closed. Maria the manager gave you a key so you can come and go and she explains to you really well what tube you have to take and where to go out etc. She is really nice and helpful. We really recommend you stay here if you want to visit Athens and you can also visit the town of Piraeus.
Piraeus is a port city in the Attica region of Greece. It is located eight kilometres southwest of Athens’, along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf. Maria told us to go to visit the town as offers a large number of cultural, historical and recreational activities. So we went to see the town, which has a very nice Orthodox Church, a square with a theatre and another church with two bell towers. In a bar, we saw a couple with parrots pets and they posed for us.
Maria told us to go above all to see the two ports of the city, one with luxury yachts similar to Puerto Banús in Marbella where there is a Clock Tower and the old port with small boats. Both ports are full of bars, taverns and clubs with music, and amazing views of the islands and the city.
The old port is full of cute taverns and bars with terraces looking at the port, so we decided to have dinner in one of the taverns. We shared a crab salad, yummy, all crab with a little olive oil and grilled sardines which were delicious!
We went back to the parking at night enjoying the views.
The next day really early we took the tube to the Acropolis, which is an archaeological site that still preserves important buildings in good condition such as the magnificent Parthenon, the entrance of the Propylaea, the Theatre of Dionysus, the Odeon of Herod Atticus, the temple of Erechtheion and that of Athena Niké. These monuments were built from 499 B.C. to 429 B.C. and located on a peak more than 150 metres high, they are, without a doubt, one of the essential places to see in Greece. The Acropolis entrance is 20 euros per person and even though we arrived before 9 am there were many people already.
After that, we went to walk through the picturesque narrow streets of the Plaka neighbourhood. This old neighbourhood, located at the foot of the Acropolis, still retains the essence of traditional Greece with its historic buildings, taverns and crowded terraces. Walking through Plaka you arrived at the old Agora, in which we took pictures but we did not pay to go in.
Following Adrianou, the oldest street in the city, full of souvenir shops and restaurants, you will arrive at Monastiraki Square, the most beautiful in the city. The square, in addition to having a great atmosphere throughout the day, has several interesting buildings such as the Byzantine Church of Pantanassa and the Ottoman Mosque of Tzistarakis, as well as fantastic views of the Acropolis.
And after visiting Athens we went to the old city of Corinth, which you can see in the next post!
