Athens, Greece
Well, I've calmed down from my rant last night about driving in downtown Athens. Today, we really enjoyed the city. We took the metro/subway/train system from our stop down towards the southern, historic centre of Athens. Today is Sunday, and there was a bike race through the city, so we took a Hop On/Hop Off bus down to Pireaus for an hour until the race was over.
In ancient times, Pireaus was the most important port in Greece, with lots of international trade and multiculturalism in the area. Today, Pireaus is the major port where all the ferries depart to the Greek Islands.
Arriving back in Athens, we continued on with a sightseeing bus tour to check out the places we'd like to visit tomorrow. It's such a great system. We bought 2-day tickets, so we can hop off the bus at any interesting point or site we'd like to visit, and then hop back on to carry on to another spot.
After completing the circuit, we decided for today we would visit the Acropolis and Parthenon at the top of the hill, centre Athens.
It was a very impressive site, a bit overwhelming with so many thousands of visitors, but the remaining standing columns of the Acropolis are the biggest we've seen yet.
I was also pleased to have a chance to visit the Ancient Theatre of Dionysos, along the southern wall of the Acropolis. It's where the beginnings of drama and theatre, first tragedy then comedy, began in 342 BC. It was the first theatre built of stone.
We enjoyed supper at Omonia Square, but were saddened to actually "see" the number of street people and kids begging. Once our "tourist" eyes become more accustomed to the big touristy sites, we can really begin to see the real side-streets of Athens. It is a city of decay but putting on a good show to attract international tourists, which keeps their economy going.
Back on the subway, and home for a quiet evening.
2025-05-22