Day in Athens, Greece

Me at the Parthenon.
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I got up early in order to get a good start on the day, since I had a lot of stuff I wanted to see and from the map it looked like there was going to be a bit of walking ahead of me. I had to wait for the shower to open up, but I was able to check my e-mail, since there was a free internet terminal just outside our room. The first order of business this morning was I had to find a place to stay for the night, since the hostel I was in was all booked for tonight. I walked around the street near the hostel and there were a bunch of hotels, but they were all booked or wanted $90 Euro a night. I finally found something right in the middle, the Hotel Nana, which was $45 Euro, included breakfast and I got my own room with a full size bed. I went back to the original hostel, checked out, grabbed my bags, and went back to the Hotel Nana. After checking in, I had to go to the train station to book my train from Athens to Patras, where I had to catch the ferry to Italy the next day. I then hopped on the metro train and took it downtown to all the tourist sights. The first stop was the Greek Parliament Building and the National Gardens just south of it. I walked through gardens and found the Zappeion, which is an Exhibition and Congress Hall. Near the Zappeion there was a large group of Greek military doing drills with there rifles. I then walked across the street to the Temple of Olympian Zeus, which was one of the large temples of its time and had over 88 of these large columns, but only about fifteen are still standing. One was toppled by a storm and is still on display, but the sections of it are spread across the ground. I ended up buying the combination ticket for $12 Euro that gives you an Acropolis ticket and tickets to five extra sites including the Temple of Olympian Zeus. I also saw Hadrian's Arch, which was right next to the temple. I then walked towards the Acropolis, which you can see from about anywhere in downtown Athens, since it was built on top of a large hill in the center of Athens. I used one of the extra site tickets to see the Theatre of Dionysos, which is at the southern base of the Acropolis. It was the main theatre used by the famous Greek playwrites perform their plays. I saw some other ancient architectures that were being restored as I walked on the southern base towards the Acropolis entrance. The Odeum of Herodes was just below the southern entrance to the Acropolis. It was an amphetheatre with steep stone seating with a large two story wall at the back. I am not sure what it was used for, but it was in really good shape compared to the Theatre of Dionysos. I then went up the steps through the Propylaea, which is the entrance to the top of the hill, where the Acropolis is located. Just to the right before you go through the Proplaea is the Temple of Athena Nike, which was under heavy restoration, so it was covered by scaffolding. I then saw the Parthenon as I got to the top of the hill. It is really amazing the size of the columns and can't image what it use to look like with all the marble carvings and sculputures that covered it. They are still restoring it, but the remains of many of the original sculptures are in the museum which is just behind the Parthenon on hill. Also on the hill is a building called the Erechtheoin, which was an ionic temple for several of the gods. I then headed for the Monastiraki area for lunch, since the guy at the hostel had said it was a great place to get some food. There were lots of shops, street vendors, and sidewalk cafes. Actually a few were on the street, but the streets were blocked off or ropes were used to block off the sides of the street. I found a place that had some classic Greek food, so I stopped and grabbed some lunch. I got the Pork Slovakia Plate and a large Greek beer. The food was good and the beer was also very tasty, much better than the Indian beer. After lunch, I got an ice cream cone at one of the vendor and headed for the Ancient Agora. I used another on of the extra site tickets to see the Ancient Agora and other buildings that were on northern base of the Acropolis. The main road from the Acropolis passed by all these buildings and this area was the main market place of ancient Athens. I then walked to the Roma Agora, which was another one of the extra sites on the combo ticket I got. I walked by the Hadrian's Library on the way and it must have been one huge library. I don't know much about alot of the buildings, since I didn't have a tour guide and got all my info from the signs at each site. The final site I visited was the Keramikos, which is the ancient graveyard of Athens and where all important and famous people were buried. The graves very based on the time period, but many of the graves had elaborate marble statues and head stones. There was also a museum that had many of the relics from some of the graves and some of the original statues from the graveyard. I then took the metro back to the hotel. The metro system in Athens is very nice, quick, and not too expensive. I waited no more than 30 seconds for any train and it cost $0.80 Euro each way. I got back to the hotel and tried to make some calls home. The phone at the hotel wouldn't work with the calling card I had and neither did the pay phone. I guess there are special phones to use for calling cards. After some frustrations and trying to Greeks that didn't speak English, I was able to figure out that there was other phones and was pointed in the direction of one. I finally found the correct phone and I was able to use the card to call home. I then relaxed in my hotel room, since I was a bit tired from all the walking especially from all huge hill of the Acropolis. I grabbed some dinner at the hotel resturant. I had a cheeseburger and fries that tasted, so good. I had forgot how good hamburgers were and how much I missed them. It did have cucumber on it, which was different, but it actually tasted pretty good. I watched some TV, they had a Simpson episode on, woo hoo, and I went to bed.

I then saw the Parthenon as I got to the top of the hill.