Mountains & Stadiums
Today I’ve been to Monastiraki, the University, I climbed Mt. Lykavittos, and I went to the Panathenaic Stadium.
Monastiraki is one of the tourist districts of Athens; pedestrianised and home to the city’s Flea Market. Having been told it was best on Sunday mornings before 11, I went first thing this morning. It was a lovely walk past all the cafes, and through the flea market itself; mainly Greeks out and about at this time on a Sunday morning: tourists all still in bed!
From there, I got the metro to Panepistimio station (Panepistimio is the Greek word for University) and photographed the National Library and Athens University buildings. From there, I walked up Lykavittos Hill, which took about an hour, and enjoyed the 360 views over the city.
After walking back down the hill and back to the station, my next stop was Syntagma, from where I was just a few minutes by foot from the Panathenaic Olympic Stadium. With my Uni of Glos ID card I got the student discount, getting in for €1,50 – and took a free audio guide too. Sport isn’t my thing – but the stadium was rather spectacular. As an added bonus – after following the passage indoors I found on display all the Olympic Torches: including the ones used for London 2012 and London 1948!
Back outside, I walked up to the top of the stands for a photo looking through the stadium towards the entrance. Near the exit, on display is a list of all the Presidents of the International Olympic Committee, and a list of all the Modern Olympic Games which have taken place – all listed in Greek of course; so now I know the Greek words for St. Louis and Antwerp (Most of the other cities are relatively self-explanitory in Greek – just remember that Monaco is the Greek word for Munich!
After lunch, I returned to the hotel for a late siesta – I tuned to the Third Programme and slept for nearly 4 hours.
For my final night in Athens, I ate at the restaurant on Karaiskaki Square, just down the road from my hotel; and where Metaxourgeio Metro Station is located. Pork souvlaki with rice, chips and a slice of lemon: which is what I cooked in Cheltenham last week. I think my version had more flavour though, but it was still nice, and although the road was very busy and noisy, I secretly enjoyed watching the traffic on the roundabout. It was all locals eating in the restaurant – no tourists – in fact I don’t think the waiter picked up that I was not Greek.
So that’s my week in Athens done. Tomorrow, I’m off to Levadia. Don’t know whether I’ll blog every day there: but I’ll try and post several times during the week if I can.
Bye for now.