Athens Day One

We pulled into port quietly about 6:30am, as usual we were woken by the ship shuddering as we slowed. The port isn't actually Athens, but Piraeus, a nearby port. An industrial area, the is port surrounded by glass buildings whose names are primarily freight or travel related.

We had already planned to take the hop-on hop-off bus which is a two day ticket. We had to walk through the port terminal and around to the next terminal to get the bus. Helen bought a sun umbrella for 3 euro on the bus, from a lady selling them.

The bus ride travels past marinas and beaches, and many miles of residential area, comprised of multi-story apartment buildings. There is a mix of buildings in nice condition, and terrible condition. Some are in a state of decay. Sometimes a single building will have a combination, partly inhabited and well kept, and partly in a state of disrepair. Eventually the bus jumps on a short stretch of motorway before joining an arterial route which is four lanes in each direction. It is lined with a mix of hotels, sex clubs, car dealers and office buildings.

Suddenly we are in Athens and we get to see the inner city which had ruins everywhere. We pass around all the usual landmarks plus some we've not heard of, also seeing upmarket shopping districts and local flea markets. Once we did a full circuit, we hopped off the bus at Parliament.

We had witnessed the changing of the guard from the bus while stuck in traffic but I wanted to see the guards up close. They stand to attention and don't move. While some people posed next to the guards for photos, I took a number of close ups and got told off by another security guard.

Next we went for a walk down the main shopping district. Here Helen found a Marks & Spencer much to our surprise. Also found a Lego shop which although quite small, had a life-size Darth Vadar inside.

We eventually hit a square where we sat at a local restaurant for lunch. For a reasonable sum we were served a banquet of real Greek food while live music played. Most enjoyable.

Next more walking, off the mainstream shopping road and through the flea markets where people sell all sorts of stuff right on the roadside. The footpath is hard to navigate as a result. We then doubled back to see the local meat and seafood markets which were a sight to behold. The surrounding streets were full of little shops specialising in certain items (one shop only sold walking sticks, another only metal buckets and tins, another hardware, etc).

Next we used the bus to take us direct to the Acropolis Museum. Although we opted not to actually go up the hill to the Acropolis, we went into the museum which is full of artefacts from the Acropolis itself and also has great views up to the Acropolis. There is more archaeological exploration happening underneath the museum so it's built on poles with a glass floor at the entrance. Eventually people will be able to visit below but for now it's off limits to us.

Eventually we were running out of day. While it would have been nice to stay in the city and see a sunset on the Acropolis, we didn't want to miss the last bus back to the port, so left late afternoon. The open-top double decker is a great way to take in some views. Athens has an electric bus network and it's a bit strange sitting so close to the power lines with no protection.

In a day, we had managed to tick many boxes on the Athens must-see list and still have another day awaiting.