This time we're in Athens! Join us for gyros,
beer, archaeological sites great views, so much more in the Greek capital.
Good morning from an already boiling Athens. It's about half past nine in the
morning. We've had our coffee in the hotel and
we're now out and about for the day. We were going
to go up to the acropolis where the parthenon is
but it's 20 euros per person to enter the,
kind of complex up there, which we thought was kind of pricey.
Especially when the best views of the parthenon are
not actually from the acropolis they're from further away.
So we're making our way up to kind of like an adjacent hill
so we're hoping to get some good views of the parthenon from there but we'll see.
We recommend that you do this walk before the midday heat as it's a bit of
a hike up the hill, and remember to pack some water as well.
Sso that's the monument of Philopapas, but you need to come here for the views
because it's amazing, it's free and looking out across the
acropolis,it's pretty good view.
If you do want to visit the acropolis check out this website
tickets are 20 euros and best booked online in advance to avoid having to queue.
Unexpectedly we found there are a number of nice walking trails around the
acropolis, each with a different view of Athens.
well worth trying out some of these as they don't ever seem to be busy.
I mean that sounds too loud for a cricket but i don't know what it is. If you do
let us know in the comments below.
The core area of Athens is quite walkable, and you're never too far away
from a greek archaeological site of some sort.
Any we saw were chargeable to enter usually around 10 euros.
There is an attractions pass and Will talks about that a bit later.
The pandrossou street market was bustling with people on the sunday morning we visited.
Lots of stalls lined the streets with
quirky items and antiques looking for a new home. It's fun
to have a dig around and maybe find something to take home that's not your
usual tourist rubbish.
This area is also lined with nice cafes to grab a coffee
and chill in the cooling mist sprays, soaking up some of the atmosphere
and taking in yet another view of the acropolis.
We've just come into the ancient Agora area.
You can buy a ticket which gives you entrance to most of the
famous sites which are 30 euros
and that gets your entrance to everything which is valid for one week,
or if you want to just enter this ancient Agora
area it's 10 euros per person.
What is an Agora we hear you cry? Well
Agora was the central public space in a greek city, a gathering space.
It was the center of athletic, artistic spiritual and political life in the city,
and this one is the best example. The highlight has to be the temple of Hephaistos,
an almost complete structure built
around 415 bc
Hephaistos, was the patron god of metal work craftsmanship and fire,
and lots of pottery and metal workshops would have been located in the vicinity
of the temple. It's widely known to be the best
preserved temple in the world (of this type) and believed to be partly because it was
turned into a christian church in 700 a.d
that it survived. Made of marble it's pretty impressive.
I know it's summer but it is roasting it's like no clouds, it's glorious
sunshine, but because you're in the city,
you're walking around all day outside seeing the sights so bear in
mind sun cream is a must i've got factor 50
on today but you can still feel it burning me.
Most of the other structures in Agora are gone just the foundations of what
once was remained.
In the grounds of Agora is the Stoa of Atalos, sorry if i said that wrong,
a reconstructed modern temple housing a small museum of artifacts
with stunning views over Agora. Part of your ticket price so it's well worth
having a look around.
If you need to use the metro to quickly move across town and you plan to do this
a few times in a day then get the 4 euro 10 cent day pass.
Machines are easy to use and work in multiple languages.
The metro seemed punctual and pretty easy to navigate although the greek
station names can be a bit hard to work out!
The Hellenic Parliament uses the old Royal Palace and is worth stopping by to
visit the soldiers of the presidential guard,
that protect the grave of the unknown soldier.
Arrive here at 11am on Sunday and see the ceremonial changing of the guards,
we were there on sunday but missed it by an hour due to all our other activities.
The famous uniforms have special historical meaning,
and the skirts have 400 pleats to denote 400 years of Ottoman rule.
The guards go through rigorous training and must not move or have facial
expressions, only the best are picked for this elite force.
Here we are in th, what was it? National Garden or Botanical Garden or something?
but certainly this palmed area reminds us of the Botanical Gardens in
Rio that we were at last year, so check that video out!!
We're just here to have a little sit down and
enjoy some peace and quiet whilst in the city.
The National Gardens were formerly the Royal Gardens for the Palace next door
that we just saw. There are over 500 species of plants and
a variety of animals including peacocks ducks and turtles.
It's a really nice place to catch some shade and have a bit of time out and
take things easy.
So behind me is the Panthiatic stadium. It's like a 60 000 seater stadium based on
like the original kind of olympic style stadium that they had, pretty
cool, but you have to pay to go in so we'll just view from outside because
we're tight! This is the only stadium in the world
completely built of marble and hosted the opening and closing of
the first modern olympics in 1896. It's also the last venue in Greece from
where the olympic flame handover ceremony
by the host nation takes place so it's pretty cool.
We found a really great place for a cocktail with superb views of the
acropolis. As with everything we've shown you we'll
put links in our description to help you. Cocktails were 10 euros each and for the
life of me i can't remember what we had but they were really good that combined
with the views made it a good spot to stop.
There are plenty of streets and side alleys, full of interesting shops
selling more than just fridge magnets. Whether you're looking for traditional
dress, leather bags, belts or shoes then Athens is likely to have it.
The area was really relaxed and probably
less busy than usual due to the ongoing
pandemic.
One area of Athens that really stuck out to us was the Plaka district.
It had a real village feel with narrow cobblestone streets lined with
tiny shops selling jewellery clothes and local ceramics,
sidewalk cafes and family-run tavernas also offered great food and scenery.
After an incredible day it was time for a quick beer before heading up to the
Lycabettus hill to catch an amazing sunset.
cheers cheers
So we're drinking the alpha beer and you can see on the logo
it's written in greek. Reason we we know that's called alpha beer is because
it was in english in the menu, but also the letters in the middle there
F An Lu ,same in Russian so that's how we knew.
Don't like the crisps?
Trying to work out what flavor it is it's probably....
It's not dill, it's like oregano. Yeah probably is oregano, they have it a lot here.
Especially in the feta cheese
sprinkled.
Lycabettus hill is the tallest of the seven hills dotted around Athens.
Luckily for us and for you, there is a funicular to take you up to the top.
Tickets are 7 euro 50 for a round trip and it runs every 10 to 15 minutes at
peak times. On the way up you're entertained with a
little light show something i've not seen on a funicular before.
The views are just amazing, we were surprised at how many people were
already up there, with their drinks snacks and cameras
waiting for that sun to go down.
The sunset was a real highlight and a great way to end a fantastic day.
But wait right at the beginning of this video we promised you Gyros that
famous greek dish. So here we are in Avgerino's for a spot
of dinner.
I've decided for us haha
What we having then?
Grilled feta cheese,
a greek salad, i was going to go for the
pork gyros platter, then whatever you want.
The Kebab with yoghurt.
and of the big draught beer.
thank you very much.
Our food has arrived,
I have a pork gyros platter,
which is like the kind of shredded pork meat some kind of yogurty dip
chips and pitter and a bit a salad. here we have some fried halloumi cheese
It's good, Russian salad, we decided not to go greek salad surprisingly
but we'll definitely have that tomorrow.
Si, yours is a kebab with yogurt which also looks nice
Really good!
It's like, the charcoaliness from the grill, that's really good!
fantastic!
Next time we grab a car and head out of Athens to the Peloponnese
and the Mani peninsula. Still to come in this series we have the
Corinth canal, underground caves, an abandoned village, lots of cute towns
and scenery to see so make sure you subscribe and don't
miss any of it! Until the next time happy travels from the Memoryseekers.
you