Athens

When we go downstairs to check out of our accommodation there is no sign of Maria

She eventually arrives, very flustered, ten minutes later in possession of a tiny chick that she had found cowering outside her front door. She was trying to find someone to give her advice on what to feed it on. Egg white, apparently.

Breakfast at a cafe in the town, my omelet looking more like a pizza. Then we pick up a taxi from the rank, our luggage from the hotel (Maria was feeding her new acquisition using a protein supplement), and a short ride to Corinth station.

An hour's train ride later we are at Athens central rail station, which was smaller than the station at Corinth. Two metros later we arrive at Monastiraki, for what should have been a very short walk to our room but turned into a rather circuitous walk through the back streets of Psyrii. 

Our room is on the second floor, above this bustling little taverna

It is fabulous, very quirky, though with only two coat hangers and no storage space. It proves to be a great place to stay. Everything we want to see is within walking distance, plus the staff are very friendly and happy to chat to us. I thought staying above a bar might be noisy, but with no music and just people quietly talking it's fine

During our stay in the city we focus mainly on ancient history and archaeological sites, which are everywhere

The archaeological museum is on an epic scale

With impressive chunks of ancient gold objects

Enough stone statues to fill a stadium

The monumental bronze statues were probably the best things we saw. Mostly recovered from the sea bed after their transport ships sunk in storms etc

At the opposite end of the size scale the collection of signet rings were impressive for the exquisite detail that they contained. 

The Parthenon. Much decayed, destroyed, looted and stolen, but still awe inspiring. 

The Acropolis originally had many temples and sanctuaries, the Erechtheion still survives....mostly

The views over the city from the hilltop are worth seeing. The buildings are mostly white, and no high rise

After the crowds of the Acropolis hilltop, the slopes on the northern side are a calm oasis. 

They have their own sanctuaries and sacred springs, not accessible to the public. 

To learn more about the Parthenon, see what's been discovered there, plus the surviving marbles and friezes, we go to the Acropolis museum

Yet another enormous museum

With an excellent cafe looking up at the ancient site. We have lunch here, and would highly recommend it for quality, setting, and ambience. Also the only place where we found a gluten free beer option 

The top floor consists of a full sized layout of the Parthenon sculptures. Either the actual objects, or fragments, or plaster casts of the sculptures that have been stolen or looted and are residing elsewhere.

A model of the sort of machinery that might have might have been used in the construction, which spanned an incredibly short period of only nine years, plus another five to complete the decorations

By our final day in the city we were somewhat museumed out, 

so explored the National Gardens

Which are near many government ministries, the parliament building, and the tomb of the unknown soldier. The ceremonial guards, with their distinctive but very hot looking uniforms, were worth seeing. The precision of their movements was powerful and balletic

At Beer O' Clock each day we would go to Beer Time for some very tasty Brain Paradox, or in Vera's case cider or sangria. 

All around where we were staying was a plethora of restaurants and tavernas, 

including the very photogenic, but unvisited by us, Alice themed Little Kook restaurant come cafe

Out of all of the artwork, both ancient and modern, that we saw this was my favourite. The Lamassu of Nieveh is a recreation of an ancient sculpture destroyed in the aftermath of the Iraq war. It is built from empty Iraqi date syrup tins

After four days in Athens we feel that we have barely begun to scratch the surface of what this lovely, interesting, city has to offer. Further research is clearly needed

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