A Day in Athens
Holiday Day three
This day started with a discovery of something that wasn’t there if you can discover such a thing. The thing that wasn’t there was Neil’s jacket, which he’d not needed since Symi. We searched but decided that it was either still hanging on the back of a chair at the café by the quay in Symi, or was enjoying a sailing in the cabin wardrobe aboard the Blue Star Xios. When leaving a café or restaurant, I’m the kind of chap who checks that we’ve taken everything (furniture and fittings excepted), and I didn’t remember seeing it on the back of the chair in Symi. So, we assumed it was still on a voyage somewhere, never to be seen again. Never mind, there are plenty of shops in Athens, and we could pick up another one outside of our daily spending allowance because this was, after all, a one-off holiday.
Meanwhile, someone was more than happy to lie in bed and watch us hunt through the suitcases and check the cupboards for the fifth time in case it had magically reappeared.
This day was our only full day without arriving or departing, and after breakfast, we set off to take a wander around and see some sights we’d not seen before. If there’s a checklist to tick off, then we’d previously done things like the Acropolis and museum, National Park, Syntagma Square, Evzones, Ermu, Thissio market, Monistiraki and so on. Today, it was the turn of the Archaeological Museum which we found thanks to online maps and Jenine (who you can see photobombing this photo).
Central Municipal Market
From the hotel to the museum was a steady 2 Km walk past the new Omonia Square development (then, still behind boards), and the Central Municipal Market where we called in to look around and ‘enjoy’ the smell of fresh fish and dead animals. It reminded me of Billingsgate and Smithfield rolled into one. A far cry from our small fish market on the bridge on Symi and our ‘Super Markets’ which I’ve always thought of as absolutely super supermarkets so no need to split the word – but that’s what we do here in Greece. (Even the current track-and-trace system gives you the option to dial for permission to visit the super market, but that’s just me being pedantic.) Anyway, the market…
Along the route, we stopped for the obligatory frappe and Paddington joined us to rest his legs, and take a break in that most traditional of Greek male rituals…
Onwards, the trek took us via a leather shop for a new jacket for Neil and on to Plaza Kotzia. [Kotzia Square is a square in central Athens, Greece. The square retains several characteristics of 19th-century local neoclassical architecture, such as the City Hall of the Municipality of Athens and the National Bank of Greece Cultural Center. It is named after Konstantinos Kotzias, former Mayor of Athens.] And lots of pigeons.
Archaeological Museum
Paddington was more interested in the pigeons, but we dragged him away and made it to the Archaeological Museum for a good, foot-aching, walk around. It was a school day, and there were a few parties of younger children on a tour with a teacher, gawping at the massive naked statues, giggling at each one left ‘in tact’ and being told by Teach that it was perfectly artistic, and also rather rare. Apparently, Pope Pius IX (r. 1846 to 1878) was responsible for de-manning many ancient statues, taking Pope Clement XIII’s fetish for covering ‘bits’ with fig leaves one slip of the chisel further. But that may not be what happened to these Greek statues, and besides, many in this museum are still pene integrum, much to the delight of class 4b.
I digress. We saw plenty of other interesting sights, including this collection of busts which was, believe it or not, indoors.
In the evening
After a foot rest and an orange juice, we wandered back to Centrum, and, on the spur of the moment, booked a session with the barber around the corner where I had my first proper haircut in about 15 years, and Neil had a shave and trim, making us both feel more human and slightly pampered.
To celebrate, that evening we went to Ciel in Mitropoleos Square. That’s the square we were in last night where playetes were smashed in Summer, but rather than being on the ground, we were several storeys up in the air, as suggested by the name of the venue. Popular with the young (and us), this café, bar, restaurant has wonderful views towards the nearby Acropolis, though my phone camera and night shots don’t go hand in hand so well. It reminded me of when I was young(er) and used to go the Roof Gardens on top of what was Derry & Toms and, later, the Biba building in Kensington.
I’ll close the day with a slightly better shot, probably from Neil’s camera. Tomorrow, we have a morning in Athens before an afternoon flight to London and the second stage of the journey to, and back from, Canada.
