2 May 2018, Wednesday
This morning, we woke up bright and early for our visit to the Acropolis. From our apartment in Plaka, we walked for 10 minutes and reached the Southeast side gate entrance at around 7:50am. There are two entrances to the Acropolis and the West entrance is the main one where all the tour groups use, so it is more crowded than the Southeast one. When we arrived, there were about 30 people in the queue ahead of us.
The ticket booth opened at 8am but queue moved quite slowly because there was only counter, and also because some people paid by credit card and some were students so verification was needed. The regular entrance ticket costs 20 Euros. The reduced ticket for seniors only applies to EU residents above 65 years old so dad wasn’t eligible for it this time. We finally got our tickets at 8:15am and our visit to the Acropolis had begun!
After entering the gate, you will see the Parthenon perched atop the hill. It looks quite high up but climbing up the slope wasn’t that bad actually. Along the way, you will see the Theatre of Dionysus, an open-air theatre that can sit 17,000 people. Dionysus was the god of fertility and wine, and a patron of the arts (he was quite talented, wasn’t he?). The theatre is built into the slopes of the Acropolis but it isn’t very well preserved, with the upper section of the seats crumbling and overrun with grass. It wasn’t very eye-catching so most people just took a cursory glance at it and moved on quickly.
A short distance away is the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, a much better preserved amphitheatre with a seating capacity of 4,680. To most people, the highlight of their visit to the Acropolis is the Parthenon but for me, it is the Odeon of Herodes Atticus because this was where Yanni performed his classic 1993 Live At The Acropolis concert. I was fortunate enough to own a copy of the LaserDisc and CD album. Ever since I started playing music in secondary school more than 20 years ago, I would always watch the Yanni concert film for inspiration and good luck before my own school concert performance. The imagery of the Acropolis captured on film together with Yanni’s music left a deep impression on me. So it was a big thing for me to finally see the Odeon of Herodes Atticus.
The venue looked smaller than on film, as often is the case, but it looked every bit as majestic as on screen. Without the stage and the speakers, it looked bare but I can imagine it in full concert mode. Performing here will be very special indeed.
Shortly after the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, we reached the Propylaea, which is a monumental gateway. Here, we merged with the other visitors from the West entrance so it suddenly became much more crowded. Even at that early hour of 8:40am, tourists were pouring in so we had to jostle for space to take photos.
After climbing up the flight of steps and through the Propylaea, we had our first glimpse of the Parthenon not too far away. To be honest, it didn’t take my breath away the same way the Taj Mahal or the Colosseum did the first time I saw it. I think it’s because the Parthenon’s structure is not that big and it is generally in a crumbling state, so it lacks the physical presence and grandeur of the other two. Furthermore, the first face of the Parthenon you encounter is not its best side because it is covered with scaffolding as restoration works are in progress. It is only when you walk around it and see its eastern face that it becomes the Parthenon that you expect and recognise.
The Parthenon was completed in 432 BC and it is dedicated to the goddess Athena. It is rectangular in shape with 17 columns on the longer side and 8 columns on the shorter side. A few of the columns have toppled while some of them have been restored with white Pentelic marble used to fill up the gaps. Needless to say, restoring the Parthenon is a massive project and it is only projected to be completed in 2020, when the Parthenon will finally be free from scaffolding.
From the top of the hill, we got amazing views of Athens city below. There are no skyscrapers but the buildings stretched as far as the eye can see. Not surprising because Athens is one of the oldest cities in the world, with a recorded history of over 3,400 years. Its current population is about 665,000 in the city proper and over 3.75 million when including the greater metropolitan area.
On the north side of the Acropolis is the Erechtheion, a small temple dedicated to both Athena and Poseidon. On the south of the Erechtheion is the Porch of the Caryatids, with six female figures (maidens) acting as supporting columns. There wasn’t much to see so we moved past it quickly. In all, we spent about one hour and 15 minutes visiting the Acropolis.
We went down by the West side and saw the main entrance, which had more ticket booths and a more organised queuing system. We then walked around the Acropolis along Dionysiou Areopagitou street and passed by the Odeon of Herodes Atticus on the way before reaching the Southeast entrance once more. By now, a long line had formed here and we were glad we visited much earlier. We also popped by the Acropolis Museum for a look but didn’t pay to enter it.
After that, we walked around Plaka and back to Monastiraki for some shopping. The shops at Ermou street were also open today and it was so different from yesterday, when the place resembled a ghost town. We then visited the Central Municipal Athens Market, which sells meat, fish and fresh produce. This is not a place where tourists usually go to, but it was fascinating to get a glimpse of local Athenian life.
We had a late lunch at an eatery called Bouloukos Kebab, where we ordered chicken souvlaki with pita bread and a chicken kebab wrap. I enjoyed the kebab wrap very much as it was served fresh and hot to me. Yummy!
Next, we walked to Syntagma Square and arrived at the Parliament Building before 3pm, just in time to catch the changing of the guard ceremony, which takes place every hour in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. In front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier are two small guard posts painted in white and blue, where the two guards stand still. At 3pm sharp, the new guards march out from the side and the ceremony begins. There is no music and it is a pretty simple ceremony.
The guards’ uniform is quite spectacular though. The guards don a bright red beret with a long side ponytail and are dressed in a dark blue jacket/kilt with gold button trimmings, creamy white leggings and traditional shoes with a small tuft in front. They also carry a long rifle in the left hand. Most interesting of all is the way they march – raising their right arms at an angle of 45 degrees and their right legs at 90 degrees. It’s an eye-opener and worth catching it if you’re in Athens. It wasn’t super crowded when we were there so I could still get a good view of the proceedings.
After that, we retreated to our apartment for a rest before heading out again at 5:30pm. From our apartment at Plaka, we walked through the National Garden and reached the Panathenaic Stadium (click here) about 15 minutes later.
An entry ticket to the Panathenaic Stadium costs 5 Euros but seniors aged above 65 enjoy half priced admission. A free audio guide is provided for all guests. The stadium is notable for being the venue of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, where nude male athletes competed in track events. When Athens hosted the Olympics in 2004, the stadium was the venue for the archery contests. Today, the stadium is used for pop concerts and important events, and it is also the finishing point of the annual Athens Classic Marathon.
The entire stadium is made of white marble and it is simply massive. According to the brochure, it can accommodate a total of 68,000 people. Because of its marble structure, the stadium gets very hot in the day so it is advisable to visit early in the morning or later in the evening. During our visit, it wasn’t crowded at all so it we pretty much had the entire place to ourselves.
The stadium is remarkable for its unique narrow oblong-like shape. The running track in the Panathenaic Stadium has a much sharper bend and the straight portion is more than 200m long, double that of the running tracks in modern stadiums.
There is a small exhibition hall on the ground level where you enter through a vaulted passage, a stone tunnel walkway to reach it. In the exhibition hall, you can see posters and torches used in the previous editions of the Olympic Games.
A highlight of the visit is to sit on the original Royal Boxes, positioned in the middle of the horseshoe. These two seats have a special backrest and they were where royalty used to sit at. After 1908, the position of the Royal Boxes was changed to a more central spot along the straight portion of the track, where they can get a better view of the proceedings on the track.
The other highlight is the opportunity to take a photo on the winners’ podium on the track. Pretend that you’re Olympics champions for a day. Don’t miss it!
We spent about 45 minutes at the Panathenaic Stadium. With an admission fee of only 5 Euros, it is affordable and it is a good place for a short visit to occupy your time in Athens.
We then headed back to Plaka for dinner. Logically, we should try a different restaurant so that we can compare the quality and try some new dishes. However, we were so impressed by the food and service standards at Byzantino yesterday that we decided to patronise them again.
Yesterday, while we were having our dinner, there was a large tour group of about 60 Thai tourists occupying the tables near us. We had a good view of the sumptuous feast that they had – appetisers, seemingly free flow orange juice, beer and wine, and most impressively, a serving of lobster per person. The lobster was huge and we wondered how much it costs. Today, we checked the menu and saw that the lobster costs 60 Euros. Wow, the tour group yesterday must have been quite a premium one, for them to be able to afford a dinner that easily costs 100 Euros per person.
However, being much humbler human beings (read: poorer), we settled for more economical options of beef steak and lamb souvlaki, with Happy Hour red wine and beer of course. Our meal came up to 41 Euros altogether for the three of us. Not even enough to buy one lobster haha. When we asked for the bill from the waiter Nikos, he surprised us by giving us each a free scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert. A nice way to end our stay in Athens!
