A wander around Plaka

The taxi dropped us off at the Stiles of Olympiou Dios, the entrance to the ancient temple on Sygkrou Avenue. We always use public transport in Athens, but not these days, not during the pandemic, particularly since Covid cases are rising in Attika, and there is talk of another lockdown. 

Our aim was to wander around Plaka.

The first part of Dionyssou Aeropagitou street is tree lined and oh so lovely.

I noticed this neo-classical building in one of the side streets, so went to have a closer look

Across the road, the Karolos Koun theatre

Back to Dionysou Aeropagitou, and then we turned right

another nice old building in the corner - they are so rare in Athens these days.

This is a busy shopping street, mainly tourist shops, but it was very quiet, due to the pandemic no doubt

an old town house

We used to come to this cafe bar a lot years ago. Not this bit on the pavement,

but here, behind and under the trees

The ancient Choragic monument of Lysicrates

yet another neo-classical building

We turned left, going up the shallow steps

it's all narrow streets here, with tavernas and bars

or just residential.

Eventually we reached Adrianou Street which is full of tourist shops

selling suits of armour seems to be in vogue this year

some of the houses are in need of renovation

a busker singing Greek folk songs

past the oldest house in Athens

another neo-classical building - note the mannequin sitting on the window ledge - this is a clothes shop now

a beautiful corner building

more steps on one of the side streets that will eventually lead to the Acropolis

We have reached the Square of the Ancient Agora which is full of cafeterias and bars

this one has a nicely-lit interior

and here is the ancient Agora itself

looking in through the railings

a bit further along, we turn left into

Pandrosou Street, which is full of tourist shops

the shop awnings which come across the whole street, give it the feel of an internal market

a Goth shop, with a tattooed Albert Einstein t-shirt in the window

We have reached Monastiraki Square

a meeting point, and a place where people congregate,

always very busy, but not that much today, I presume because of the pandemic

ancient foundations





preserved under glass

The metro station

A byzantine church

We went in - the amount of gold was blinding. Unfortunately, no photographs were allowed

This square is always buzzing - but it was safe, easy to avoid getting too close to people





The old mosque - now a museum

the entrance to the flea market - we wanted to go in, but there were too many people

so instead, we went a different way

past these buskers

and past the other end of the ancient Agora

you can see the Acropolis in the distance

and into the tail end of Adrianou Street, - this was the only tricky bit of our walk, and there were too many people, and keeping a distance was difficult, but we managed it

it's full of cafes here,

and they were all busy

past the Stoa tou Attalou

some of the old buildings have been preserved here

do you see what I mean? It's buzzing with people here. We ended up at Kuzina for lunch after visiting a ceramics shop and a museum. A good day.