Acropolis, Thiseio, Plaka

We fancied a walk in Athens and some lunch. So we took the metro to the Acropolis stop

lots of ancient ceramics on display there

and some sculptures from the east pediment of the Parthenon.

We emerged outside the Acropolis museum by the cafeterias on the other side of the road

it was heaving.

We started walking along the Irodou tou Attikou avenue which is pedestrianised

there are always buskers here, but this time it was a guy playing beautifully an instrument I had not seen before. I asked him what it was and he said 'timbalo'. I have searched google and cannot find timbalo so maybe I misheard

The Acropolis on our right

and the entrance to the Acropolis museum on our left.

Next to the museum, one of my favourite buildings in Athens and one of the few Art Deco ones that are left

detail

Some nice buildings along here

Much quieter now, less people, as we had moved away from the tourist sites

First sighting of the Herodus Atticus Roman amphitheatre - have seen so many plays and concerts here

and now a view of both the theatre and the Acropolis

opposite the theatre, a statue of Maria Callas as she performed here so often - even though I think that the theatre in Epidaurus was her preferred venue

the sculptor is by Aphrodite Lite

a curve on the road and it changes to Apostolou Paulou

there's lots of antiquities everywhere here

Through the opening in the rock, archaeologists found an underground chamber. On one of the walls was a relief chiselled on the bedrock, presenting Pan, a naked nymph and a dog. Archaeologists surmised that this was an unknown, not reported by any ancient writer, sanctuary of Pan.  The cult of Pan in caves is apparently well documented.

We had now entered the district of Thiseio. The outdoor cinema

The Lycabettus hill in the distance

zooming in

The church of St Marina and next to it the National Observatory. If you look closely at the church you will see on its left, the original small chapel that was carved in the rock. Inside it was covered with numerous wall paintings. It is now a baptistery. The main church was built in 1924, a four-nave basilica with a massive dome, made in a Byzantine style.

We were now entering the area of the cafeterias

and moving towards Thiseio square

Adrianou Street which is full of restaurants, cafes and bars

stalls that sell jewellery and antiques

one of our favourite restaurants, Kuzina

empty because it was still too early

views of the Acropolis

a church

even though Kuzina was empty, the tourist restaurants were packed

We were now in the district of Plaka

I realised that I have never been inside this old Byzantine church which was converted into a mosque when the Turks occupied Greece for 400 years - this is something that needs to be remedied

another view of the church, with ancient collumns all around it, as the ancient Agora is very near here

Aerides, the Tower of the Winds, one of my favourite ancient monuments, probably because it's one of the very small number of buildings from classical antiquity that still stands virtually intact. It's an octagonal Pentelic marble tower in the middle of the Roman Agora. It's got its name because of the eight large reliefs of wind gods around its top. Its date is uncertain but it was completed about 50 BC.

Some nice tavernas

before we got to the one we were heading for

the Old Fisherman's Tavern

We discovered this one last year. Even though it's in the middle of Plaka, an area where tourists flock because of the Acropolis, it's an old taverna, around 100 years old and it has retained its character and the quality of the food

We had an absolutely delicious lunch

and then moved on

lovely basil plants in their pots

Another nice taverna

Very cosy

lovely narrow streets

and now we had entered the centre of the tourist area

the display of bottles in this bar is quite amazing

it's all bars, cafes and restaurants around here

 and then it was time to get our bus back home.