Day 472, 27 Sept '15, Athens Monastiraki Flea Market, Pandrossou Street, Hadrian's Library, National Archeological Museum, Pork kebabs & Souvlaki, Full Moon.
We woke up on Sunday morning with the singular thought... "Did anyone get the licence plate... of the truck that ran us over?" But we were as happy as clams that the big day of sightseeing was accomplished and today was going to be a tootle around the flea market and a trip to the National Archeological Museum to see the Mycenaean gold hoards from 1600 BC. We were out the hotel door by 8.30 am and took the metro to Monastiraki (yes - there was a monastery there once). The flea market is an amorphous thing that has one official street of shops selling the usual tourist tat, but also blends into several side alleys and a square selling antiques, furniture, jewellery etc. We took our time trundling about and even stopped for a cappuccino - at only €1.50, quite possibly the least expensive in Athens. Much enjoyed in a posh little coffee shop/juice bar. We spied a nice garnet ring in the square but held off making a decision. Next on the to-do list was a loop from the flea market back to Hadrian's library. This is a deceptively large site which has several structures - some of which have had multiple lives... Library building that had a church built on, big church built in the middle of the site etc - like layers of an archeological onion. Saw a classic sight on this site... a little turtle (tortoise) minding its own business, walking about without a care in the world. Just when we were blown away by seeing one, another arrived. Incredible. On the other side of Monastiraki Square (and Hadrian's Library), another shopping street can be found - Pandrossou. Lots of jewellers and higher end tourist tat. In an endeavour to find one particular jeweller amongst many, we did a couple of laps of Pandrossou and Adrianou. When we found the shop in question, the object of my desires was silly-stupid-crazy priced so we headed back to the flea market and bought the garnet ring as a stunning souvenir of Athens. Shopping accomplished, Greek economy supported, we were onto the metro again and off to the National Archeological Museum. Not originally on our hit-list we decided it was worth a look on the basis of our guide's advice. The fact that it was free (saved €7 each) certainly didn't hurt. The gold was astounding. It's easy to think "oh yes, gold's been around forever" but seeing the intricate craftsmanship of this timeless metal was superb - over 3600 years old and just as shiny as the day it was laid to rest with its owner. One of the other interesting exhibits was Ancient Athens in context. Basically old pictures, going back hundreds of years, juxtaposed with current maps and also sculptures and wall murals - showing Athens over the centuries and how it could have looked in antiquity. By this point it was an easy walk back to the hotel. Which was lucky because our feet were on the verge of falling off. Hoofed it home and had a siesta. Which was very, very, very hard to wake up from. As much as we enjoyed last night's dinner out, this evening we wanted cheap and cheerful greek food - made by greeks for greeks. James found an excellent sounding spot just off Omonia Square and only a block from the hotel on a dodgy side street (remember - all the streets in Athens are pretty dodgy these days). This place has been open since the '60s and specialises in grilled pork on a stick, drenched in oregano, along with chips, unlimited bread and a soft drink, for €5. We splurged an extra €2.50 on a big plate of Tzatziki and indulged - what a feast! Only challenge was not having anything else... as we planned on stopping at the restaurant across the road on the way home for a souvlaki. Off to Syntagma (or Constitution) Square. We had seen this during the day on our walking tour for the changing of the guard, but as with most cities, night time is a different experience. From the square we headed down Ermou Street (incredibly this was once one of the top 5 most expensive shopping streets in Europe. (That would be before 2008 in all likelihood.) The name of the street refers to Hermes, the protector of trade, hopefully he is still paying attention! There is a jewel-like church planted smack in the middle of this street. Built in 1050 (roughly), the Panagia Kapnikarea is one of the oldest churches in Athens and was probably built over a pagan shrine to either Athena or Demeter. They wanted to demolish it (along with many other small churches), when Ermou Street was in its construction phase in the 1840s. Fortunately saner heads prevailed and Ludvig, King of Bavaria (and father of Greek King Otto) saved it. Now Ermou is home to the high street brands - all the really posh designers have decamped to high-end Kolonaki. It was a stunning night to be strolling the streets around the Roman Agora (pictured) and Plaka because a massive full moon was hanging over the city and playing peek-a-boo with the clouds. We took far too many photos in an effort to preserve the magic of the night. We did a bit more economy-supporting and eventually gave in and bought the fuzzy greek slippers with pom-poms. These have since been de-pommed and are now tucked away for the very first cold night we come across. We also saw a shop with a big range of Birkenstocks which bears further investigation tomorrow. We eventually wended our way down to Acropoli station and back to Omonia. The late night souvlaki was scrumptious and certainly should have ensured a good sleep... and it did - right up until 4.20 am when our room phone rang twice... grrr... a misdirected wake up call. We know this because next door then spent an hour getting ready for an early departure and clippety-clopped off at 5.30 am. Before we knew it it was Monday... our last Athens day and also travel day to Cyprus!