07.11 - Day 297 - Athens, GRE
Thursday 7th November - Athens, Greece (Day 297)
We’ve only given ourselves 36 hours in Athens, which is possible in part because we are staying so central. The good news for Sienna and Seb is that means a day off school, bad news is the day involves museums and walking. The chatty Manolis from last night strongly recommended going to the Acropolis Museum before the Acropolis itself, advice we choose to follow (which in hindsight was the right way for us to do it).
The museum is just a few minutes walk from our apartment - like the one near Venice, this one is simply called ‘Beautiful 2bed Apt’, though no mention of the low ceiling in the bathroom in its name.
The museum is straight-edged and new, in contrast to the Acropolis hill it sits in the shadow of. It’s also more expensive than the Acropolis itself (60 euros vs 40 for the family). I spot a ‘family backpack’ to be borrowed from the Information Desk which contains a couple of games and also a sticker based treasure hunt of exhibits.
On the plus side, Sienna and Seb are happy with their purpose to find the right exhibit, on the down side that’s all they want to do; race from one sticker to the next.
There is an audio guide too if you know in advance to bring headphones and these two minute snippets help bring certain pieces to life - which helps as our Greek history and mythology knowledge is patchy at best.
Along with the top floor which is both life-size and aligned with the Parthenon containing sculptures and friezes, one of the most striking collections are the Cartiyads - five female stone columns - there are the originals; the ones up on the Acropolis are copies, the originals brought inside to protect them from pollutants.
And five because Lord Elgin took the sixth - he gets a bad rap here. I genuinely believed Elgin's Marbles in the British Museum in London were circular marbles like the ones I played with at school, except stone and larger.
Before we think about leaving, Sienna spots a sign for a ‘Reading Lounge’ - literally running down a corridor to settle down with some books on Greek Mythology. The whole museum is placed above some excavations of (very) old houses which we walk around, though Sienna and Seb’s interest is waning / has waned by now.
A 15 minute walk away is Syntagma Square - here I try to supply something more light-hearted in the form of the Changing of the Guard. I’m sure there are hundreds of years of tradition here in front of the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, but their marching in slow motion is straight from the Monty Python Ministry of Funny Walks, complete with outfits down to the small pom poms attached to the end of their shoes.
As we walk to find lunch, four South African women give us their open top bus passes which frees Sienna and Seb from more walking later. Lunch is at Pancho Tacos, flavoursome little bundles recommended by Chris which are good news.
Bravely we tackle a second museum for the day - the Museum of Ancient Greek Technology. This is the opposite of the Acropolis Museum, a very small space where replicas of old mechanisms are demonstrated by the friendly staff.
They range from the practical - Plato’s water based alarm clock and also a door bell / whistle - to trickery - an offering on a fire opening a temple door - to entertainment - a fountain powered by itself. Sienna and Seb listen intently to the demonstrations and play the little games on offer. An interesting small spot for curious minds.
We then utilise the gifted bus tickets for a break for everyone with some limited commentary as we stop start through the busy streets.
We hop off at the base of the Acropolis next to Philopappos Hill that I briefly visited last night. It’s much easier to navigate in the afternoon light up the criss-crossing paths to the/ summit with views to the east of the Acropolis and to the west of the Mediterranean.
Dinner back at our apartment of warm pitas, hummus, taramasalata and feta before I venture back to the hill now I know where I’m going to view the Acropolis and its temples lit up in the night sky looking down over the city.
