We were happy we managed to have a good sleep to get into the time zone after the big day of flying. We woke around 7am and went up to the roof terrace for breakfast. It was an amazing sight to see the Parthenon just above us. The roof terrace is a lovely spot with a buffet breakfast – very nice! Glenn got in a bit of bird watching with green parrots and swallows flying around.

Our accommodation in the Plaka is right beside many ancient sites so we went to check them out.

First we went to Hadrians Library- a monumental ancient complex built in 132 AD by Roman Emperor Hadrian. Here’s how it looked originally.

It functioned as a grand library, state archive, and cultural center, originally housing over 17,000 scrolls and papyri. There are some huge walls and columns left showing what a significant building it was. 3 churches had been plonked on top of the ruins from 500AD after it was partly destroyed by invaders around 267AD. It’s then had lots of material pinched by others to build their houses.

There were stray cats everywhere – it seems that everyone feeds them.

It was then a 10 minute walk to the Ancient Greek Agora – the CBD of Athens where all the famous Greeks – Socrates, Themistocles, Aristides, Pericles and Demosthenes – would have congregated. It’s all ruins of course – but one of the stoas – a covered walkway – has been recreated at the other end of the ruins housing a museum.

The first building to see was a quite complete building – it’s the most complete ancient temple in Greece. It’s dedicated to Hephaestus, goddess of metalwork and Athena Ergane, goddess of arts and crafts. It was turned into a church later so the original wooden roof was replaced – and it’s why it’s still in 1 piece.

It was built in the 5th century BC – so very ancient.

We then walked through the site to the recreated large stoa at the other end.

It contained a museum with lots of pots from Neolithic times through to Roman times – and other surprising things.

We then went upstairs to an exhibition about the archaeologist and painter Edward Dodwell (1767-1832) who was born in Dublin to an ancient and wealthy Irish family, and studied Classics and Archaeology at Trinity College Cambridge. Being in possession of a large fortune and free from professional commitments, he spent 6 years travelling in Europe studying Mediterranean cultures.

He was in Athens in March 1805 and did many paintings of the area while Lord Elgin’s crews were pillaging the sculptures of the Acropolis monuments. Lord Elgin had asked the Turkish rulers of the time for permission to take the carvings and they gave it as they didn’t care. It’s quite shocking how they cut the front of the carvings off and lowered them down – dropping and shattering some.

The Elgin Marbles are still in the British Museum. Greece has asked for them back but been told no.

Here is the Parthenon after the marbles had been removed.

There were only 5,000 people living in Athens at the time so the town was tiny. The city now has a population of 3.6 million.

Dodwell used this camera obscura device to get an upside down image that he could trace onto paper – a quick way to get the paintings done.

We then headed back through the site seeing interesting features along the way. There were lots of ruins of buildings.

I liked the water clock used by the buildings in the area to mark the time. At the beginning of the day they filled it with water. The water would then gradually leak out and the marker floating on the surface then marked the time. Very smart!

By the time we finished seeing everything we were hot and sweaty so had to find a beer and lunch in a nearby restaurant. I had the standard Gemista stuffed vegetables- they were very good.

As we walked back along Adrianou Street there were lots of ruins on either side of the road. They were another 2 covered walkways. The railway had been built over part of one.

After a shower and rest we went out for dinner to the Old Ithaki restaurant – a very beautiful setting with fairy lights on a square. The food was excellent and we enjoyed it with the backing of a group of traditional Greek musicians. It was all very enjoyable.

We then went for a walk to work off the food. Jeff took us through this crazy area of lights – all madly busy and noisy – an assault on the senses.

We were glad to get out back to the loukoumades shop where the boys had the doughnut balls again. I only managed a frozen yoghurt. Doughnuts were a step too far. We then headed to bed after a big day.