Weekend in Athens

Start your day with a walk at the national park in the center of Athens where you can find plenty of attractions such as lakes with ducks, a small zoo, the childrens library or a childrens playground and enjoy your coffee at the parks cafeteria with a great view of nature around you.

Not far from the park you'll find the 'Benaki Museum', a must visit museum since it's the oldest one in Greece and houses mainly Greek works of art from the prehistorical to the modern times.
Continue your journey visiting the 'Acropolis' (meaning the highest edge of the city in Greek), containing a number of ancient buildings,architectural and historic marvels with the most famous being the 'Parthenon', a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena, which was considered the goddess of wisdom, law and strenght. Also make a stop at the 'Museum Of Acropolis' with artifacts from the Bronze Age to Byzantine Greece.

Next stop 'Plaka street',the oldest and most central neighbourhood of Athens with plenty of taverns for a Greek lunch. A favorite among others would be the tavern 'Old Ithaka' for those who appreciate fresh fish or for the meatlovers its tasty Greek meatballs with tomato sauce tasting from a scale of one to ten a good Eleven!

How about some more sightseeing combined with shopping therapy? The 'Syntagma square' offers both. Take a look at the parliament of Greece, in front of it the 'Evzones' (presidential guard) and take a picture with them standing tall and proud, showing you what courage looks like. The streets around 'Syntagma Square' have plenty of shops selling from souvenirs to clothes for every pocket depth.
Are you a fan of wildlife? There is no jungle in Athens but the 'Attica Zoo' is the closest thing to it. Dolphins, wildcats, rare parrots, alligators, blue macaws, black swans and pelicans are just some of the beautiful animals you are going to meet there. Buy souvenirs from the gift shops and then relax with a cup of coffee at the zoo's cafeteria.

Hungry from all that walking sure, but dinner alone would not be enough. How about dinner at a tavern with live Greek music? A couple of favorites close to the city center would be 'To Arxontikon' at the region of Peristery with traditional Greek food ('ntolmadakia' is a must, rice with lemon and a combination of spices rolled in grape leaves) and 'rempetiki' music (look up 'Misirlou' on youtube to get an idea) or  the tavern 'to 21' (the 21) at 'Psiri' region with food coming from a combination of Greek and Eastern moments and sounds of Greek 'Mpouzouki' starting from noon until next day in the morning meaning you can have dinner and continue with drinks, dancing and a lot of 'Opa!' all night long.

That's Athens, the capital of Greece, the capital of Democracy and the capital of hospitality... Keep travelling my friends...

Mary Kali

Tags: Weekend in Greece