March 8 - Sunday with André and Wendy

We were up early so Wendy and André could go to the Acropolis but when we got up it was cloudy and very hazy, so we decided to switch the itinerary. We began by visiting the Olympic stadium from the 1^st modern Olympics (1896), the National Gardens plus we showed them most of the sights that we have seen so far.

Parakeet in the National Garden

I think the highlight of the day was the changing of the guard. It was nothing at all like the other changing of the guards during the rest of the week. We had a great spot to view from across the street with the guards passing right in front of us.
















After watching the changing of the guard, we had a quick lunch then separated so André and Wendy could climb and visit the Acropolis. We arranged a meeting spot for 4:00. With 2 1/2 hours to kill, Jacques and I decided to climb Philopappos Hill again and try to find the big church. We climbed way to the top (we had to stop a couple of times to catch our breath) to find out that there was no church there just a monument. The good news was that it was an awesome view from up there. We could see all the buildings from the Acropolis much better than any other place where we had gone to so far.

Grilled peppers

Saganaki - Grilled cheesh

Taking a break on the way up the hill

Monument of Philopappos

Shelters near the monument

The view from the top

When we got back down, we sill had plenty of time left before meeting up with Wendy and André, so we decided to follow the street on the left. After maybe a 15-minute walk we found the church that we had been looking for. It wasn't in the park on the hill but on the west side. Unfortunately, we couldn't go in because the doors were closed. Now that we know where it is, we can go again some other time.



We waited just a short while for Wendy and André to show up and then decided to climb a little rock that they had seen from the Acropolis.  Leave it to them after only being here for 2 days to find something that we hadn't seen yet. From here there was a great view of the city and its many hills.

Interesting purses

We returned to the apartment for a drink and rest and around 7:30 we went down to the pedestrian street to find supper. The men each had a gyro with chicken and bacon, I had a kebab of mixed meat (lamb, pork and chicken) and Wendy had a chicken souvlaki.  We also ordered a liter of wine, fried courgettes and saganaki (fried cheese) to share. The total for all this was 23 euros. 12 euros per couple. We will be returning again. It is so cheap that you can hardly make it for that price.


André and Wendy called it a night around 11 and we went to bed a short while later.