back to life

Fuelled by the success of my roman adventure I decided to go it alone again, this time to a city I’ve been wanting to visit for a very long time. For someone who loves ancient history as much as I do, there is only one place to go to get my fix, Athens.

I couldn’t think of a better place to go on my own, I would have the time to go wherever I want and spend as long as I needed. I am that person who reads every bit of information at every site, so I can spend hours in one place learning as much as possible. When travelling with others who aren’t quite as fanatical about history I’m always conscious of staying in one place for far too long. I can also go for ages without eating or even needing a wee and I can walk for hours, so I guess it can be a bit frustrating for my companions at times and equally so for me when it’s necessary to stop more often then I’d like to. So the best solution is a solo trip.

Athens is a very walkable city, with interesting sites galore. I got started right away after buying a week’s supply of tomatoes, cucumber and feta and despite a very early flight I felt compelled to march up the Philopappos Hill as it was a short walk from my apartment. I read that the summit afforded an amazing view the acropolis and the rest of the city. It most certainly did and it was well worth the effort.

The most recognisable place in Athens is the Acropolis, so the next day I couldn’t wait to get there. Imagine my joy to discover that I could buy a ticket not only to this magnificent site, but also included in the price entrance to the Roman and Ancient agora, Hadrian’s library, Kerameikos, Aristotle’s school and Olympieion.

So for the next few days I worked my way around the city making the most of this ticket. But also visiting many other amazing places such as the temples of Zeus and Hephaestus and Herod Atticus Odeon,

Not content with scaling one large hill I decided to tackle Mount Lycabettus, but after a morning of walking many steps and a stop off at the glorious marble Panathenaic stadium, the thought of climbing up the winding path of the 908 feet high hill was a little too much for my screaming muscles and throbbing feet. So I thought I’d make use of the funicular to get to the summit and enjoy the stunning views and beautiful sunset with a chilled glass of wine.

On day 3 treated myself to an organised trip out of the city and found myself in a small minibus with 12 strangers and a very informative guide heading down the coast to the Cape of Sounion to visit the Temple of Poseidon. After a pit stop at the Vouliagmeni lake, where it’s said the water has healing powers and can relieve ailments such as arthritis, we ended up at the peninsula with the breath-taking temple standing tall over looking the beautiful turquoise sea. We had plenty of time to look around the site and surrounding area before getting in position to get the best photos of the sunset behind the temple. This excursion is not to be missed and I highly recommend it if you love capturing beautiful sunsets in stunning places.

On my last day I made use of the hop on hop off bus ticket that was included in the price of the trip to the Temple of Poseidon. I hopped on after paying a visit to the tomb of the unknown soldier and watching the guards doing their thing with style. I managed to cross a few more sites off using my multi-site ticket and checked out the church of Agios Elftherios and Athens Cathedral right next door, before the rain set in and the pavements that were slippery when dry became treacherous when wet. Anyone who knows me, knows about my tendency to fall and break limbs, so I decided to go back to my apartment for my own safety. I hoped that the rain would go off so I could get back out as there were a few more places I wanted to see, but it was set in for the rest of the day.

Then the miracle happened, in the form of an email from Easyjet, my flight had been delayed by 2 days. Unfortunately there was someone booked to replace me in my apartment so I needed to find another temporary home for the next night, but that was swiftly done on a well known booking site. The next morning, after dumping my bag at my new lodgings, I was off again to make the most of my extra time.

I couldn’t resist another visit to the Acropolis before exploring the other side of Philopappus Hill, where I found the tomb Socrates was incarcerated in before his trial in 399 BCE and the hill of the Pynx where the great orators Aristotle, Demosthenes, Pericles and Themistocles addresses assemblies in the 5th century BCE. After a meander down the hill and a nose around some beautiful churches I had a well earned late lunch on the Yiasemi staircase, lined with brightly decorated cafes where if you can’t find a table you just pull up a cushion and sit on the stairs.

Thanks to an evening flight the next day I was able to visit the presidential palace, the Byzantine museum and gardens, and the beautiful national botanic gardens. A visit to Aristotle’s school completed all of the sites on my acropolis ticket.

I’m so happy I decided to visit Athens for this fabulous trip and although I went on my own I was never far from familiar people. On my second day, in the chapel of Agios Giorgios on the top of Mount Lycabettus I met a couple wondering if they still held weddings there, I happened to know the answer to that question as I had read about it the previous day, so we had a bit of a chat. The following day they were also on the trip to the Temple of Poseidon, then the next day, while I was sat on the hop on hop off bus in a bit of a traffic jam, I saw them walking along the street so we had a catch up while the bus waited to move off.

Athens is the most amazing place to visit on a solo trip as I felt very safe at all times and there is so much to see and do that even if you stayed for a couple of months you wouldn’t see it all. So I will definitely return and maybe even bring a friend!