Why hello there, two years later. Borders have opened up enough for me to go to Greece for a holiday, and this year I’m revenge travelling. I was excited for this one because having travelled to the far reaches of Alexander the Great’s empire (Tajikistan), it was time I visited where it all began.
Arrival/ Syntagma
Greece- the birthplace of both Western civilisation and democracy. This was a duo trip (yes I’m aware of the deviation from the blog’s selling point), and whilst the budget was still very much relatively shoe string, it was no longer hazardous towards health. Flight tickets were SGD500 from Singapore to Athens thanks to the pandemic, but no thanks to the pandemic for robbing me of two years of my youth. The queue at the airport’s Vodafone for a SIM card wasn’t long but it took forever and made my wallet bleed a little, so I recommend going to a random branch in the city for a better deal. We took bus X95 from Athens International Airport to Syntagma (the most central of Athens). Tickets can be bought at the booth right outside the airport for EUR 5.50, one way.
Careful when you’re alighting at Syntagma amidst the frenzy, else your luggage might slam onto the very sturdy Athenian street and lose a wheel on Day 1. The second wheel would be lost on Day 5. We left our bags at a storage facility near the station, then made our way to the Holy Church of the Holy Trinity to wait for the 10am walking tour to start.
Just a PSA: the walking tour is 3 hours long under the blistering April sun. So if you’ve just come from an 11 hour overnight flight, maybe don’t make it the first thing you go to. Also the guide was from Scotland, and I’m not sure if I remember anything he said from that tour.
One of the more novel things to see in Athens is the Changing of the Guards. It occurs every hour outside the Parliament, in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which is dedicated to Greek soldiers who died during war. You can also see several guards marching around Syntagma, to the amusement of tourists because they emulate the walk of a horse. Legend has it that when King Otto moved from Bavaria to Greece to become King, he missed the sound of horses so much that he made his guards replicate it. Further, their shoes weigh 3kg each and the huge pom pom hides a short blade.
Acropolis
One metro station away from Syntagma is Akropolis. If you’re taking the metro more than twice in a day, it makes sense to buy the 24h public transportation pass at any of the metro stations. It can also be used for buses and trams to get to places that aren’t near a metro station, like the Panathenaic stadium.
If you are still a youth (ages 6-25), rejoice in cheaper entrance tickets for all attractions. Once your 25th birthday is past however, you’re not considered a youth anymore so please don’t try to feign ignorance or act cute towards the ticket master. And yes I’m looking at you, Singaporeans.
Youth tickets to the Acropolis and Acropolis Museum are EUR 10 each. One could easily spend more than half a day here. The Acropolis refers to the entire compound; its name literally means high city. Within it sits many archaeological remains, the most famous being the Parthenon, which as you can see, has been under restoration for the longest time.
Downtown Athens looks like that because of a law passed banning the construction of any tall buildings that might obstruct the view of the Acropolis. Geography and history buffs will also notice that in mountainous Greece, even Athens does not possess the typical vast plains that comes with supporting large urban settlements. Hence the Ancient Greeks became expert seafarers and looked outward to expand their territory in search for more suitable farming areas.
The Acropolis Museum provides much needed shade from the outside. Some exhibits do not allow for photography, but the sign isn’t clear, so you get impatient museum employees telling tourists (me) off.
Plaka
Plaka is a historical neighbourhood under the slopes of the Acropolis, running towards Monastiraki Square. It contains a labyrinth of narrow streets which are filled with restaurants and souvenir shops. If you intend on buying souvenirs, you should get them here in Athens and not on the islands. It didn’t occur to us that things on the islands would be more expensive.
Monastiraki
Keep walking towards Monastiraki and you’ll find Hadrian’s Library. It’s very much visible from outside the fence so you don’t even need to pay to enter.
Apart from more souvenir shops and a flea market, there isn’t much else in Monastiraki. I remember buying a block of feta cheese from the supermarket to eat whole back at the Airbnb. That’s a completely normal thing to do.
Panathenaic Stadium
I enjoyed taking the tram more than the metro; it’s quieter and you can see the city. If you’re new to Athens, the trams are not the metro as the metro is underground. For some reason, Syntagma metro station had zero signage at the entrance where the stairs led underground.
Strangely, there weren’t many tourists at the Panathenaic stadium. A ticket costs EUR 10 (no youth price), inclusive of an audio guide. Built in 330 BC, the Panathenaic stadium is the only stadium in the world made entirely out of marble. It hosted the opening and closing ceremony of the first modern Olympics Games in 1896.
There is a tunnel at the side of the stadium that leads to what is now a permanent exhibition of the Olympic Games. If anyone was conscious of Athens 2004, could you please let me know if the Olympics returning home was as dramatic as I imagine it to be.
If you still aren’t impressed, the Panathenaic stadium has a capacity of 50,000, which is almost the same as our National Stadium, but one was built 2000 years before the other. Also there isn’t a horrendous gap between the seats and the field, so you can actually see your money’s worth.
Temple of Olympian Zeus
While making our way back to Plaka, we came across the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Similar to Hadrian’s library, the fence was insufficient in protecting it from becoming a public good. So naturally we did not pay to enter and just took photos from the outside.
Ancient Agora
Finally, the last attraction in Athens we visited was the Ancient Agora. It contains some of the more complete archaeological structures in Athens, without any scaffolding. A youth ticket is only EUR 5.
Food
Long time readers will know I hardly feature food on this blog, but I actually like Greek food. Yes I still eat to live; nothing has changed.
Please eat more than your share of Greek food while in Greece; the prices in Greek restaurants in Singapore are exorbitant, to the point of outrageous. A quarter of a pita bread is chargeable at SGD 1 per piece, while they dish out buttloads of whole pita bread for free in Greece.
Here’s a restaurant recommendation for the first time in my life: Victory Café (Filellinon 22, Athina 105 57, Greece). I tried 6 different moussakas during my time in Greece, and the one at Victory was hands down the best. The owners also regularly give free alcohol shots and dessert. I love them so much that I wrote them a google review. Say hello to Mina for me when you go, I miss her a lot.
Leave the seafood to the islands, not Athens. If you’re on a budget, gyros is cheap and difficult to mess up.
Departure
Our trip was summed up nicely when on our last day, there was a huge transport union strike right in the middle of Athens. Protestors blocked the main roads, so we had to drag our luggage and walk out 1-2 km, past the military barricades, before we were able to call a taxi. At least the taxi ride was claimable under insurance. Next up, we visit the Greek islands!
Hi! I am Joey, a University student from Singapore, attempting to show my appreciation for the world’s most powerful passport by literally milking its visa-free benefits one country at a time. I describe my travel budget as shoestring and travel style as audacious.
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