This morning after another breakfast looking at the Acropolis, we set off to watch the Changing of the Guard at Parliament house on Syntagma Square.
Unfortunately, there was a general strike today and the square was packed with protestors. Interestingly, it wasn’t remotely threatening, unlike the regular protests we have on a weekly basis in Melbourne. We were able to walk through the throng to see the Guard change very easily.
I’m not sure what the protest was about, something to do with public transport, but the usual death to the IDF, Pro-Palestine rent a crowd were there too. They were a tiny minority though.
We enjoyed the Guard change, then planned to walk through the National Gardens to visit the Panathenaic Stadium. Sadly, the gardens were closed for the day, due to the protests, but we were able to walk around and visit the incredible marble stadium. We walked up to the top level and down into the very interesting museum. It was a very enjoyable visit.
Another of our plans was to visit Lyccabetus Hill, but with no public transport, no taxis or Ubers and no funicular, it was a bridge too far so we gave that a miss.
Instead, we visited the beautiful Hotel Grande Bretagne and had a pre-lunch negroni in the Alexander Bar. This bar has a huge tapestry of Alexander the Great and I love tapestries, so it was well worth seeing. It also ticks our box of always having a drink at the most expensive hotel in town too, which is much cheaper than staying there.
Finally, we strolled back to the lovely Plaka district for a final lunch. We shared cheese saganaki, then I had a chicken souvlaki with vegetables and G had pork gyros.
We now back in our room planning to get organised for our flight to Naxos tomorrow. We have one final meal planned in the hotel’s rooftop restaurant tonight before saying goodbye to Athens.
Metropolis Rooftop, the hotel’s restaurant, had the most beautiful view of the Acropolis by night, and the food was delicious, but frankly I want terribly hungry. I had slow cooked beef ribs with a side of potato puree with truffles and peas, and G had slow cooked chicken with carrot. We had no interest in desert, but they presented us with an amazing looking chocolate mousse cake for our anniversary. Obviously, it would have been rude not to eat it.
Wednesday 19th October
We were up early this morning to pack up. Somehow, my 18kg suitcase now weighed in at 19kg. I have not bought a single item, and it was the same set of luggage scales, so no idea what’s went on there.
Our private transfer picked us up smack on time and ferried us to the airport. No lounge before the flight this time, we checked in and bought a mini bottle of local white wine to share and a salami and cheese focaccia. The food was surprisingly good, but luxury was not part of the experience.
I will continue my Trip Report on Naxos and other places that we visited in a separate post.