Autumnal Athens

James and I have visited Athens on two previous cruises and both times we went on tours to the Acropolis, which where absolutely brilliant. So this time we decided to do something a little different. We had a look in our “Top Ten Athens” guide and decided to start by going to Lykavittos Hill, which has great views of the Acropolis. There were lots of taxis waiting at the port of Piraeus, so we were soon whizzing through the streets of Athens. Our taxi driver took us to a car park near the top of Lykavittos Hill and we walked about five minutes up some steep steps to the top. Wow what fantastic views over the white buildings of Athens to the Acropolis and the Parthenon, and Piraeus in the distance. There’s a little Church at the very top of the hill, and a lovely café where we enjoyed morning coffee. We then took the funicular down the hill - no views though because it goes through the rock! James consulted Google maps and expertly navigated us downhill to the Parliament building. It was a very pleasant walk, partly in the shade of the buildings so I didn’t overheat too much! We saw the Greek soldiers outside the Parliament with their wee pom-poms on their shoes, then continued into the park which was a little oasis of green in the city, full of trees which were just beginning to turn into autumn colours of orange and gold. It was still really warm though. It had a small lake in the middle, and ponds which were full of terrapins slowly swimming about. And finally we navigated to the restaurant that we had first found and enjoyed ten years ago, and then revisited eight years ago; Diogenes, which is in a small leafy square beside the Plaka shopping area. It was just as nice as we remembered and we relaxed with our tsatsiki and dolmades. After a stroll around Plaka we jumped into another taxi back to the ship.