Athens on Foot: Flea Markets, Graffiti and a Mountain

Day 4 of My Big Fat Greek Winter Road-trip

Following several days of exploring wider Greece by car, I decided to spend a day in Athens on foot. As I had already visited Athens in 2015, hitting major sites like the Parthenon, I seized the opportunity to discover more of the city’s street culture. Turns out, experiencing contemporary Athens is on par with exploring its ancient history.

I spent the day walking. I stumbled upon many suburbs by taking random turns and stops. While the countryside towns I visited in the past days seemed quiet, possibly due to the economic downturn and winter season, Athens on this Sunday was a festival of activity. No matter where I found myself, crowds of people were eating, drinking, shopping and laughing. I was consumed by the city’s energy.

CHANGING OF THE GUARD

Each Sunday mornings in Athens, there is a spectacular changing of the guards. By chance, I read online at 10:30am it started at 11am and just caught it at Syntagma Square. The guards’ marching in their outfits was a joy to see- pleated white skirts, pointy shoes with pom poms and countless tassels.

I noted an almost complete lack of military presence. People climbed over barriers to get a better photo and children ran up to try to touch the guards’ pretty clothes. After visiting NYC and European cities with crazy security in public spaces amping up social anxiety, I was thankful to have an experience in 2018 of relaxing in a crowded place.

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PLAKA

Following this, I walked through Plaka, a pretty suburb at the foot of the Acropolis thick with crowds, souvenir stores and eateries. I had my caffeine fix on a sun-kissed rooftop bar; overlooking the Acropolis and homes of Athens. This highlight of this pitstop was seeing an elderly man doing stretches on his balcony, oblivious to prying eyes.

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FLEA MARKET

I continued on foot, passing an area my memory matched with attending an Orthodox Easter service in 2015, an extravagant religious affair with a firework finish. This area of Athens was bustling. I mazed around alleyways until I stumbled upon the Monastiraki Flea Market.

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There was not a tourist in sight as the market swarmed with busy locals, sorting through piles of antiques. It was a labyrinth, piles and piles of interesting items. Since returning home, I have learnt the majority of stalls are run by refugees selling family heirlooms. In the moment, I only wished I was not responsible for carting my luggage around Europe so I could hand pick some treasures.

ATHENS’ GRAFFITI

I spent the next several hours – with a brief visit to the National Archaeological Museum – trekking the surrounding suburbs, immersed in the open gallery of graffiti clinging to most buildings. I was enthralled. Why had this saturation of public art occurred? The quality and immensity of works were astonishing- my images below are only a 30th of what I saw in just an afternoon. Not even ancient sites are excluded from the work of artists. Only banks and government buildings remain paint free.

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It is said that Athens’ thriving graffiti industry is the result of significant unemployment leading to an “artistic free-for-all on the city’s streets.”  Complementing the abandoned, crumbling buildings throughout Greece testifying to the economic crisis, the excessive graffiti reads as a corresponding human response to the last decade of unrest.

MOUNT LYCABETTUS

Succeeding my afternoon of inspecting street art, I embarked on a mini-hike to watch the sunset. When I went to the Parthenon in 2015, I saw a hill across town. During this return trip, I found out it is Mount Lycabettus, which dons a walking path, funicular, restaurant and church.

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I walked up Mount Lycabettus’ winding path, purchasing a beer from a lady selling drinks from an esky (so many things are allowed in Europe that would land you hefty fines in Australia). At the peak, many young people took selfies overlooking Athens, reminding me of the same happening at Mount Lofty which looks over my hometown of Adelaide.

I perched myself on the fence, taking in the stretching landscape of white buildings. While Athens’ population is the same as my home of Melbourne, I noticed it doesn’t cater to the same over-excited infrastructure of ugly, towering apartment buildings. The entire landscape credited Greece’s ability to retain cultural beauty and not give-in to frenzied development. I felt peaceful and happy to be in this place and spent an hour watching the ancient city start to glow from dusk to night.

DINNER

In the spirit of my stomach-centred blogging style, I have included a picture below of my dinner. I can’t remember where I ate – just a small, homely restaurant near our Airbnb. While the waitress couldn’t speak English, another guest came and sat at our table and translated the menu. The genuine hospitality of Greeks is inspiring – so is their deep fried fetta.