Travelogue : Athens - Plaka, Syntagma Square etc.

Having seen the ancient part of the city on the earlier day, I decided to go to the Olympic stadiums of Athens. The old Olympic Stadium is located at the Arditos Hill on the south side of the ancient center of Athens. The new Olympic Stadium was constructed for the 2004 Olympic games and is located on the outskirts of the city. To reach the Olympic Village one has to take the Metro line 1 and get off at the Irini stop. Though the Olympic village now has a deserted look, its swimming pools and indoor stadiums are open to public use. The main stadium hosts football games and is well maintained. There are some interesting architectural designs in the campus, which are very photogenic. Unluckily, the heat and scorching sun was
unbearable for me, so I had to keep my visit there very brief.

The Flea Market in Athens is a happening place. Located close to the Monastiraki station, this is a very ancient market. Inside the lanes and bylanes, you will find numerous shops and naturally huge amount of tourists. The interesting thing about the market is that you find a series of shops selling the same stuff all lined up beside each other. Here you can find hawkers selling leather goods like Greek sandals and hand bags, jewellry, rings, stones, clothes, music cds etc etc. If you are strolling around with your girlfriend or your better-half then think twice before venturing into that zone, as it is difficult for the fairer-sex to resist the temptation of the goods on sale there.

The Plaka area also has plenty of shops selling souveniers, tourist goods, t-shirts, greek cotton clothes, jewellry, leather goods, antiques, etc. Plaka is also famous for its food stalls. There are numerous taverns and restaurants offering mouth watering Greek food. If you are the sandwich munching guy a-la Joey Trivianni, then you can lay your hands on loads of them here. For the food gourmet, then you can find many traditional greek restaurants having lavish menus filled with - mousaka, kokoretsi, paidakia, brizoles, meat balls etc. which you can have with psomis or spiced potatoes, gigandes (beans), revithia (chick peas). Greece is essentially a meat lovers paradise, but you can find a lot of grilled sea food and veggie stuff as well. Among sea food, kalamaris, sardines, tuna are just a few of the vast variety of fishes the Greek menu has on offer. The desserts are my favourite part. Baklavas and Kataifis are just irresistable to me. You can also find a wide variety of Gelatos (ice cream).

The Syntagma Square is the downtown of Athens in the right sense. Remember the "Down Town" song, I bet when Petula Clark sang those words she meant a place like Syntagma square. The place is always buzzing with people. On one end you have a bunch of youngsters zipping around on their roller blades. On the benches you would find some elderly people having a discussion among themselves. You could also notice a guy or two with their laptops, as Athens provides free WiFi in selected spots and Syntagma Square is one of them. There are a bunch of restaurants lined up on the periphery, offering sandwiches, coffees, ice creams etc. And just below the square is the Metro station, which is easily one of the biggest ones in Athens. One could never feel the time as it flies by when you are at the Syntagma Square.