Athens - The Acropolis and the New Acropolis Museum

Hi All,

We arrived in Athens yesterday afternoon and got to our hotel at 3.00pm. They now have a great rail service that takes you from the airport right into Athens itself. A great idea, but it stops at lots of stations on the way in so it is also used as commuter service. It filled up very quickly and we were a bit worried that we wouldn't be able to get off when we got to our station as it was so crowded. Luckily most of the passengers seemed to want the same station as us, so we had no trouble getting off.


After checking in we went up to our rooms for a little rest. We'd been on the go since 6.00am and had only 4 hours sleep the previous night. It was great to be back at the Center Square Hotel. It's just as busy and noisy as it was when we were here in 2009.


We left the hotel and went out for tea at about 7.30. Had a walk about and then stopped for tea at a nice little restaurant. We walked back to the hotel at about 9.00. On the way back we stopped at a little Greek Orthodox church. Lots of people had been in and out during the day and evening as it was Good Friday.


As we continued our walk back we suddenly spotted a large crowd of people in the middle of the road. It was dark and they all held lit candles. They were all part of a religious procession commerating Good Friday. There was chanting and singing and effigies of Jesus, it was amazing! We got back to the hotel at 9.30 and went to bed.


After a good nights sleep we left the hotel at 10.00am to visit the Acropolis and the New Acropolis Museum. We used our favourite form of transport - The Hop On Hop Off Bus! We got to the Acropolis at 10.30. It was very quiet with far less visitors than the summer of 2009. We did not have to buy tickets as it was Easter and no-one was operating the ticket office. What a great deal! The Acropolis was just as fascinating as it was last time, but we could see everything as there were no crowds. The weather was lovely, 21 degrees and sunny. From the Acropolis we walked back to the New Acropolis Museum. Many people had told us how wonderful it was and they were right. It was fantastic! The only problem was that everything was closing early for the Easter holidays. Very little will be open tomorrow or Monday so we will have to explore by foot and find alternate places to visit.


Back to the hotel by 6.00pm and having a little rest before going out later. Apparently tonight will be midnight services and fireworks to celebrate Jesus' resurrection. Maybe we'll go out for a sticky beak.


Chat soon.