Arriving back in central Athens, we hired a cab to get us south of the Acropolis to our new digs at Hotel Ilissos. Our rooms came with complimentary fruit and wine, which was sweet.
We unloaded our luggage, figured out how to navigate ourselves, and set out for the metro, 10 minutes' walk away. En route, Annie insisted on stopping at her favorite pastry shop Konstantinidis, so we bought some sweets for a post-lunch treat, then hopped on the metro for the Evangelissmos stop.
We took the Hales to the souvlaki vendor we found in Kolonaki Square, and enjoyed the lamb, tomato, onion, tsatsiki & pita lunches. After wolfing down the pastries we brought, we headed toward the Byzantine & Christian Museum.
The museum housed a plethora of Christian relics and iconography. Most all of them were highly ornate, and some of them were quite graphic in their representations of the various saints' martyrdom. We learned a lot by reading through the exhibits, and jotted down several questions to ask a theologian when we got back home.
Like, why are some icons totally bad-ass?!
We spent a couple hours in the museum, mesmerized, until we realized we were the only patrons left. We still had one level remaining, but it was roped off and we were told that there were not enough employees to staff that wing. We had to depart, somewhat disappointed.
From the museum, it was a short walk to Syntagma Square, where we saw protestors chanting and singing up towards Parliament from the blockades out front. They were protesting peacefully, and the police had the street blocked off on their behalf.
We walked south into Plaka, then stopped for dinner at the restaurant Vyzantino. From a Byzantine museum to a Vyzantine restaurant, we enjoyed everything Athens offered us on our first night back.
Skopelos to Athens (June 24) Album:
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| Skopelos to Athens: June 24, 2011 |
Location:Skopelos to Athens, Greece
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