Athens, a City Dominated by Ancient Monuments

Martin Maynard
Sep 21, 2018
1 min read

Modern day Greece is striving to grow despite recessions and the economic shackles that have strangled this country for a number of years and Athens epitomises this status with its bustling tourist shops and busy tavernas acting as a stark contrast to the number of people unemployed and street beggars in greater numbers than we have seen in other European countries. We also experienced one of our lowest points in Athens when I was pick-pocketed on the Metro and lost my wallet and contents - a lesson for us to learn on our travel journey generally. We spent about 2 weeks in the city and it is clear that Athens still generates massive tourist attraction, the streets were constantly busy and the Ancient Greek history and magnificent ancient landmarks are prevalent everywhere, not least of course, the Acropolis Hilltop Citadel and the colonnaded Parthenon Temple, which dominate the Athens skyline. We stayed in an apartment in the foothills of the Acropolis which was an excellent location for sight-seeing but beware the many hills in the city - we were beginning to feel some aches and pains after much walking in our first week there!