Ports and Architecture

Monday, Sept. 19, 2016--Athens

Following the advice of Chris who I met Sunday evening, I took the metro to the area just before Piraeus.  It's the area where many of the venues from the recent Olympics are located including two large stadiums.  He suggested I go, though, for the small marina in there.  It is a picturesque one--arched shoreline with small, colorful boats and with the houses rising up the hillside all around it.  Because it was cloudy and a Monday, not many people were there, although there are cafes along the shore which he recommended as a nice place to relax and enjoy the views.

Although the marina is nice, the area around it needs some work.  There are abandoned building frameworks from the Olympics where they probably had shops and other facilities for visitors.  It reminded me of the dead areas that are often found where there have been world fairs.  There are also very nice unoccupied buildings that housed large cafes and bars during the Olympics.  The city needs to plan a complete redevelopment of the area, since it is nice otherwise.

I took the metro back downtown getting of at Syntagma (Constitution) Square.  It is the main square in the city.  The city is buzzing in the area with government buildings, hotels, and fancy shops.  I looked at the Hotel Bretagne, the old elegant hotel in the city, and other nice examples of architecture in the area.  Then, unfortunately, it started to rain lightly.

I walked back to my neighborhood seeing lots of interesting local businesses along the way.  There was an art cinema.  There was a very old shop operated by an elderly man and woman who restored dolls.

I returned tonight to the small square I have found in the neighborhood and ate a sandwich there for dinner.  Lots of people were out visiting with each other and enjoying the fresher air that arrived with the rain we had in the afternoon.