Seeing a Few More Sights on My Last Day

Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016--Athens

It was sunny today.  After repacking my suitcase for leaving tomorrow, I walked to the center of town to see a few more sights.  Again, along the way, it was interesting to see all the very old, small businesses that operate in this city.  There are many small specialty shops that have apparently been in the same place for decades.

The main sights I visited were the National Gardens, the Olympic Stadium from the first modern games over a century ago, and the Plaka.  Of course, in visiting these, there were glimpses of the Parthenon on the hill which I have seen a couple of times before and had no interest in visiting again.

It was my first time, I think, to walk through the National Gardens.  It is a nice park in the downtown area that connects the government buildings with the old stadium and with the Parthenon.

I also do not believe that I saw the Olympic Stadium before, but I may be wrong about that.  It's a pretty stadium and is still used for the ceremony lighting the Olympic torch every four years for its route to the point of the next Olympic games.

The Plaka is quite different from what I remember before.  It has far more souvenir shops, jewelry shops, galleries, etc., that I recall.  And there seem to be fewer restaurants.  Furthermore, it is not the "wild" area that it was before.  I don't believe people throw and break their plates anymore after eating.  The restaurants looked just like the restaurants I have seen in other cities on my trip.

My hosts invited me for dinner tonight.  We ate on their terrace.  What a meal!  I'm so stuffed.  We started with a Greek Salad that included a piece of fried cheese from an island they visited this weekend.  It is cheese that has been fermented in wine.  Next, we had a pork dish with green beans and aubergine cooked together.  Then we were served pastitsio, the Greek macaroni dish that consists of ground beef flavored with cinnamon and a cream sauce.  It was so light and creamy compared to what I have tasted before.  Finally, we had ice cream with raisins soaked in rum and sugar.  Unfortunately, my portions were very large, so it was way too much food.