A visit to Athens

On a beautiful Spring morning, we boarded a Ryanair flight from Paphos to Greece's capital city of Athens.

We were joined by our friends, Steve and Mary for our visit and the flight from Cyprus took just over one and a half  hours.

We were picked up by our driver and whisked to the outskirts of Athens were were met by the City's famous chaotic traffic.

We finally made to our hotel in just over the hour mark.

Our base for our visit to Athens was the Plaka Arch suites hotel, this was a real find, a beautiful small hotel right in the heart of the city and a very short walk from the famous Acropolis and the local Metro station.

After check in we went in search of some lunch and had a lovely meal at Ionis taverna in the heart of Plaka, they even provided complementary wine and shots of the local ouzo. 

After lunch we decided to head over to Lycabettus Hill, the steps up to this are quite steep and we were glad to arrive at the funicular station. A short, but very steep ride brings you out into the viewing area, where the 360 degree views m the  City are nothing short of stunning.

In the distance you can make out the cranes from the port of Piraeus, the Acropolis and numerous landmarks of the city, we also visited the small church at the top (St Georges.)

After taking some dramatic photos of the views we headed back down the hill and made our way over to monument of the unknown soldier.

The guards at the monument were dressed in their traditional uniforms and marched in slow motion in front of the monument.

 

In the evening we strolled through the narrow streets of the Plaka district and had dinner at the Estia restaurant,  the food and the service was good.