The Soldiers, Garden, Stadium and the Cathedral

I didn’t write about my experiences in Athens in the chronological order but the good thing about electronic media is that things can be rearranged later when one has more time and energy (and a bigger device than the phone!). As of now, I am just feeling a sense of already missing Greece (I leave tomorrow).

It’s amazing how you just connect with some places (and not with another). Athens has been such a place which made me feel at home. May be because it is an ancient city, just like the cities of India. Of may be because it is not filled with impeccably dressed people with stern dispositions. There is music and color and – the Sun! It’s not intimidating like for example, Berlin. (I like Berlin but it kind of makes you feel awed with its structures. My theory is that the rulers there wanted it to be like that.)

Let’s make a list of what all did I do on the last day of my vacation in Athens.

The morning started slow. I didn’t get out until 10:30 AM! In my mind, there is always a sense of guilt when I don’t get out as early as possible while on vacation because it feels like I am wasting the precious time! It’s ironic that there is no feeling of such a guilt when I am binge watching series after series while sitting on my couch back home! Anyway, so today I started late not because I wasn’t ready but because I couldn’t decide what all to do today. I searched the internet for ideas. Finally, gave up and just decided to go first to the National Garden.

On the way, I crossed the Parliament on Syntagma Square. And the oddest thing happened. I could see one entrance of the garden on the other side of the street but couldn’t find a way to cross the roads. So I went to my right at the traffic signal. Once I crossed the road, instead of turning left to go through the entrance I had seen, I decided to go straight ahead. Then instinctively I looked at my watch and saw that it was 10:50AM and I was at the edge of the parliamemt. This meant that there would be a change of guards in 10 minutes. So I decided to wait, although I had seen this ceremony already once on Sunday. But today the guards were in dark blue tunics instead of white ones (white is for Sunday). Now you’ll think what’s the odd thing about it? Wait for it. Here it is. It was the exact Same Set of Guards on duty whom I had seen on Sunday! The odds must be pretty high for this to happen. I was so excited about the coincidence that I behaved like the inconsiderate tourists, which I usually try not to be, and went right in front of the guard and took a close-up! See for yourself.

: On Tuesday

On Sunday – from far

You can zoom in the second picture and see for yourself.

There was a second coincidence too. It was that similar to the first time, I was actually on my way to some other place when I just decided to stop and look at the ceremony. Things have a way of happening!

Wondering about this coincidence, I moved on to the National Garden which is right next to the Parliament. It’s a beautiful garden with a lot of trees which give the people a peaceful and relaxing atmosphere right in the middle of the city! I saw locals relaxing there on benches – mostly old people, as well as tourists with their cameras trying to capture everything. I saw younger people exercising, jogging or simply crossing on their way to university or work. There was a pond with ducks and another one with turtles. Kids and adults – all seemed equally fascinated by this. Some people were feeding the ducks while some were just taking pictures. Almost everyone was amazed at seeing so many turtles huddled in such a small place. One turtle fell on its back and the “thud”sound startled me and a couple beside me. We then curiously watched until the turtle turned itself back on its belly and climbed back on the stone from where it had fallen.

: The Sunbathing Turtles

Then I moved on from there but couldn’t decide where to go next. Went in one direction and found a pair of parrots who were collecting twigs to make a nest! I had been seeing and hearing parrots but wasn’t able to click any pictures until then (I had decided to go out light today – without the big camera, water bottle, anything to munch and so on. After a few days in one place, you understand what’s easy to find and what’s not. In Athens it’s easy to find water for free and food even if you have just a little money. Big Camera – that just gives me shoulder pain.) Of course, it’s not high quality image but I have something to keep the memory.

So back to my stroll.

I first thought of going towards the Acropolis for one last time, but then just checked the map. Good that I did that because I found that I was close to the Panathenaic Stadium – the stadium where the first Modern Olympic games were held in 1896! So naturally I went there.

: Panathenaic Stadium

Some facts – It has a capacity of 60,000 people. It was originally a racecourse, then converted to a stadium in 330 BC for the Panathenaic games held every four years in honor of Athena, the patron Goddess of Athens. It was then reconstructed in marble by the Roman senator Herodus Atticus in 144 AD. Today it is used for concerts and other large scale events. Also, the Olympic flame is handed to the host nation from here.

By then, both me and my phone needed refueling. So I headed to the vegan place that I had found a few days ago, which is conveniently located in the central part of the town. But on the way, I found the Cathedral (again) and decided to take a round around it. Good that I did so else I would have missed the smaller but important church which was actually the older Cathedral! It’s the Church of the Agios Eleftherios. It was built in the 12th/13th century. Fun fact – it was built by reusing a lot of pieces from other structures. So the carvings/sculptures are a hodgepodge (hotchpotch, if you like that more). Crusader’s cross, Latin Cross, Greek Cross, Ancient Greek symbols – you’ll find everything here.