Welcome to my capital city! |
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Today I am going to take you with me in a Saturday walk at the center of Athens. Enjoy it!!! |
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Saturday is the day I like most of all the days of the week. It shows me the end of the working week and it is a day for relax and shopping. This Saturday following my impulse to enjoy my day I visited the center of Athens. The day was sunny when I woke up at the City of the Sun and after an hour I spent enjoying my coffee at my bedroom I decided to prepare myself in order to receive the weekend's shopping therapy. It was midday when I left my "dolly" at the parking garage for her beauty shower and I walked at the crowded streets of Athens looking at the shops' windows. I have to inform myself for the new fashion and the new women's gadgets. I know.. all my female friends will understand my aspect in this important issue... shopping! About the boys... try to understand... we have born to enjoy shopping... |
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| First stop at Ermou street, recently paved for pedestrians only, is another much longer street not to miss if shopping is among your travel objectives. Off Syntagma Square, it has always been Athens' busiest shopping street and is packed with clothing, accessory and quality souvenir shops. People from all over the world like to walk there. You don't need to visit this place only for shopping. It is a nice place to have your coffee too. |
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| You can enjoy your coffee with the music of the nearby small music groups which visit Greece from all over the world. |
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| You have the opportunity to hear music from "laterna", a musical instrument with a droning sound, played by turning a handle. I like so much its music. |
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| I like also this old man. He is an itinerant street musician who earns a living by playing the "Laterna" a hand organ or hurdy-gurdy but this is not enough for him... he tries also to sing the songs with his tremor voice. |
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My shopping for this weekend was a Mac's lip gloss with collagen... propably I felt a little jealous with Angelia'a lips.... I bought also music, a cd with a collection of songs I like. "You are beautiful" of James Blunt and "Tired to be sorry" of Rindside my favourite songs this period of my life. I visited also the bookshop choosing a book I would like to read in english this time, the "Manual of the Warrior of Light" of Paulo Coelho, a really inspired book. I like visiting Eleftheroudakis Bookshop at the center of Athens which has also the Starbucks cafe inside it. It is something I used to do in Ottawa where I enjoying visiting Chapters bookshop at the center of town with the same cafe inside it. The times I check the books I have bought with the Mocha Coconut coffee and the blackberry cheesecake are priceless moments for me. |
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| Walking at Ermou street in order to reach the metro station of Syntagma Square I have the Greek Parliament in front of me. The building, designed by Friedrich von Gartner, originally served as a palace for the Greek monarch, until 1924, when a referendum abolished the monarchy. |
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| We are close to the election for the Municipality leaders in Greece. We are going to vote in order to choose our new Mayors and Nomarchs all over the Greek territory. The pre-election period has started and you can find everywhere candidate's pavillions. This is one of these pavillions at the Syntagma Square. |
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Time to leave quickly. A friend I had to meet later came earlier and I needed to not delay anymore. I used the Metro station at Syntagma Square. This is our main station and a place you have to visit want or not to travel using the Attiko Metro. It is not only a station. It is a museum too. A place I like to visit from time to time. It is a connection with history for me. |
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It is a museum with the founding of the excavations for the construction of the Metro. The excavation at the Syntagma Square brought in light Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities. The finds were of the greatest significance and have given us a picture of the history of the area from early historic times to the present day. The area was in continuous use from the 6th c. BC onwards, the earliest find being an 11th c. BC grave. The construction work undertaken on the city's metro system during the 1990s brought an unprecedented number of archaeological finds to light. Some of these finds can be seen at the metro station on Syntagma Square. The exhibits include ancient grave stones, an aqueduct from the 5th century BC, pottery, a 2,000-year old beehive and a mosaic from the 5th century AD. Most interesting is the geological cross-section on display, with each layer of earth representing a different historical period. An example of this would be the grave containing a skeleton from the 4th century BC lying a few metres below a 16th-century cistern. |
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I got out from the Metro Station at the Omonia Station. At the OMONIA Metro Station you can find this pics on a wall, depicting people who seem to be trapped inside without escape... It is a piece of art.. makes me thing each time I pass from this place... |
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| Well... I had to run meeting my friend. As usuall... I was delayed one more time. So... nothing new... speeding at the highway with my "Dolly". |
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| I have chosen a beautiful place to enjoy our coffee. "Piscina" cafe at the "Marina of Zeas". |
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| A beautiful cafe-bar in an amazing place. The view of the piscina, the yachts at the marina and the Saronic Sea are the perfect combination for a nice evening. |
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| Well... that is. The end of a busy day with the best way. I hope you have enjoyed this tour as much as I did. |