We woke up relatively late, arriving at the Parliament building across Syntagma Square before 11am to catch the changing of the guards. It was not crowded at all, so I was able to take some pretty nice photos. Next we walked to the Plaka neighbourhood to have a quick visit at the Museum of Popular Musical Instruments, followed by an outdoor lunch right by the Roman Agora. And naturally, we just had to visit the Roman Agora afterwards since we were right there anyway.The walk to the Keramikos neighbourhood felt tiring under the heat of the sun, even though it was no longer than 30 minutes. This was a quarter bordering the ancient city wall, containing a cemetery and funerary sculptures along the Sacred Way. The museum showcased many original tomb steles, some of which were quite elaborate and impressive.
On our way back to the hotel, we would visit a gelataria for the second time since we arrived at the city. It was a delicious ending to our relaxing day... well, at least for Chris. We were back at the hotel after 3pm to take an afternoon nap. I woke up before 5pm to get ready for my hike up Philopappos Hill, where the view of the Acropolis was supposedlly unbeatable. This was one of the reasons I opted to stay in town instead of going on a day trip - to have a chance at getting some good photographs of the iconic Parthenon. Since the temple is in what seems to be a permanent state of restoration, taking photos of it during the hours of falling light would probably help mask away the numerous construction cranes surrounding it.
The view of the Acropolis from the top of Philopappos Hill did not disappoint. However, I definitely made the trip at least one hour too early. I was at the top just after 5pm and the sun did not start to set until after 6pm. If I had charged every person 10 euros to take a picture of them at the spot while I was waiting, I'd be.... well, about 50 euros richer :) It was actually quite windy at the top and I'd forgotten to bring my windbreaker (among other things as I remember later), so I was starting to worry about catching a cold as it was wide open at the top with nowhere to hide. It wasn't until after 7pm that the light that I wanted started to come. The photo shooting only lasted about 15 minutes before it became totally dark. As I packed up and started to head down the hill, I realized that I'd left my wallet, flashlight, and passport all in Chris' bag! In near total darkness I could only let gravity be my guide as I descended the hill. Once I was "out of the woods" I decided to take the long way home, as the small alleys from which I came would have been impossible to navigate in the dark.I finally arrived back at the hotel around 8:30pm. We had a late dinner in Plaka around 9:30pm. By the time we were back from dinner, it was 10:30pm. Chris immediately went to sleep as we would have to get up at around 3 in the morning to catch our early flight back home.
I was a little worried about walking to the bus station in the middle of the night. But as soon as we stepped out of the hotel, we were completely surprised by how busy the streets were! Looking at the crowds and traffic on the road, one would never have guessed that it was 4 o'clock in the morning! There were so many cars on the road that we actually had to wait at a traffic light to cross the street! We arrived at the airport shuttle bus stop and got onto an almost empty bus. But before long it was filled and there were only standing room left.
So just like that our two weeks in Greece came to an end. It was fun, and a lot more adventurous than I'd expected, especially for a honeymoon :)
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