Day #238 - Athens, Greece

Sun setting over Athens (Acropolis on far left of picture)

View atop Lykavittos Hill

Small church atop Lykavittos Hill

Archaeological Museum

Academy of Athens

Sunday, November 7th

OK - After this blog, I'm officially caught up. Very nice. I mentioned yesterday that I needed about 24 hours to recover - that's just about what I did. I slept in until about 12:30 in the afternoon. Then, I checked some emails and slept a little more until about 3pm. Solid. Perhaps I'm strange to do this. But, I've always needed some decompression time after periods of physical and mental stress. Not that I've been that stressed - but the trip back to STL, the marathon, the trip planning -- it wears me down mentally more than anything. Back in the game.

After shaking off the cobwebs, I headed out into the streets of Athens to see what I could find. My hotel is very near the Archaeological Museum - so I headed there first. There were many police officers on the streets today. More than I was comfortable with. So, I went over to one of them and asked if there was a safety concern for me to be walking in this area. The officer indicated that today is National Election Day in Greece. He told me that I was fine. Just checking.

Because of the election day, the museum was closed. Still impressive to see from the outside. I then walked over to Strefi Hill. I climbed to the top to check the view. Athens has alot of hills around the town: Strefi, Lykavittos, Filopappos, and the Acropolis to name a few. It's a relatively flat city with several bumps in it.

I then walked across the northern section of the city to Lykavittos Hill. This place was great. I had to stop for about 10 minutes and look at the peak. This is more than a little hill - it's the highest place in town and a substantial climb. I finally talked myself into making it happen. I figured I'd peak just about when the sun was setting.

The climb actually went pretty quick. I was sucking wind and sweating by the time I got there - but well worth it. There was a restaurant, a small church, and several balconies to look out over the city. This is a must-do while in Athens. There were many people sitting out in chairs viewing the sunset on my arrival.

After some great pictures, I slowly walked back into town. I came to the central metro station - Syntagma. Many people now filled the streets. Earlier - it was very deserted. Not sure what changed - but I like when there are others walking the streets.

I walked by the Academy of Athens and the National Library, then got some food from a street vendor, and headed back to my hotel.

A relaxing day. Tomorrow we'll start to get some momentum started again.