Athens, or how to enjoy it during an economic crisis

Before our departure on 14 October 2011 for 3 days in the cradle of Western civilisation, many friends and relatives asked us whether it was really worth going to Athens for 3 days during the period of its greatest economic crisis in history; our answer was always the same..."imagine if it happens to us to find ourselves in the middle of chaos, strikes, hardship in the 3 days we'll be there...don't worry!!" And yet there was reason to worry.....and plenty... We set off with easy jet from Malpensa on Friday 14 October, one-way flight for 30 euros each (in the middle of a Greek general strike!!); after a 2-hour delay of the flight we arrive at 4 pm at Athens airport (30 km from the city) and here begins the ordeal of how to reach our hotel in the centre.

Usually you take (to Trains) the suburban train (yellow) which for 7 euros takes you to the Douk Plakentias stop of the metro, where you take the blue line and arrive in the centre (Syntagma), from which you can decide what else to take to get towards your hotel. Unfortunately, nothing!! Neither trains, nor metro, nor scheduled buses, nor taxis; when the Greeks go on strike I must say they do it seriously...

We don't give up and, with other Italians, we find the private Bus company KTEL in front of the airport which for 5 euros takes us near Omonia square, but then from here all on foot as far as the Hotel, so much so that we reach it only at 7.30 in the evening! But when we arrive, Hotel Tony decidedly lifts our spirits: fantastic position below the Acropolis, we are given for 65 euros a 40 sq m studio, new and spectacular, very clean, in a super-quiet area (Koukaki) and close to everything, with the Syngrou-Fix metro stop 5 minutes away! Dinner in the beautiful restaurant "Strofi" with an Acropolis view recommended by Tony, a lovely walk in the Plaka and then straight to rest ahead of a Saturday and Sunday devoted to seeing everything possible.

Unfortunately, though, the worst was still to come.....on Saturday and Sunday the Greeks decided to extend the strike, so total chaos, museums and archaeological sites closed to all the tourists who, discouraged, wandered about the city looking for something open so as not to go back home and have to say they had wasted the weekend; we are in the same situation.

We stay in contact with the Italians met on the flight and create a sort of "Holy Alliance" where each person, as soon as they heard of an open museum or any other "ancient stone on display", sent an sms to the others to warn them! We don't give in even when the temperature adds to the hardship already present, reaching 12-13° in a city that in mid-October sometimes still touches 25-27°! We hold firm and visit everything possible, we walk and walk all over the city among the picturesque quarters of the Plaka, the tourist streets below the Acropolis (Adrianou, Pavlou), the shopping streets of Ermou that leads directly in front of the parliament building and Perikleous, the beautiful pedestrian street rich in little restaurants and bars of Eolou, the Monastiraki quarter, Syntagma Square, Omonia Square, Kotzia Square.

As we walk we manage to see the many ancient Byzantine churches of the city (Kapnikarea, Gorgoepikoos, Agias Apostoli, etc.), we manage to see some archaeological sites from outside anyway well, like the Ancient Agora with the temple of Hephaestus, the ancient Roman agora and its beautiful tower of the winds, the temple of Zeus and the arch of Hadrian and the Panathinaiko stadium. We walk and come across the triptych of Panepistimiou street with the national library, the University of Athens and the Academy, up to the National Archaeological Museum, which however we unfortunately find closed. We also manage to see the cathedral of Athens under restoration and to enter on Sunday the beautiful, modern Acropolis Museum, where you can see the famous caryatids.

A turn in the National Gardens and a hop up to Mount Lycabettus, from which the whole city of Athens is visible (7 euros the funicular), could not be missing. During these, all the same lovely, walks, we were able to notice that the crisis is felt and seen: once outside the most touristy areas, as soon as you approach, for example, Omonia square, you see poverty, neglect, beggars and tramps; moreover, so as not to miss anything, the street cleaners went on strike too, so the result was to see a city in the Naples style, that is, with piles of rubbish everywhere.

Still to live the Athenian atmosphere to the full, on Saturday evening we decide to go to dinner with all the Italian friends we met and we decide to meet in Syntagma square in front of the presidential palace.....a shame that when we come out of the metro there are 20,000 of us in front of the palace! We are caught up in the protest demonstration against the cuts and economic sacrifices demanded of the Greeks, we take a few photos and then slip away towards the Plaka. We have reached Sunday evening happy but with a bitter taste at not having managed, because of the general strike, to enter the real place you go to Athens for, that is, the Acropolis. Unfortunately we are discouraged, because on Sunday evening it was "rumoured" that it might open on Monday morning at 1.30 pm, then at 11.00, but always too late for us, who at 12.00 had to be at the airport to go to Cyprus.

On Monday morning we wake up by now resigned, when at 9.00 the fateful SMS arrives from an Italian friend of ours telling us that the Acropolis is open!!! Quick as even the best Usain Bolt could not have been, we find ourselves in front of the entrance and with 12 euros we buy the ticket valid for a full 7 archaeological sites and for 4 days; we will need it only for the Acropolis but we don't care, in any case we will give it to 2 German tourists who, having just arrived in Athens with a sleeping bag, will look at us and thank us, to say the least, astonished by such grace! At last the Acropolis: the majestic entrance of the Propylaea, the temple of Athena Nike, the Panathenaic way, the Parthenon, the Erechtheion where Athena defeated Poseidon, the Theatre of Dionysus and the Theatre of Herodes Atticus and finally the spectacular views of Athens towards Piraeus, towards Mount Philopappos

and towards Lycabettus!! This alone was worth all the wait of the journey, the hardship of the strikes, the rubbish; now we can leave for Cyprus happy! What else can I say? That Athens, regardless of strikes, demonstrations, cloudy weather and rubbish, remains always a city that deserves to be visited, rich in history and culture, and with a unique charm.