Athens; Monday, 16 February, 2015

I headed out of the hotel into town and the first stop was Hadrian’s Arch and then the neighbouring spectacular Temple of Olympian Zeus.

Having looked round both of them I walked the short distance over to the Panathenaic stadium to have a look around that (and to walk on the same track that both the Ancient and first modern Olympians used)

From the stadium I hopped on the open-top bus round to the Roman Agora and had a look round the ruins of the Roman market area, before wandering over to the remains of the once massive Hadrian’s Library, built by Emperor Hadrian (he of wall fame).

Just down from the ruins of the library and the Roman Agora is the much older Ancient Greek Agora which covers a much larger space and has significantly more in it, including the reconstruction of one of the Stoa covered market halls, and the stunning Temple of Hephaestus.

By now I was starting to feel the effects of walking through too many archaeological sites, so I grabbed a late lunch near the Ancient Agora and then wandered back through the Flea market area to pick up the open-top bus up to the Acropolis.

From the Acropolis stop it was a short walk up the neighbouring Filopappou Hill to the small caves that claim to be the prison where Socrates was held, and then a slightly stiffer climb up to the top of the hill and the spectacular views over Athens, the port and of course the Acropolis.

I wandered back down the hill into town to pick up the last open-top tour bus of the night and did the last circuit covered by my two day ticket.

By the time the bus got back to Syntagma square it was starting to get quite cold so I headed back to the hotel to change into slightly warmer clothing and then headed back out for dinner near the Acropolis before heading back past Hadrian’s arch at night to take some views of the Arch and the Temple of Olympian Zeus at night

On my way back to the metro station to catch the train back to the hotel I stopped to have a look at the remains of a Roman bath house, uncovered when they were building the Metro line in the early part of the 21st century.