Dionysus Theater, The Birthplace of Theatrical Performances

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This is a place you will have to visit while in Athens. Why? because  this is the birthplace of theater, thus the most significant theater in Europe.  It is also Europe’s oldest theater. We at the Athens Walking tours take special care and show  our guests  the Dionysus theater because we believe it is “a must visit site in Athens“.  It is a pity to have visited Athens and not having stood by  the birthplace of theater and it is even more pity to have come so close to it by visiting the Acropolis and not had a chance of taking a picture from up close.

The Theatre of Dionysus is a major open-air  theater and one of the earliest preserved in Athens and it was used for festivals in honor of the god  Dionysus. It  was Europe’s first theater, and  is located  in the Southern slope of the Acropolis  underneath  the Parthenon.  It was originally built in the late 5th century B.C and was modified by the Romans later, so very little from the original Theater has been preserved today.  Its capacity is 17.000 spectators.

What impresses the visitor is the front rows consisted of marble chairs which  were the only seats in the theater that had a back support. They were the VIP seats  for priests of Dionysus and the chief magistrates of Athens.  Priests claimed 50 of the 67 front row seats, then came the officials, the guests of honor, then finally the ordinary citizens of Athens.  Beyond the front row, stood a circular space called the orchestra where the Chorus would sing and dance, and in the center of which stood the alter of Dionysus.  Behind the orchestra, lied a heavy rectangular foundation known as the stage on which the actors would perform their section of the play.  The back of the stage had a building painted to look like the front of a temple or a palace.  Here, the actors would retire when they were not needed on stage or would go to when they had to change their costumes.

Athens Walking Tours – Acropolis and City Tour – Acropolis and Athens Sightseeing

The Athens Metro System – The most stylish way to get around Athens

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The Athens Metro was inaugurated On January 29, 2000. Since then it has immensely improved the lives of millions of Athenians and visitors to Athens and is used daily by approximately 830.000 passengers. Although the construction on lines 2 and 3 took over 10 years to complete, because every couple of meters revealed a new archaeological find, the wait was well worth it and today the Athens Metro is one of the most modern, reliable and beautiful rapid transit systems in Europe.

The Athens Metro has greatly contributed to the decrease of traffic in the city and has lowered pollution rates. The number of automobiles entering the center of Athens has been reduced by as much as 100,000.

As of December 2010, the system serves 34 stations and has a track length of 51.7 kilometres. It is one of the safest, quickest and most efficient ways to get around Athens. All metro stations have 24 hour security. Transport time between stations ranges from 2 to 5 minutes excluding the airport of course. Travel time between the Athens International Airport and Syntagma Square metro station is approximately 45 minutes. The first metro train departs from the Airport for Syntagma Square at 06:33 and the last at 23:33. The metro trains that serve the airport are easy to recognize as have the airplane symbol running along the sides of the train and the word Airport is written in English and Greek.

If you have are in Athens for a limited time you will find the metro most convenient since there is a metro station near all the major attractions and sites in Athens and near most of the major hotels. For more informaton on routes, stations and train schedules you may pick up a City Contact free edition of the Athens By Metro brochure which can be found at most of the major hotels of Athens.

But the most unique characteristic of the Athens Metro is that while the works were taking place new archaeological discoveries were coming to light continuously which eventually led to large-scale excavation works which spanned over an area of 79,000m2 and revealed more than 50,000 ancient artifacts

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Some stations that exhibit these discoveries are Acropolis, Evangelismos, Monastiraki, Panepestimiou, Holargos and, the most extensive being that of the Syntagma Metro Station. We highly recommend that you visit some or even all of these stations to admire these stunning collections and the beautiful design of the stations themselves. If you would like a guided tour please visit: http://www.athenswalkingtours.gr/The-Acropolis-Tour-And-City-Tour

The cost of a metro ticket to the Athens International Airport is 8 Euro per person one way. Seniors over the age of 65  as well as students up the age of 25 are entitled a reduced ticket upon showing their ID card or passport or their student card. Children under the age of 6 do not have to hold a ticket as they are entitled to travel for free. For unlimited travel between all other stations of the Athens Metro System the cost of your ticket is 1.40 Euro and it is valid for an hour and a half. Just remember to validate it before you get on the train because the trains are checked regularly for free riders.

Pasteli, The Food of Champions

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Pasteli, The Food of Champions

The Ancient Greeks did not only leave us with a colossal cultural legacy but also with a nutritionally wise culinary legacy as well.

The staples of the ancient Greek diet were olives, honey, sesame seeds, pulses, fish, fruits and wine. The culture of ancient Athens in particular produced more geniuses per capita than any other culture before or since. What they ate may or may not have had something to do with it but the fact is open to speculation.

One of those foods is still very popular among Greeks today and is perhaps the first “energy bar” in history. Pasteli, a confection made primarily of honey and sesame seeds was consumed regularly by the original Olympians. It was also the traditional “wedding cake” offered at wedding ceremonies to the bride and the groom because sesames symbolized fertility and honey symbolized a sweet life. But even earlier than that we find references to Pasteli, then called Intrion, in Homers Iliad where it was eaten by the Hellenes to help them endure the physical demands of wartime.

It is easy to see why this food was not only a delicacy but highly valued for its nutritional properties. Sesame seeds are remarkably high in copper, manganese, calcium, tryptophan, magnesium, iron, zinc, fiber and vitamin B1. Every one of these nutrients is vital to the proper functioning of the human body and help in the prevention of anemia, osteoporosis, and joint problems. They may also help with the maintenance of the ratio of LDL to HDL cholesterol, as well as aid in correcting an irregular heartbeat. Manganese relaxes your nerves and muscles, helps build strong bones, and keeps up a healthy blood circulation. Tryptophan can regulate your appetite, help you sleep better, and may act as a mood elevator. There is as much calcium in a tablespoon of sesame seeds as there is in half a glass of milk. Sesame seeds are also powerful antioxidants.

Honey is also an amazing food in itself. Apart from also being a mega antioxidant it is also an anti-inflammatory, and an antimicrobal. It can aid digestive, gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts, as well as help with migraines, gastritis and rheumatism. Furthermore it enhances the body’s use of energy during exercise and has been thought to reduce recovery time after injury.

Today Pasteli can be found everywhere in Greece and at specialty food stores around the world. If you find yourself at a Greek airport you can easily find it at the duty free shops or sign up for the Athens Food Tour and taste for yourself this amazing and delicious power food of the Greeks.

 

How to Reach Athens from the International Airport

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ATHENS METRO

The easiest and quickest way

The Athens metro runs twice an hour with the first train  departing from the Airport at  6:33 am and the last one at 23:33pm.

The cost is 8 Euro per person one way. Seniors over the age of 65  as well as students up the age of 25 are entitled a reduced ticket upon showing their ID card or passport or their student card. Children under the age of 6 do not have to hold a ticket as they are entitled to travel for free.

Buy your ticket either at the Automatic Ticket machines located at every station  where you can use Bank notes or change or at the cashier booths.

Validate your ticket at the ticket validating machines , before you reach the platforms to board your train and keep it to the end of your trip  ; Ticket inspections take place quite often and  non holders of a valid ticket are obliged to pay 50 times the value of the ticket as penalty.

The duration of your trip to Syntagma Metro station, which is the central station located in front of the House of Parliament is 40 minutes.

ATHENS  AIRPORT BUSES

The cheapest way to come to Athens

They run every  15 minutes and  between midnight and dawn  every  half an hour

Bus stop is directly in front of the arrivals by gates 3 and 4

Ticket is  5  Euro and if used within 90 minutes after its validation you may use it for  more  transfers with other public transportation means.You purchase your ticket at the ticket booth by the bus stop and do not forget to validate it by boarding the bus.The ticket kiosk may open a few minutes before bus departure if it remains closed you may buy it from your driver.

X95 BUS TO ATHENS 
It runs  every15-20 minutes ,  ends at  Othonos street at Syntagma square which is very convenient if you  need to travel to some other place within the city . Your hotel may be at Syntagma area as this is the area where most hotels are located and it is also very easy to catch a taxi from there to reach your further  destination .You may also ask the driver to drop you on the way if you know the area your hotel is located.
Duration of the trip is 60-70 minutes 
If you want to go to the airport you may take the X95 bus from Othonos street .You buy your ticket either at a booth located by the bus stop or inside the Syntagma metro station one level down at the cashier booth. 
Tickets: The cost is 5 Euro per person one way.Seniors over the age of 65  as well as students up the age of 25 are entitled a reduced ticketupon showing their ID card or passport or their student card .Children under the age of 6 do not have to hold a ticket as they are entitled to travel for free

BUS X96 TO PIRAEUS 

The X96 Bus   goes  to Piraeus thus you may connect with your ferry if you are traveling  to some of the Greek islands.

Duration of the trip is about  an hour and a half

You are not the public transportation type? If all this is a nuisance for you and you want someone to be at the airport waiting for you  then we have the perfect service for you .

We offer private taxi transfers  by Mercedes luxury vehicles at 52 Euro for the ride. A taxi takes maximum 4 people with four medium size pieces of luggage and the price 52 Euro  is for the ride and not per person and includes all taxes and road tolls.

 

 

 

Clean Monday

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see the video here

See video

 

 

 

“Clean Monday “, Kathari Deytera,  is the the beginning of the great Lent of the Greek Orthodox Easter also known as Pure Monday, Ash Monday or Shrove Monday. The common term for this day, “Clean Monday”, refers to the leaving behind of sinful attitudes and non-fasting foods.

It is a movable feast that occurs at the beginning of the 7th week before Orthodox Easter Sunday which is going to be on April 15 this year, 2012.

 

Delicious lagana bread (photo: onair24.gr)

Clean Monday is a public holiday in Greece, where it is celebrated with outdoor excursions, the consumption of shellfish and other fasting foods such as crabs, mussels, cuttlefish, pickles ,fish roe, olives, halva which is a sweet made with sesame oil, and a special kind of azyme bread, baked only on this day, named “lagana” and the widespread custom of flying kites. Eating meat, eggs and dairy products is traditionally avoided by the majority of  the Orthodox Christians throughout Lent, with fish being eaten only on major feast days, but shellfish and vegetables are part of the main diet.

Trying to fly the kites high, ...but no wind! (photo: tlife.gr)

People on Clean Monday usually take their picnic baskets and put inside fasting foods because it is the day that Lent begins and also take with them their kites.This year though it was cold and wet but that did not stop people from going to the market to buy all fasting goodies. Yiannis from Athens Walking Tours, came to the main food market of an area in Athens called “Nea Ionia” and made this short video to transfer you to the clean Monday atmosphere.

Athens Food Tour

 

How to Reach Athens From Piraeus Port

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Port of Piraeus is the biggest passenger port in Europe and the third in the world.

The port of Piraeus is located 7 miles (11 Kms) from the Athens city center. It is the chief port in Greece, the largest passenger port in Europe and the third largest in the world, servicing about 20 million passengers annually.

Millions of people who like cruising visit Greece – the sea paradise of Europe – with its beautiful islands such as Santorini, Myconos, Crete, Rhodes and many more. Most of  the Meditarranean cruise itineraries include the port of Piraeus as most cruisers want to visit Athens with its glorious monuments and the Acropolis, the symbol of beauty and Democracy. 

TIPS FOR CRUISERS

The Piraeus port has two cruise ship terminals. Cruise terminal A and cruise terminal B. They are connected with shuttle buses and it takes only a couple of minutes to go from one to the other cruise terminal. Cruise terminal A is more frequently used for exit.

Round trip transportation and tour in small groups. Athens Walking Tours offers shore excursions for  cruisers. We have designed tours to accommodate cruise ship passengers so you can get the most out of your visit in town even in a very limited time at very advantageous rates. A tour for example of seven and a half hours which includes round trip transportation, guided tour at the Acropolis by a licensed tour guide, entrance fees and free time in Plaka costs only 59 Euro per person.

How  to come to Athens  on your own: If you like to join our walking tour which costs 36 Euro (entrance fee 12 Euro not included) then you can make it time wise by using public transportation means. Our tour starts at 9:30 am and most ships dock between 6:00 and 8:00 am

OPTION A > PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION MEANS :The most inexpensive way.

BY METRO: Average trip time one hour, cost 1,40 € one way. Purchase your tickets either at the cashier of the station  or in the automatic machines. To get to Piraeus metro station, you will either have to walk from the pier to the metro station, 20 – 30 minutes depending on the pier the ship docks or take the 843 bus from outside the dock to Piraeus metro station. You get the metro direction KIFISSIA (line 1) and in 20 minutes’ ride you reach the MONASTIRAKI metro station.You can get off here if you want to spend some time in the Flea Market or change into line 3, direction AIRPORT and you get off at the next station which is SYNTAGMA the central Square of Athens located in front of the Parliament building,  meet with the  licensed Athens Walking tours guide inside the Syntagma metro station underneath the hanging clock. How to find your tour guide ? look for the orange colored Athens Walking Tours sign. Cruise ship clients, who like to mingle with the everyday life of the Athenians, enjoy both the walk and the ride and by following our instructions, always come to Athens without any difficulty or problem.

BY BUS:  If you dock at  Cruise Terminal B or Terminal A you can take bus 040; the bus terminal is just outside the Cruise Terminal B pier on Akti Xaveriou road and there is a stop also close to Terminal A. Bus 040 will take you  to Filellinon road by Syntagma Square.You may have some difficulty though to purchase your ticket as usually tickets booths are closed . So we would advise you to use the metro instead .

OPTION B > By Taxi: More Expensive. 

Average trip time 30 minutes (depending on traffic). Cost: 16-20 Euro for the ride one way. You can use a taxi which is a more expensive option than public transportation means. Coming out of the cruise terminal you will come upon many taxis. Usually they try to sell you the transfer with a tour. You should know that taxi drivers are not licensed to give you a guided tour, are not qualified nor authorized guides. In Greece it is only licensed guides who are allowed to give guided tours. It is convenient and comfortable though to use a taxi for your transfer; most taxis are air conditioned and clean cars, drivers speak at least basic English and can be very helpful. You can also make it up with them to take you  back to the port.

Do not bargain for the price or do not make up front a price. As soon as you get into the taxi, they should turn on the taxi meter and you pay as much as the taxi meter says. This comes up to about 16 to 20 Euros depending on the traffic. This fee is for the ride and not per person. You can share the fee with 4 people; this is the maximum a taxi takes.

OPTION C > Taxi pick up service by Athens Walking Tours. 

The most comfortable way.You will recognise your driver from the orange colored Athens Walking Tours sign he will be holding. Average trip time 30 minutes. The cost is 35 Euro per ride. Waiting time of our driver for you at least half an hour.

The Athens Walking Tours offer transfers with luxury Mercedes – non smoking  car no smoking driver – from the port of Piraeus to accommodate cruise ship passengers for their shore excursions in Athens. You can book this transfer independently or with your tour by booking at athenswalkingtours.gr. Instructions how to meet with your taxi driver will follow with your confirmation letter.

 Athens Sightseeing with Athens Walking Tours

This is Home

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A beautiful view of the holy rock of the Acropolis

No matter how difficult the financial situation becomes or how many noxious insults are flung, my city of Athens will survive. As a Greek-American living in Athens for the last 20 or so years I feel compelled to defend this city more than ever before. As a child when we would come on holiday with my parents I remember walking around the center of Athens and inhaling as much air as I could hold to take back with me to the States. To me the air was sacred and so it remains.

I have had a ceaseless love affair with this city for as long as I can remember. It surprises some, especially now during this extended period of unrest. Friends from overseas ask me “What are you still doing over there?” “Come home.” But this is home I tell them and there is no other place in the world that I would rather be.

And I realize this every time I lift my eyes from the crowded streets of Athens and gaze upon the Parthenon. It still takes my breath away. A few years back when the Athens Walking Tours hosted a group of marathon runners who would be participating in the Athens Marathon on behalf of a famous athletic company I was amazed at how these runners got up every day to run in the city at 6am. I asked one of them where they find the discipline? He just shrugged his shoulders, smiled and pointed to the Parthenon and said; “We don’t have that back home and that’s all the discipline I need.”

I have written down a few suggestions of what to see and do if you have some free time in Athens. I stress that this is only a very small list and I will upload more information in future blogs. If you go to these places while you are in Athens, you will fall in love with my city too.

There is no better way to experience a city than on foot and some great places for walking are Plaka and the Anafiotika , so is the Roman Agora and the Tower of the Winds. A stroll down Adrianou Street is also quite enjoyable especially if you stop at one of the delightful café’s or restaurants on the walkway and enjoy the spectacular views under the blue Athenian sky. Make time for a visit to the Ancient Agora and walk on the same road that Socrates walked some thousands of years before. Here you can, with the help of your imagination, picture how life was in ancient Athens.  The Dionysiou Aeropagitou pedestrian walkway is lovely where you can admire the beautiful neo-classical buildings lining the street and you are next to the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum. The National Gardens is a green oasis in the heart of the city where you can feed the birds or just sit on a park bench in the shade and read a book.  Ah and last but not least; enjoy a memorable outing on a summer night in Athens at an outdoor cinema like Cine Thiseio, which by the way was recently voted the most beautiful movie theatre in the world by CNN (see full article here)! You can watch a good movie and enjoy a delicious snack and cold drink, but best of all, you never loose sight of the Parthenon which is in full view.

 

Learn About Athens Through Your Taste Buds

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A visit at the famous and one of the oldest specialty shops in Athens

The 8th annual International Meetings & Incentives Conference (IMIC) with the topic “Tourism and Gastronomy in the Spotlight “ took place, with great success, at the Ledra Marriott Hotel in Athens on the 15th and 16th of February 2012. Naturally Athens Walking Tours were there.

A distinguished group of Greek and international speakers and panelists developed and presented their ideas to an audience of tourism professionals in the hope of providing a better understanding of the role, development, and future of gastronomy and culinary heritage tourism in Greece.

Despina Savvidou co-founder of the Athens Walking and Food Tours had the privilege of speaking at the conference about how the Athens Food Tours are a prime example of successful culinary tourism initiatives in Greece.

The Athens Food Tour was launched in 2010, thus making it the “baby” of the Athens Walking Tours family – which have been operating since 2004 with a selected team of licensed and highly qualified tour guides.

As Despina explained to a captivated audience, the Athens Food Tour is designed and executed with love and passion, so that the visitors of Athens can have an authentic culinary experience, thus learning about the history of the city, its people and customs of the whole country, by tasting cultural dietary staples such as sesame rolls, Greek olives, Greek coffee and sweet honey doughnuts known in Greece as “loukoumades”.  Not a bad way to spend a couple of hours learning something new about a foreign city now, is it?

Despina took great care in planning and mapping out the tour so that the “touristy” areas were at the greatest part avoided allowing visitors to get as close a look as possible to everyday life of the Athenians. Thus, visitors are led through the back streets of Athens, literally a Minotaur maze to the uninitiated, the main food markets (Varvakeios), small traditional food and spice shops, dairy shops and popular with the local’s restaurants, where visitors get a glimpse of busy Athenians on their lunch breaks. Everyone on the tour has the opportunity to taste various delicacies that are offered welcomingly as the food specialist explains the history and “story” behind every food type.

And the verdict at the end is unanimous! The visitors love it because they know they are experiencing the “real thing”, but also because they are not treated as a herd of balky eyed tourists but as valued guests. At the end of the tour everyone has the feeling that they have made new friends and some participants depart vowing to keep in touch. This is definitely an experience that bonds and fortifies. Food does that and Greeks know this very well. 

This is just a small example of what some satisfied participants have said of the Athens Food Tour on Trip Advisor:

“Feel like a local “ — “The food tour was outstanding”  — “It covered the History and origins of Greek cuisine” —”An informative entertaining and tasty Walking Tour” — “It made our trip to Greece much more memorable and entertaining”

The Athens Food tour takes place every day except Sundays.

Protests in Athens

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athens syntagma square

View of the peaceful protest in front of the Greek Parliament

On February 12, 2012, in the very late hours of the evening, the Greek Parliament struggled but succeeded in passing new and more severe austerity measures, imposed by the EU, in order to avoid financial default. The measures are considered by Greeks and non Greeks alike unusually harsh and derogatory.

For Greece the path ahead will be one of extreme hardship and sacrifice but one that must and will be endured. Greece is a strong, proud and above all freedom loving nation who has experienced foreign occupations, wars and dictatorships. In the end democracy always prevailed.

A vast peaceful demonstration took place in front of the Parliament where thousands of people gathered to protest against the austerity plan which ended up violent due to error handling of the Greek Police using tear gas and violence to disperse the thousands of demonstrators.

Athens Walking Tours would like to point out that Greece and especially Athens  regardless of periodic incidents of protest is one of the safest cities in Europe and of the world and that our tours have been operating on a regular basis without suspension even throughout periods of unrest. We would also like to assure you that every necessary precaution is taken for the complete safety of our clients during our tours and if the situation is considered hazardous or unsafe then it is cancelled.

Athens Sightseeing

Legendary Greek Filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos Dies

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On Tuesday January 24, 2012 Greece and the world of cinema lost one of its favourite sons, director and filmmaker Theodoros Angelopoulos.

The filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos (Getty Images, hollywoodreporter.com)

Angelopoulos was struck down by a motorcycle as he was attempting to cross a busy highway while on location filming his latest film “The Other Sea”, which is about immigration and the crisis in contemporary Greece. He wanted to check his “frame” as co-workers said. He had bad visibility from where he was standing and the light of day was fading fast since it was late in the afternoon.

He was born in Athens in 1935. He studied law at the University of Athens but found it boring. After completing his military service he moved to Paris and attended the Sorbonne to study philosophy but he actually spent most of his time at the Cinémathèque Française. Changing schools once again he enrolled in the Institut des Hautes Études Cinématographiques, France’s chief film school, before returning to Greece in 1964 where he worked as a newspaper film critic and then began his career in film as a director.

He soon carved a unique niche for himself as one of the best international film directors of the 20th century with many critics comparing his films to those of Michelangelo Antonioni and Akira Kurosawa. His characteristic style of long single scene takes and his breath stopping, evocative imagery but also his keen perspective on various historical periods of Greece won him numerous international film awards such as the Palme d’Or at Cannes and many others.

His films were always about the heart and soul of Greece, his beloved home. In a Los Angeles Times interview he said: “Greece is more than a geographical locale to me. It’s a spirit, a culture”.

His film “The Other Sea” which deals with the present day crisis in Greece will remain unfinished. His abrupt death came at a time when Greece needed his vision and insight more than ever before. But it was fate, his colleagues said, like the best of Greek tragedies and perhaps a fitting way for a figure like Angelopoulos to call it a wrap. He was 76.