Piraeus for Athens

We have lost track of how many times we have been to Athens but it is enough so that we no longer feel a need to visit ruins. It is enough to see them in the distance while we are enjoying the city. So without the pressure of sight seeing, we left the ship late in the morning and headed for the Piraeus Train Station. We can never remember exactly where the station is, but we know the general direction. We walked along the harbor past ferry terminals until the neighborhood began to look like an area where the train station would be. And then we asked a few people which way. It took about 30 minutes to reach the station and buy tickets. (And for those of you who know the story, we did it without screaming at each other in the middle of the street.)

In 17 minutes the train took us to Monastriaki  Square, which looked familiar right down to the fresh strawberries for sale at the first cart outside the Station’s entrance. We walked to the right toward the Acropolis and turned at the first street that took us past Hadrian’s Library and the Tower of the Winds. We strolled among the shops and restaurants in the Plaka for a while, sitting on a stone wall to watch a crew filming a scene on a side street. We ended up by the entrance to the new museum.

Our main purpose in visiting Athens was to return to Scholarhio Restaurant at 14 Tripidon Street for lunch in the Plaka and we easily found it. Lunch was even better this time even though it was too cold to sit on the outside balcony. We sat inside and chose six out of the 12 dishes on the vegetarian tray and enjoyed a wonderful feast.