Another day in Athens

My second day in Athens was bitsy (if that wasn't a word it is now). I was feeling aimless and unmotivated. I think tiredness was really starting to kick in, and I was also physically sore with aching legs and feet. I had thought that a couple of pairs of my casual shoes would be good enough, but I was now realising that I should have invested in a proper pair of walking shoes...

Anyway, I started the day very close to the hotel with a few less famous ancient sites; Hadrian's Library, a Roman market, the Temple of the Four Winds.

Hadrian's Library

Remains of Roman market

Then I wandered over to Athens Cathedral (which impressed me less than some others have, or maybe I've just been ruined by St. Peter's Basilica in Rome).

Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens

...and the inside

After that I wanted to have a look at a park that contained a reconstructed agora and its museum, and the Temple of Hephaestus. I found what looked to be the entrance on my crappy map and took the metro to the nearest stop. It was like I'd stepped out of Athens and into the ghetto. The neighbourhood didn't have a good feel to it at all. I walked a short way up a street and through an unkempt park and found the gate I was looking for, but it was closed and had a sign stating that this entrance was no longer operating and gave directions to the new entrance... I was almost relieved! I just wanted to get out of there...

It turned out that the entrance I needed was about 100 metres from where I had started before getting on the metro!

Outside of agora reconstructed in the 1950s

Agora reconstructed in the 1950s

Temple of Hephaestos

By then I was well and truly buggered and aching, and I had become obsessed with the thought of proper hiking shoes! From what I had seen of Athens (or at least the areas surrounding me) was that there are two types of shoe shop... the super-upmarket ones in the trendy shopping streets or the ones in the markets where you can't really be certain what you're getting... So I decided I was better off paying a bit more and getting something that I knew was decent. It's not like I can go back for a refund if they fall apart in a fortnight!

I was walking through the market (which is more like a narrow street filled with tiny shops) to get to the shopping district when one of the tiny shops caught my eye. It was full of sturdy-looking, good-brand (if they're real) exercise and hiking shoes. I didn't have much choice in style because he only had them small enough in a couple, but at that point I would have bought almost anything! And they seem to be holding up well so far... I have worn them every day for a week and don't know how I did without them!

And other than some more good souvlaki and a dessert to die for, that was the end of Athens... early the next morning I was catching a flight (or 3) to my next destination - Dubrovnik!