Whenever we remember the history of civilization, one of the first things that come to our minds is Greece. While India/China created the foundation of eastern civilization, Greece created the one for western. It was the cradle of philosophy, maths, science and democracy. Also it has a large set of varied mythological characters which are well merged with the history of the city. Before the country of Greece existed, it was spread into many city states (Sparta, Athens, Macedonia etc. ). Alexandar the great united them (except for Sparta which continued to be free). Another important period for Greece was the Roman rule from 2^nd BC to 2^nd AD. Even though they conquered Greece, Greece conquered them back in terms of culture and religion. Most of the Roman gods are inspired from Greece and are just called by different names. A lot of monuments were built at this time and Greece became one of the favourite occupied territories for the Romans. Then the Roman empire split and Byzantine empire was created with Istanbul as capital. Later on Greece came under Turkish rule (Ottoman Empire) and saw a complete change in the leadership and regime. With this the city started losing it’s past glory and the ancient monuments started to be used as store houses for gun powder and other war equipment. The population of the city also started declining and the seeds of insurgency began. During early 19^th century the freedom movement took over and the Turks left Athens.

Then came the rule of King Otto from Bavaria. He completely adapted himself to Greek traditions. He gave the existing palace to form the government building and himself moved to a second palace. He established Athens as the capital of Greece and also created the constitution. Then the city saw a series of kings nominated from Europe until the coup in late 20^th century. There was a referendum in 1974 and democracy was restored. The king was still alive but with no practical power. 

Now coming to present day, the city is very vibrant and lively. It sees a lot of visitors throughout the year. We went during December expecting few tourists and a peaceful tour of the city. But there was still crowd in all the important places. The area around acropolis is full of history and let’s walk through some of these.

Things to do:

• Panatheniac Stadium: The first thing that might come to our minds when we hear Greece is the modern Olympics. So let us start with the place where it all began. The stadium was made in 3rd century BC and people went there to play games after visiting the temple of Acropolis. Only males participated and they played naked. It was made of limestone which eroded over time. When Romans occupied the city, they also took part in the games and recreated it with marble. It is the only stadium in world which is made of marble. It was refurbished in 2^nd century AD. The first modern Olympics was held here in 1896 when it was again upgraded. Every year olympic fire is delivered from Olympia to this stadium and then carried over to the host country. In fact the concept of marathon also started from here. Greeks won the war against Persia and the messenger ran from marathon city to Athens to convey the victory to the citizens. He ran nearly 42 kms, reached Athens and collapsed dead after delivering the message. In his memory the Greeks run the marathon every November.

• Hadrian’s Arch: Hadrian was a Roman emperor ruling Athens who had tremendous love for the city and was equally loved back by the citizens. As a tribute to him, they built this Arch and only he could enter from here. The upper part is Greek style and lower is Roman. It symbolizes Greek tribute to a Roman emperor. 

• Temple of Zeus Olympian: The temple is dedicated to the king of Greek gods, Zeus. It started to be built during 6^th century BC by a tyrant ruler of Athens. The king was exiled and normalcy with their form of democracy was restored. With this the work of temple building was also stopped as people perceived building big temples for gods as an insult to gods themselves. Hadrian finished it during his rule around 2^nd century AD. It had 104 gigantic columns and was one of the largest temples of the ancient world. The reason for Hadrian to take on this project was to make sure that when people come down from Acropolis, they compare it with temple of Zeus and say that Hadrian built the bigger one. 

• Plaka Neighbourhood: Plaka was the first flat neighbourhood under Acropolis. It is one of the oldest parts of the city. There are a lot of small ancient monuments spread across this locality. There is a Bezanitne church from 11^th century AD which was built on top of a temple from 5^th century BC (which was considered Pagan). Next to it is a Roman bath from 2^nd century AD. There are lot of shops in this area selling some authentic items made in Greece (leather bags, dresses, décor items etc. ). And there are some really good restaurants as well.

• Anafiotika Neighbourhood: Otto got the best builders from the islands to build his palace and in return gave them land under Acropolis to build houses. They built their houses the only way they knew how to build them. So this entire locality resembles Santorini with white houses and narrow alleys. 

• Metropolitan Cathedral: This is probably the largest church in Athens and is very beautiful from inside. Compared to all other monuments in the city, this one is fairly modern (later of half of 19^th century AD). Next to it is another small church built during Byzantine period. The stones were stolen from older temples. And since these were considered Pagan, they were made holy by putting a cross sign on them.

• Library of Hadrion: It was destroyed in 3^rd century AD. The nomads were searching for gold but they found lots of books instead. So they burnt it down. It was a huge library with gardens, chairs and tables for people to read. It also had amphitheatre for lectures. Hadrian street connects this to the Arch. 

• Roman Agora and Tower of Wind: The Agora was a market in the ancient times. Next to it is the tower from 2^nd century BC. It is the first recorded weather station of the world. On top it was a needle to monitor wind direction. They kept record of wind pattern for a long period of time and also started using it to forecast weather. 

• Acropolis: There is always one iconic monument that defines the city. For Athens it is the Acropolis which means high city. The most important monument in Acropolis is the temple of Athena. The mythology states that once Poseidon (god of sea and storms) and Athena (god of wisdom) were fighting to please the citizens of the city. Poseidon gifted salted water but Athena gifted them trees and became the patroness of the city. Thus the city also got the name and she got a temple at top called Parthenon which means virgin and wise). During December this place becomes very windy so you need to dress accordingly. The complex also houses a huge amphitheatre which is still in use.

• Acropolis View Point: There is a small rocky hill in front of Acropolis which gives an amazing view of this citadel. People folk here during sunset to get a nice capture of Acropolis on one side and the city on the other.

• Food: There are some amazing restaurants in Athens and all in walking distance of each other. The two top recommended ones are Scholarchio and Ydria Café. Both are near the Plaka neighbourhood and serve authentic Greek cuisine. Little Kook was another great restaurant near Karaiskaki. It is especially famous for its Christmas decorations. So worth a visit if you are here in December.

Word of Caution: With the dwindling economy and migrant crisis, cases of theft are very high in Athens. Especially the tourists are an easy target for them. We got our backpack stolen five minutes before we were supposed to board the airport shuttle from the front of the parliament. Someone threw a coloured substance on my jacket/backpack and when we noticed it my wife went to a restaurant to get some tissues to clean it. Meanwhile I was waiting at the bus stop keeping my backpack next to me and taking care of the trolleys. Few people distracted me and before I could realise, the backpack with laptop, iPad and passports was gone. There were lot of tourists both in the police station as well as Indian embassy (to issue emergency travel documents) who faced similar thefts with different modus operandi. While there was monetary loss and it stripped us of our plan of a short layover in Istanbul for shopping, the biggest regret was our passports which had the visas with memories of our travel over years. Overall the people of Athens were very warm and helpful but be extremely careful on streets and hold on to your belongings. We read online about people snatching stuffs in subway as well. 

In spite of this, our spirits are high and we are just thankful that at least both of us are safe to make more memories in future!