The Monastiráki Flea Market and the Plaka
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March 18, 2001
The Monastiráki Flea Market and the Plaka |
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The Monastiráki Flea Market happens every Sunday
morning. Actually, the shops lining the alleys are open every day,
but on Sunday, anyone can lay out a display on the sidewalk and sell whatever
they have to sell.
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| It was a dizzying assortment of stuff. As Matt Barrett says, "It is like a third-world flea market with people selling anything from antiques to what you might call useless junk." |
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We didn't buy much, but we could have bought clothes,
jewelry, shoes, coins, stamps, phones, tools, pots, pans and plates. There
was even a stack of these old-fashioned pistols.
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| And under a bookseller's table, cats that presumably were just making themselves comfortable and weren't actually for sale. |
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After lunch, we wandered around the Plaka, winding up near the Acropolis. There's a bluff west of the gates made of solid rock. |
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From the rock, there's a good view up to the Acropolis.... |
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And the dogs are either oblivious to it all or they have
their minds on greater things.
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| We did a little shopping in the Plaka before heading back to our hotel. |
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You might be able to see that the upper stories of some buildings extend all the way to the edge of the sidewalk, while the ground floors are pushed back. Columns hold up the front of the buildings. This means there's something resembling a covered sidewalk. One night we were returning to the hotel and a garbage truck blocked the street. A woman in a small car decided not to wait and drove between two columns and down the sidewalk, passed the truck and pulled back out on to the street. While talking on a cell phone. Welcome to Athens. |
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Earlier in the week, we had picked up some brochures from the front desk and had decided to take a one-day excursion to Delphi. When we got to the hotel and tried to buy tickets, the clerk called to tour company and found out that they weren't booking trips because the bus drivers were threatening to strike.
We decided to try to go somewhere on our own....
Next: The morning of March 19, 2001 -
Our Anniversary, more at the Acropolis, and Sounion
| From Florida to Athens | ||
| Arrival in Athens, the Acropolis | ||
| The Agora | ||
| The National Garden and Lykavitós Hill | ||
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March 18, 2001
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The Monastiráki Flea Market and the Plaka | |
| Our Anniversary, more at the Acropolis | ||
| Sounion | ||
| Adam's Birthday | ||
| Poros | ||
| Hydra | ||
| Aegina |
Our other sites:
X Takes The Square
Distinguished Women of Past and Present