Autumn In Athens 2022 (Part 2)

Emerging from the Monasteraki metro station (Samsung phone file)

Let's continue wandering the Pláka on a cheerful and hot day in October. What happened to winter?

Mrs. Popi's store

I first met Mrs. Popi in the 1980s. She has run this souvenir store forever. Her grandkids (?), who go to college in the USA, work here in the summers. They told me that Mrs. Popi is now 101 years old and stays home and cooks. Years ago, I bought a brass lion door knocker from her. But we never used it because our door at home has a glass panel and there was no place to mount the lion.

The Pláka district has 10s of stores like this selling tourist goods. We have wool hangings at home that we bought years ago. 

Monasteraki Square, always crowded (Acros film, Leica M2)

Alley off Monasteraki Square (Samsung phone file)

Flea market, 2011 (Panasonic G1 digital file)

Monasteraki is the flea market / traditional downtown district of Athens. It is nestled under the walls of the Acropolis and is a popular tourist destination. The flea market was once really that, but today much of the merchandise is Chinese budget stuff.

Heading north on Athenas Street, you pass by small side streets and lanes with a mixture of traditional 2-story houses and modern concrete boxes. It is sad that Athens let so much of its traditional late-1800s architecture get replaced with nondescript post-war budget concrete boxes.

Time for some Levis on Vissis Street (50mm Summicron lens)

Soukratos Street (50mm Summicron lens)

Pigeon house, Athenas Street (25mm Color-Skopar lens)

Keep walking north on Athenas Street and you soon reach the Central Market. This is a fun place to explore and is a popular tourist site. Buy some spices or nuts, fish, cow, sardines, bread, oil, or coffee. And stop and have lunch one of the small restaurants. I have written about the Central Market before several times. It's worth a visit every trip to Athens.

Heady experience (Samsung phone digital file)

Central Market in 1951, when it was a bit more earthy

The end of Athenas Street where it meets Omonoia Square, 1951

This ends our walk from Monasteraki Square to Omonoia Square. Here you can catch the metro and head home or to your hotel. Thank you for joining on this walk.