Never on Sunday! Piraeus

 

 By streetcar (very modern!) we went on an excursion to the ocean and to the famous harbour since ancient times, Piraeus. 

It took us about 20 min.  to get to our first stop, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, an architectonical eyecatcher, designed by Renzo Piano and open since 2016. 

What's to be seen on the photo below is the so-called "Lighthouse" (below), just the top of the building with a viewing platform, a café and an open library. In front of the building is a green roof, covering the building underneith, which contains the National Library, the Opera, a café and shop and more. Also, there is a Botanical Garden with pavillions, stage, trails and all kinds of plants

  

Green Roof

Opera House

Observation Deck with great views

 

,,, for example: towards Piraeus

 

  Next stop (above): the Olympiakos Piraeus stadium (soccer). Of course, we had to find the team store to get another cap for P's collection. 

Next: Microlimano, one of the harbors of Piraeus, the "small one", where originally mostly fishing boats docked. Today it's a row of mostly fish restaurants on the water, some fishing boats are still there. In total: very idyllic.

 

 

We continued our walk along the beach, passing swimming pools and playgrounds to Votsalakia Beach, famous with the locals. Wished we would have had our swimsuits with us!

Approaching downtown Piraeus - below: Zea Harbor, mostly a yacht harbor, which got a new promenade, where also cafés and restaurants are rowing up.

Mural at the ferry harbor

But, the real deal in Piraeus is the Port of Piraeus, at the same time a ferry harbor for regular traffic to the islands (Cyclades, Crete, Rhodes, Saronic Islands, etc.), and, a main port for huge cruise ships (see photo above, right). Right now, they mostly spill out American tourists, which are transported to Athens by bus, get a tour, admire the Acropolis, don't consume much, but swamp the big museums and attractions.

By the way: Piraeus on its own is well worth a visit. It has a vivid market, a nice archeological museum, some excavations, shopping malls, churches, historic houses. It's a harbor town, a bit run down, a bit dirty, but different. We remember times when we, as students, were hanging out at the port, waiting for our ferry to arrive or checking, which agency offered the cheapest tickets. Nowadays, the area is polished and clean, with waiting areas, taxis, kiosks and such, no backpackers anymore. Times have changed for sure, ferries became bigger, too, and faster!

For lunch we went to a small family restaurant we knew. Nothing fancy at all, it's a place where they still let you choose from the glass showcase at the entrance. Pots and pans standing there and you order directly, sit down and get the meal (all at the same time) served to the table. And, it's still cheap!

On the photo above: pastitsio (pasta dish), below little sardines (maridaki) and a choriatiki (farmers' salad).

Piraeus' historic train station which opened in 1869 to connect Athens and Piraeus.

On the way back to Athens we stopped again at the beach for a great sunset and took the next streetcar back into town for a night cap: an IPA at the tiny hole-in-the-wall brewpub of "Blame The Sun".

BTW: "Never on Sunday" refers to "Sonntags nie!" a greek romance with Jules Dassin and Melina Mercours which plays in Piraeus (1960).