Behold The Top Of Athens!
Yes, you are looking at Lycabettus Hill, which towers over Athens Greece, even higher than the majesty of The Parthenon atop The Acropolis!
While The Parthenon is the centerpiece of Athens, just a few miles away is Lycabettus Hill, which looks like this when you are at The Parthenon:
Lycabettus Hills is a cretaceous limestone hill, rising 908 feet above sea level – the highest point in Athens with pine trees covering its base.
While it looks far away, it was actually only a half hour walk up a gradually rising elevation, and it allowed us to see some of the city’s neighborhoods!
Riding The Funicular!
You can walk the 900+ feet up to the top of the hill, but it’s even more fun to take this Funicualr!
The Lycabettus Cable Car was opened in 1965, and takes more than 300,000 people a year up to the top – and guess what? They have advertisements flashing in the tunnel during your trip! Here’s the trip up Lycabettus Hill:
Here is your gorgeous view from the top of the hill!
You have a 360 degree of the city, which is spread out all around you. More than 10% of the entire population of Greece lives within view!
At the top of the hill you will find the Greek whitewashed church of Agios Georgios (St.George) and all are welcome to enter.
The viewing platform in front of the church provides sprawling views of Athens, with a gorgeous shot of The Acropolis and beyond, stretching out to the coastline – and the Aegean Sea!
As you can see, we rally are high above the Acropolis! You can see the remains of one of the early Olympic stadium below:
As you can see, there are amazing images everywhere you look, especially as the sun began to set.
We came up for a terrific dinner at the restaurant Orizontes Lycabettus – and yes, we got an incredible sunset as well…but first, time to eat!
This was our view from our table at the restaurant – phenomenal…we ordered a bottle of wine, and I got a picture of it so I could remember to order it again!
Once someone helps me translate, that is!
Alex says on her Instagram that she is a “lover of potatoes”, so I had to have the greek “patatas bravas” with parmesan cream and homemade Florina red pepper jam!
Next up was a Sea Bass Ceviche with citrus – light, refreshing and delicious! Of course, we also had to have grilled Squid as well:
They are served with “Horta”, the greek word for any sautéed green leafy vegetable…we ate a lot of “Horta” and loved it!
Alex had grilled Sea Bream and vegetables for her main course, and for some reason, I was in a pasta mood and got the Lobster Pasta:
We were stuffed, but they were not going to let us finished the night without their special Baklava dish – and I’m glad they put it on our table:
As you can see, as the sun sets the city lights up spectacular, especially the Acropolis…it was a terrific night – so much fun that we decided to walk down!
While it was well lit and not dangerous at all, my attempt to capture it created this surreal look, until we exited the park surrounding the hill and saw our beacon ahead:
The Parthenon was a well lit marker for us to follow, and a thirty minute walk home finished our magical night high about Athens:
I shared with you our trip to The Acropolis as well – a nice hike to the top in 90 degree weather to see history unfold in front of us – you can see that tour here:
We spent our first two nights in a Hotel with a great view of The Parthenon, and of the Greek Parliament as well:
Every hour on the hour was a fascinating “changing of the guard” ceremony, and you can see it here:
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Categories: Exotic Travel, Food, food blog, Food Review, Memoirs, nature, Pop Culture, Real Estate, Recipes, Restaurants, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir, Wacky Food
johnrieber 
Wow, it is just all fabulous and now I know what a Funicular is…finishing in a magical walk back… an awesome snapshot of a magical night…Thank you for the virtual tour, John 🙂 x
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Carol, when we decided to walk down we had no idea how “wild” the trail was, but it was lit a little and we made our way down, keeping The Parthenon in our sights in the distance as reference! Thanks for reading and commenting!
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It just sounds like one of those we must walk this path…Fantastic experience, John and keeping The Parthenon in sight..awesome 🙂 x
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It was so much fun, Carol! Thanks for commenting!
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Your photos are absolutely gorgeous! The sunsets, high on the hill with a panoramic view, the white church, and Athens at night…the best! Did you and Alex actually eat all the baklava? It looks delicious.
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The Funicular looks like great fun, John, and I enjoyed the video. That meal is to die for.
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Robbie it was great fun, and a very surreal walk back down int he dark!
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Yes, you do the best things, John.
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Now I know what a funicular is in case anybody asks! What a fabulous ride to the top of that hill, back into time! 🙂
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And you could see ALL of Athens down below…truly spectacular views
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I’m all in for the ride up and what am amazing view
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Wow! Thanks for the virtual tour, John. I’ve never seen these views before and yum! Greece is on the top of my bucket list.
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I have been to Athens twice, but never went up that hill. Now I see what I missed, I want to go back! A fabulous meal too, I would have joined you in ordering that lobster pasta and special dessert.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Pete, the walk down was a bit dark and surreal, but the “beacon” of The Parthenon lit up in the distance helped us find our way out! It was so much fun and yes, food worth it! Thanks for reading, hope you are all better!
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