One of the things I didn’t expect in Athens, was the sheer number of stray cats. They are everywhere. They are quite brazen about slinking around under your table as you eat, hoping for some dropped goodies, and were quite expert at avoiding being touched. They have adapted to the environment quite well.
I took a lot of pictures of the cats during our time there, so thought I would share them with you.
This beauty was perched up in a tree inside the gates to the Temple of Olympus Zeus.
Talking to some locals, we learned that stray dogs and cats were rounded up periodically and spayed/neutered, given their immunizations, and then released back onto the streets. The dogs even often received names, collars, and tags during this process. There was just nothing else to be done with them.
Sunning quite contentedly inside the entry to the Acropolis.One of my favorite pictures of the cats, I wish we could read this one’s mind.This guy was perched on someone’s window sill, watching the world go by with his buddy.This was his buddy. 🙂Love this photo. This cat had made him/herself at home on the restaurant steps (a portion of the pedestrian road that are steps and lined with restaurants). My guess is that this one had established himself as a regular and became so comfortable that he’s even sharing a seat cushion with a restaurant patron!Mama nursing her baby outside the Roman AgoraThe baby got brave enough to check us out. The fact that we tossed her a bit of our Chicken Souvlaki probably didn’t hurt.Bowls of water were left outside homes and businesses, so the strays could stop by for drinksOur company during our lunch at Diogenes
These two had their own box inside a souvenir shop
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For a handy traveler’s map of our favorite stops in Plaka, see our post: Map of Top Things to Do
