The view of the whole country from the Acropolis is also very interesting; there can be seen the Hymetos, the Pentelikon, towards Eleusis, Marathon, Phylæ, and Dekelea, the harbour, the sea, and the course of the Ilissus.
Athens contains a considerable number of houses, most of which are, however, small and unimportant; the beautiful country-houses, on the contrary, surrounded by tasty gardens, have a very agreeable appearance.
The small observatory was built by Baron Sina, the well-known banker in Vienna, who is by birth a Greek.
The royal palace, which is of modern date, is built of brilliant white marble, in the form of a large quadrangle. On two sides, which occupy a large part of the breadth of the wings, under a peristyle, is a kind of small porch which rests upon pillars. The one approach is for the ministers, ambassadors, etc., the other for the royal family. With the exception of these two peristyles, the whole building is very tasteless, and has not the least ornament; the windows are in the ordinary form; and the high large walls appear so naked, bare, and flat, that even the dazzling white of the beautiful marble produces no effect; and it is only on a close approach that it can be seen what a costly material has been employed in the building.
I regretted having seen this palace, especially opposite to the Acropolis, on a spot which has made its works of art as classic as its heroes.
The palace is surrounded by a rather pretty though recently-formed garden. In the front stand a few palms, which have been brought from Syria, but they bear no fruit. The country is otherwise barren and naked.
The marble of which this palace is built, as well as the temples and other buildings on the Acropolis, is obtained from the quarries of the neighbouring mountain, Pentelikon, where the quantity of this beautiful stone is so great that whole towns might be built of it.
It was Sunday, and the weather was very fine, [{335}] to which I was indebted for seeing all the fashionable world of Athens, and even the Court, in the open promenade. This place is a plain avenue, at the end of which a wooden pavilion is erected. It is not decorated by either lawns or flower-beds. The military bands play every Sunday from five to six. The King rides or drives with his Queen to this place to show himself to the people. This time he came in an open carriage with four horses, and stopped to hear several pieces of music. He was in Greek costume; the Queen wore an ordinary French dress.
The Greek or rather Albanian costume is one of the handsomest there is. The men wear full frocks, made of white perkal, which reach from the hips to the knees, buskins from the knee to the feet, and shoes generally of red leather. A close-fitting vest of coloured silk without arms, over a silk shirt, and over this another close-fitting spencer of fine red, blue, or brown cloth, which is fastened only at the waist by a few buttons or a narrow band, and lays open at the top. The sleeves of the spencer are slit up, and are either left loose or slightly held together by some cords round the wrists; the collar of the shirt is a little turned over. The vest and spencer are tastily ornamented with cords, tassels, spangles and buttons of gold, silver or silk, according to the means of the wearer. The material, colour and ornament of the Zaruchi correspond with those of the spencer and vest. A dagger is generally worn in the girdle, together with a pair of pistols. The head-dress is a red fez, with a blue tassel.
The Greek dress is, as far as I saw, less worn by the women, and even then much of its originality is lost. The principal part of the dress consists of a French garment, which is open at the breast, over this a close spencer is drawn on, which is also open, and the sleeves wide and rather shorter than those of the gown. The front edges of the gown and spencer are trimmed with gold lace. The women and girls wear on their head a very small fez, which is bound round with rose or other coloured crape.