If you start at the top of Syntagma Square and walk down the steps and past the fountain, at the bottom of the square is the beginning of Ermou Street, a paradise for those who live to shop. From the Parliament building you can make a straight line that follows Ermou all the way to The Gazi, the old gas works of Athens, now the center of its nightlife. Ermou street is a commercial avenue which has been turned into a pedestrian only street (besides the occasional motorcycle or taxi coming from the Hotel Electra or Athens Cypria). It is the primary clothing shopping street for Athens and contains many of the big international names like Benneton, Marks & Spencer, H&M, Zara, Berksha, Sepura, and a bunch of other stores that you have probably heard of but mean nothing to me. The Greek department store, Fokas, is near the top of Ermou in a beautiful old neo-classic building that looks like it would be more suitable housing a museum and is worth a visit, even if you are not buying anything, so you can see what a Greek department store is like. The Hondos Center is also of interest, especially for women, since you may not have experienced anything like it before. It is a giant cosmetic store with other items of interest to women, sort of a department store crossed with a Walgreens. It even has a cafe.

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