It might sound silly but I have had a fascination with Greece ever since I watched Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and saw how beautiful it was and confirmed it by watching Mamma Mia! However, I learned that Greece, made of several islands as well as a part of the country that is attached physically to Europe, is so much larger than I had imagined so I wasn't too sure about what to expect. In picking my next destination after Milan, it all came down to the amount of days I had and the cost of flights. After reading the top ten places to visit in Greece, I decided to go with Rhodes, Athens, and Thessaloniki and the cost of flights decided my path between those three cities, making Athens my first stop in Greece.
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| My first taste of non-Roman alphabet on this trip thus far |
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| I appreciate these types of facts in airports |
Upon landing in Athens in the evening, I had already been in contact with my Couchsurfing host, Mehmet, and he had given me straightforward instructions for how to get to his so I didn't expect to come across any hiccups. However, the bus that I had taken from the airport had to drop us off a few stops early because some of the roads were blocked off since the French president was in town, I came to find out the next day. Luckily, I wasn't the only one who needed to get to Syntagma station so after a bit of discussion, I went with these two girls who were on a Eurotrip from Riverside (close to Pasadena so another small world experience) and we followed a guy from Portugal who had lived in Athens and knew his way around. The two girls seemed to have had some bumps along the way on their trip (they both had their suitcases stolen in Prague on separate occasions and were able to recover one and they were followed by a man in a car in Paris, among some of the examples they gave me) and was surprised to find out that I had made it all the way to Athens relatively unscathed.
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| Getting to Syntagma station - Facing the Parliament building |
When we got to Syntagma station, the Portuguese guy met up with his friend who's a local and she tried to help the two girls because they were also going to meet their Couchsurfing host and had an address that was showing up as two different points on a map. There wasn't much that the local could do so I offered whatever help I could with mapping the address and figuring out a public transportation option for them before I got their contact info and went on my way to figuring out my own way to Mehmet's. I was walking back and forth past what I later found out was the Parliament building trying to find a tram to get me to Baknana station but all the signage was in Greek so this was going to be my first experience of this trip outside of the Roman alphabet. I used whatever knowledge I had of the Greek alphabet to sort out the spelling of the station names before a man asked if I needed help. I showed him my phone which had "Baknana" spelled in Roman letters and I kept repeating "back-nana" so he didn't know where I needed to go until he finally realized I needed to go to "bach-nah-nah" and indicated that I was on the correct platform for the tram so I purchased a child ticket (I figured I could play the tourist card if anyone questioned it), got onto the tram and followed my trusty mobile map to Mehmet's.
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| It's all Greek to me! |
Since Mehmet was out for the night, I had the contact information for Deniz, his roommate, so he was the one to welcome me to their humble abode. When I got in, I got settled and Deniz had made this type of bread and sausage dish so I happily ate that while we chatted and I learned that both he and Mehmet were from Istanbul and kind of met each other randomly in the airport when they landed in Athens. Deniz also gave me some advice about where to go in Instanbul as that would be my last stop in Europe (technically since Istanbul is in both Europe and Asia). It was during my conversation with Deniz where I learned that when someone was referring to the Asian side of Istanbul, it was quite literally the part of land that is in Asia, not the Chinatown of the city.
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| Dinner |
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| Some sound advice from Thomas |
The next morning, I got up and prepared myself for a fairly rainy day and set out to go on a walking tour. Since I got to the meeting point at Hadrian's Arch with a bit of waiting time, I decided to find out what my options were when it came to Greek breakfast. I didn't find much so I settled for something that looked like a soft pretzel in the shape of an O. I used Google Translate to find out its name but it didn't work and I later found out from my tour guide that this sweet bread is called koulouri. I guess it wasn't a surprise that my breakfast options were sparse because a true Greek breakfast, as told to me by my tour guide, consists of a strong coffee and a pack of Marlboros.
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| Hadrian's Arch |
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| Koulouri |
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| Google Translate at its finest |
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| Waiting for the tour to start - Looking at the Olympieion |
When it was time for the walking tour to start, I joined the group led by our Irish guide, Bill. It was interesting that we had an Irish tour guide because he was able to give us some insight into the family life of the Greeks as he had to overcome some obstacles to marry a Greek woman. Along our tour, we learned that there is still a dowry system to a Greek marriage and he had to buy a house to show that he could provide a home for his wife. Often, the bottom of the house is left unbuilt until the child is born because if the child is a girl, he must also provide a home for her, and would need to build the bottom of the house which is why Bill considered himself lucky when his wife had a son. When his son was born, Bill, being the father has the right to decide whether or not the child is named after the mother's father and he said it was a political decision to name his son Nicholas (almost all Greeks are named after saints), after his father-in-law.
At our first stop, the Roman baths, we were told that prior to the 2004 Olympics in Athens, the city didn't have a metro system and when the digging started to create one, these ancient artifacts were found which slowed down the preparations for the Olympics because the metro route had to be diverted away from these sites. Some clues to the baths being Roman is the red terracotta bricks and the Greeks didn't have baths; they had sacred springs. Here, we were also told about how Athens is the oldest city in Europe and it was in 1821 that it gained its independence from the Ottoman Turks. When Greece gained its independence, the colors of white and blue were chosen to represent it and the cross on the flag is to represent either the choice of Christianity or Muslim or freedom or death.
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| Roman baths |
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| The round containers were used for bath oils |
As we walked through the National Gardens, we were told that this area was set because the wife of the Prince of Bavaria wanted a botanical garden and imported a lot of different plants from all over the world. Since we were a fairly small tour group, we were able to casually chat with Bill and I found out that prices have been inflated about three times since they changed over to the Euro and tourism is Greece's most helpful source of income. Before I set off on my trip, I was still unsure as to if I would get to Greece because I knew they were in some sort of financial trouble. However, the storm seemed to have settled by the time I got to Europe so I decided to go but it wasn't until I got there that I was able to get a better idea of the state of the country. Even though Greece is in financial trouble, its land being composed of 80% mountains, is rich in silver and gold and natural gas in the Aegean Sea which was to remain untouched but I believe the digging for natural gas has either already started or will start very soon.
When we got to the Panathenaic Stadium, the arena for the first modern Olympic games, Bill told us some tidbits about this great sporting event. In Olympia during 776 BC, the first Olympics took place and for each year that it takes place, the flame starts there and runs through Athens. The Panathenaic Stadium, which could seat 67,000 people was built out of all marble for the 1896 Games. We passed by some statues on the way as well and I never noticed it but Bill made note that the Egyptians, which is an older civilisation, were the first to carve statues but they were always upright and the Greeks were the first to add motion to their statues. We also passed by a statue of the first Prime Minister of Greece and I learned that when the horse in the statue has both front legs up, it indicates that the rider was killed in battle as opposed to having one leg raised which means the rider was wounded in battle.
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| First Prime Minister |
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| Panatheniac Stadium |
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| Motion in the statues |
We were doing well on time to see the changing of the guards at Syntagma, Constitution Square. However, because it was raining, it wasn't as ceremonious as it typically is because the guards have steel shoes and might slip on the slippery marble so rather than the full procession into Syntagma, the guards were driven there and then walked to their posts. Fairly uneventful but I couldn't complain as I was lucky enough to just be in Athens. Before we moved onto our next destination, Bill told us that Greece moved to a parliamentary democracy in 1974 and the guards are actually guarding the tomb of the unknown soldier. Additionally, the reason why many of the streets are paved in marble is because the country has much more marble than wood and it actually is a surprise to see someone's house have a wood floor and usually means that the family who does have a wooden floor is doing well for themselves.
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| Parliament building |
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| Guard |
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| There was also a guard walking back and forth |
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| The new guards are being led out of the truck |
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| Making sure the guards don't slip |
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| Setting up the new guards |
Our next stop was a metro station, which are like free museums, because they have a lot of artifacts that were recovered when the metro was being built. After a quick look there, we walked through Plaka street, which is supposed to contain the more expensive tourist shops, and then Ermou street, which is cheaper, to get to a Byzantine church, where Bill told us that the religious people of Greece are the ones responsible for saving the Greek culture and language. Right next to the Byzantine church, we also were pointed towards the metropolitan cathedral of Athens which was still being built.
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| Metro museum |
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| Little oil containers |
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| Copper pipes |
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| Passing by Syntagma |
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| Walking down Plaka Street |
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| Koulouri cart |
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| Byzantine church |
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| Cathedral right next to the Byzantine church |
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| Inside the cathedral |
We passed by the Roman Agora which was used as an outdoor marketplace and I believe part of it was actually designed by a Syrian architect. It was here that Bill quickly stopped to give us a hint of how he first started learning Greek and told us that he remembered "thank you" as "a fairy's toe" (Ευχαριστώ) so that was as much Greek as I learned. We then got to the museum of Melina Mercouri, who was a Greek actress and a huge advocate for returning the Elgin marbles to Greek from Britian. She was also the inspiration for Freddie Mercury's stage name. This stop was mainly for a bathroom break but it was cool to walk through the museum regardless.
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| Rainy streets |
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| Trying to learn Greek |
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| Streets painted for the Olympics which are starting to wear away |
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| Passing by the Agora |
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| At the Museum of Melina Mercouri |
We were getting to our last stop of the tour which gave us a view near the Acropolis, Socrates's prison, and a few others hills. Even with the rain, it was really cool to see the expanse of Athens. We passed by a few other ancient structures like a theatre on our way down as Bill concluded the tour. I hadn't planned anything else for that day and was thinking of going to some museums but I was getting quite hungry so I went to figure out my lunch situation. Marco, someone I had been talking to on Couchsurfing, who lived in Athens, recommended that I go to a place called Petros, and even though it was on the more touristy Plaka St., I still decided to go there because I needed some sort of shelter from the pouring rain.
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| Walking up to get a view of the city |
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| Misty view of the city |
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| One of the breasts of Athens |
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| The Acropolis up ahead |
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| Hi! |
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| Socrates's prison |
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| Pretty flowers |
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| The Acropolis again |
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| I just thought that Socrates's prison was so cool |
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| Ancient theatre |
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| Finishing the tour |
While I slowly enjoyed my lunch of gyros with wine, I was figuring out what to do next and Shelley and Jazmin (the two girls from Riverside) said they were going to go to the Acropolis Museum but they were still getting themselves organized for the day so I decided to go back to my home base to get into some dry clothes and warm up a bit. On my way back, even though I was speedwalking to get out of the rain as quickly as possible, I did still make a stop to get some baklava because it just smelled so delicious when I passed it. Finally getting back and getting into some dry clothes and sitting down with a nice, warm cup of tea, I was chatting with Deniz when Mehmet walked through the door and I finally met my official Couchsurfing host.
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| Lunch! |
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| All the baklava!! |
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| So many yummy things in the baklava shop |
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| Inside lies so delicious treats! |
Deniz was leaving that night for Istanbul and he and I planned on meeting up when I got there so off he went as I caught up with Mehmet. Since I had told him I was going to cook dinner and I had not much of a desire to do much more exploring for the day, we headed to get some groceries after seeing that the rain had stopped. Since I didn't get to make lettuce wraps in Frankfurt, I still had a hankering for them so we bought supplies for that. And I randomly wanted to bake a cheesecake so I bought what I remembered to be the ingredients for it and could not find any Graham crackers anywhere and I don't think Mehmet knew what they were either so I figured that they're not a common thing here. I decided to improvise and got a pack of chocolate cookies for the cheesecake base and when I tried to pay, my Euro notes were too wet to get scanned through the machine that checks for fake bills (I just mention that because I thought the scanner was cool).
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| I don't think the branding for these kiss chocolates would be allowed in the U.S. |
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| All dressed and ready to go food shopping |
When we got back with wine and groceries in hand, I started on cooking, the one thing I had missed about not having constant access to a kitchen, as Mehmet helped prepare the cheesecake. Even though I didn't find all the ingredients I typically use to make lettuce wraps, I worked with what I had and confused Mehmet quite a bit because he had never seen cashews used in a dish before. I'd have to say that they worked quite well in the meal. With the cheesecake in the oven, we settled down for some wine and dinner and some nice conversations. During our grocery trip, I had mentioned something about the Harold and Kumar films and Mehmet had never seen them so I figured a chilly night called for a nice movie night in and we spent the rest of the night watching both of the movies, with cheesecake during intermission and a wine spillage over my laptop causing another intermission. That was my second electronic device to be down for the count!
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| Dinner - lettuce wraps and sweet potato fries |
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| Mehmet's first homemade cheesecake |
The next day started with a fairly lazy morning for me as I figured out what I wanted to do so I took the metro into the center of the city and found a tourist information center. After talking to one of the guys behind the desk, I decided I would go check out all of the archaeological sites with a pass for €12. With the pass, I went from the Acropolis to the Theatre of Dionysus to the Roman Agora to Hadrian's Library to the Ancient Agora to the Kerameikos museum to the Olypieion. To be honest, by the time I had gotten to Hadrian's Library, I had seen so many ruins that day that they all started to look alike. The breaks I had in between with all of the walking was where I had a little bit of a break from the monotony. I do appreciate how ancient those places were and it was great to actually think about what stood in those spots centuries ago and I'm glad I got to see all of them in one day. As I walked around these ruins, I was continuously astounded by how these massive structures were able to be built. Aside from all of the Ancient ruins, what I thought was also interesting was the amount of cats and dogs that were everywhere. They were in the quantities that are comparable to squirrels in the U.S. (or at least the U.S. cities I've been to).
Temple of Apollo Patroos
Stoa
Parko thiseio
Parko kerameikou
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| A marketplace I passed by as I started my day |
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| Started my visits with the Acropolis |
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| Lone dog... |
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| Theater of Dionysos |
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| View from the nosebleed seats |
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| Starting to decipher a bit of Greek |
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| The family jewels are so prominent |
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| Herodes Theatre |
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| The old temple of Athena |
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| The Parthenon |
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| The Erechtheum dedicated to Athena and Poseidon |
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| Lots of cats |
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| View from the bottom |
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| The Roman Agora |
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| These cats just kept staring at me |
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| Tower of the Winds under construction |
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| The science behind the Tower was really cool |
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| View of the Acropolis from the Agora |
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| Souvenirs... |
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| Hadrian's Library |
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| Nike |
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| Some pretty designs for scarves |
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| The Ancient Agora |
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| At the long museum in the Agora |
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| Poopie stool on the left? |
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| At the Kerameikos |
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| Museum of the Kerameikos |
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| Art display inside the Kerameikos |
After several hours of walking around to all these different sites, I got to my last one for the day, the Olympieion, right around the time a Rugby World Cup game was set to play and I looked up a bar that was going to play it. When I got to the bar, it was packed so I stood on the outskirts of the crowd to catch the first half before heading back to Mehmet's to stream the rest and to figure out dinner.
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| Passing through to get to the Olympieion |
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| Hadrian's Arch |
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| Entrance to the Olympieion |
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| Train through Athens |
After the game and dinner using the leftovers to make fried rice, Mehmet had said we could walk to a place with some bars and restaurants open so I could check out the night life in suburban Athens. We sat down at a small little place and I tried oyzo which is supposed to be a very Greek drink. It tasted like licorice so I'm glad it didn't come in a very large glass because I don't think I'm a fan of oyzo.
My flight for Rhodes was set to leave early in the morning so we didn't stay out too late as I needed to make sure there weren't any complications getting to the airport like there were getting to Mehmet's. I ended up being way ahead of time because clocks were turned back when I was in transit. At first, I thought my phone was going crazy when I checked the time in comparison to the clock at the airport because I had fallen asleep on the bus to the airport but I was glad I was early and not late. My next stop was the island of Rhodes!
