Hello, Greece! (Γεια σας, ελλάδα!)

Leaving Istanbul, we began the main part of our trip - a 10 day road trip around the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece. As a reminder, David is half Greek. His mother's family is all Greek. His grandparents spoke Greek and his Grandmother (Theda) was actually a Greek citizen (a recent discovery). David is starting the process to gain Greek citizenship by descent. This effort was not the key motivating factor in this trip, but his tie to Greece definitely contributes to his return to Greece every few years (this is David's third trip to Greece and Paul's second). David is also in the process of learning the Greek language. While still too early in his studying to be able to hold a conversation, the exposure he received to the Greek language and culture was helpful. More to say on this in our post about Athens on the last day of our trip.

On the flight to Athens from Istanbul, we had some great views of various Aegean islands from above. After we landed, we picked up our rental car at the Athens airport. On the way out of the city we stopped at the Holy Monastery of Daphne, a Byzantine monastery that is a UNESCO world heritage site with impressive 11th century mosaics and remnants of an ancient Sanctuary of Apollo. It's a seldom visited site since it's on the outskirts of the city and not easily reachable by public transit, so we had it mostly to ourselves except for two other people and some cats. That would generally be a theme of this trip - tourist sites in the Peloponnese during the shoulder season were not very crowded. We also had nice sunny (but not too hot) weather for most of the road trip. Go to Greece in the fall, people!

Our road trip route.

Island views from the plane.

Monastery of Daphni.

Frescoes with 6-winged angels (same as Hagia Sophia).

Some are worse for wear.

A remarkably well preserved Byzantine mosaic.

Next we drove to ancient Corinth, our first large archaeological site of the trip. The road from Athens is a modern, high speed toll road. It crosses over the Corinth Canal, which essentially makes the Peloponnesian peninsula an island. It was not too busy, with just one tour bus and a handful of cars. There are the remains of a temple, various ruins of Roman baths and buildings, and a small museum. Corinth was a large and important city by around 400BC, vying with nearby Athens and Sparta for dominance in the region. It received renewed attention under Roman rule. Corinth is also known for being the site where Paul the apostle wrote his letters. 

Many Greek archaeological sites have adjacent museums to host items found nearby (we think this is a nice touch), and Corinth is no exception. After touring the ruins we spent some time in the four-hall museum showcasing items from Corinth and nearby. An interesting fact about this museum is that in 1990 the Karhalios gang (a man, his father, brother and a friend) broke into the museum, assaulted a guard, and stole 270 artifacts. This event is very uncommon and also very dumb. All the items are well catalogued and purchasing them would clearly indicate their origin as stolen. Most of the items were recovered in a raid in Miami (Florida man strikes again) in 1999, and some others were found on auction at Christie's in New York. It's a pretty wild story if you want to read about it!

The site is pretty dramatic with a mountain behind and the sea below in the distance.

We all love a good plan that lets you visualize the site 2,400 years ago!

Paul chilling on the ancient Corinthian streets.

If you squint and use your imagination, you can feel what it must have been like to be here during it's heyday.

The Temple of Apollo.

The museum.

Twin Kouros Statues - returned in 2010 after they were smuggled!

A medusa mosaic.

David walking in Corinth.

Leaving Corinth we drove to our first lodging of the Greek road trip, in the city of Nafplio (sometimes also referred to as Nafplion, an older name). It was a very pleasant 50 minute drive through little towns and countryside. Our AirBnB in Nafplio was a modern condo about a 20 minute walk from the old town, with balcony views of the Bavarian Lion and the nearby hills.

Nafplio changed hands numerous times since its foundation, from various Greek city states to Roman, Byzantine, Frankish, Venetian, and Ottoman control. Nafplio was also, briefly, the first capital of the unified Greece when it gained independence from the Ottoman Empire. The city served as the capitol from 1829 to 1834 when it was moved to Athens by the King of Greece. You can still see the old parliament building - converted from the Ottoman Agha Pasha Mosque - in the city center.

After settling in to the AirBnB, we made dinner reservations, then walked around for about an hour, enjoying nice sunset vibes on the waterfront. Nafplio is pretty laid back (at least in the shoulder season), but there was still a nice energy and plenty of people out and about. The waterfront is lined with restaurants, full of fancy yachts, and of course there are plenty of cats. It's a very pretty city, with a fortress towering above and the Argolic Gulf stretching out to the horizon ringed with mountains. 

That evening we had dinner at Wild Duck restaurant. It was nice, and our favorite dish was a phyllo dough wrapped fried house-made feta cheese with tomato compote and honey. We sat outside and had some good cocktails, and enjoyed some house-made limoncello at the end. On way back to our AirBnB we stopped at a little convenience kiosk and got water, wine, sprite, and ouzo for €5.40. Can't beat those Greek prices!

Our AirBnB.

Nice view from the balcony.

The charming streets of Nafplio.

Waterfront of Naplio.

Big ol' yacht.

Cats, sunset, mountains, and water.

Not to be outdone by cats, Paul enters the ring!

Bourtzi Castle, a 15th century Venetian fortification on a nearby island in the Gulf.

The fortress looming above town.

Phyllo-wrapped fried feta. Yum!

David's salmon with potatoes and veggies.

Paul got the restaurant's namesake duck!

This dessert was like a phyllo mille-feuille with cream and honey. 

In total, we spent 3 nights in Nafplio, which served as a great base to explore the Argolis region of the Peloponnese and it's numerous sites like: Argos, Epidaurus, and Mycenae. More Nafplio and surroundings coming up in the next post!

Last Day in Athens

For the last full day in Athens, Janice, Peter and I got up a bit earlier and strolled over to the Acropolis museum. This museum was not completed the last time I visited Athens. The museum, a striking building just south of the Acropolis, houses historical information about the history of the city as well as many of the sculptures and friezes from the monuments on the acropolis. One floor is completely committed to the Parthenon and you can walk around a structure and see what was originally a part of the monument. Parts of this display are unfortunately reproductions or casts of the original work. Between the passage of time, quarrying for materials, a canon blast, and the British, a lot of the original Parthenon is no longer on site.

The museum also hosts the restored caryatids. These statue columns were originally a part of the Erechteion, but were removed to restore and preserve them. These are one of my favorite components of the Acropolis. Overall, the museum is very impressive and offers stunning views up towards the Acropolis and the Parthenon.

Fun final fact; the Parthenon was converted into a church and then a mosque before being destroyed by a cannon blast in the middle 17th century. It's a pity it didn't limp over the finish line to the modern era when people would have preserved it in its original(ish) splendor.

Atrium of the Acropolis Museum.

View out of the museum towards the Acropolis

The museum itself is over ruins. They're working to creating an exhibit below as well.

After visiting the museum, we strolled around Plaka a bit more on our way to the Roman and Greek Agoras to visit the Temple of Hephaestus and the small museum in the Stoa of Attalos. This temple is one of the better preserved ancient monuments in Athens. The site is pretty cheap to visit, and there are some random ruins with good signage explaining what used to be here, both before and after the Roman conquest of Greece. The stoa was restored in the early 20th century by American business tycoon Rockefeller. A small museum is attached with artifacts from the site.

Temple of Hephaestus.

Looking back to the Acropolis from the Agora.

Peeking inside the Temple of Hephaestus.

Temple of Hephaestus money shot.

Panoramic view from the Temple of Hephaestus.

Stoa of Attolos.

Peek a Boo!

After visiting the Stoa museum, we decided it was time for a goodbye lunch, since Janice and Peter needed to return to the airport in the early afternoon. We found a nice row of restaurants across from the Agora and settled on a place called Antica. Fearing a situation like the dinner before, we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food along with the nice ambiance on the busy pedestrian alley. After lunch, we returned to the AirBnB, chilled for a few minutes and I bid Janice and Peter adio!

Throwback Tuesday to me in 2009 in Greece...

...and the recreation in 2019. I'm aging...ok.

Mmm...pastitio!

After a brief siesta, I decided to recreate one more memory from my 2009 trip. I waited until near sunset and climbed up the Lycabettus Hill. This hill, higher than the Acropolis, affords great views over the entire city, from the mountain to the sea. The sunset was really spectacular! Afterwards, I climbed back down the hill and strolled through the city a while before heading back to the AirBnB for some relaxation. 

Overall, a great return trip to Greece! I got to try some new things, like visiting Delphi and the Acropolis Museum along with some classic favorites like the Acropolis and the Lycabettus Hill. Having a smartphone and google really improved my ability to wonder around and see more of the city. It also helped to find better food and more interesting bars. It's really hard to imagine what life was like before smartphones! I really do like Greece and it will always have a special place in my heart...but now it's on to Cairo to meet up with Paul and do something totally different!

Kalispera Athens!

The path up the Lycabettus Hill is really cute.

City as far as the eye can see.

Sunset explosion of color.

Adio Athens! Until we meet again. 2029?

Acropolis & Ancient Antiquities

After a night out on the town we were slow to rise the next morning. Eventually, we got up and decided today was the day to visit the Acropolis. Usually, a ticket to the site costs around 20€, but since it was the first Sunday of the month in off-season all sites were free. Unsure if this was a good or bad thing, we still ultimately decided to stroll up to the Acropolis. While it was pretty busy, it actually didn't seem much different from when I went before in May 2009. Afterwards, we headed down to the Temple of Olympian Zeus before walking along the pedestrian Dionysiou Aeropagitou to our reservation for lunch at 2pm at Restaurant Athiri.

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus. Performances still occur here.

Proplaea - western primary entrance into the Acropolis.

Janice and Peter taking it all in.

Me chilling in front of the Parthenon.

So. Many. People.

Panoramic shot looking north from the Acropolis.

Parthenon's east face.

Caryatids on the Erechtheio. We later learned these were reproductions.

Southern slope of the Acropolis. There were some temples and other buildings here in the past.

Sitting in the Theater of Dionysus.

Olympian Temple of Zeus obligatory jumping photo in GIF form this time! 

Temple of Zeus with the Acropolis in the background.

It was a really large temple that took 500 years to build...unfortunately it was destroyed within 100 years of completion.

Temple of Zeus.

Lunch was at an almost completely deserted restaurant Athiri. When we walked in I told the waitress we had a reservation and we had a brief laugh about how it probably wasn't necessary. There was one other person there the entire time we dined. The food was actually very good and we have no idea why the place was deserted!

Broccoli and potato salad and some shrimp and cheese skewers.

Mushroom orzo pasta. This was absolutely delicious, earthy and cheesy.

Galaktoboureko. Basically it's filo with layers of vanilla creme and an orange sauce.

After stuffing ourselves, we decided it was time for a nap before going out for the evening on another bar hopping adventure. Midday naps have become a thing this trip and I'm really enjoying them. It might be hard to go back to work in America!

That evening we made the rounds to about four different places, including a stop for midnight dinner in Plaka. The first place we visited was called Barley Cargo and they had a very large collection of Greek beer. Janice and Peter are beer people and they said they were pleasantly pleased with beer in Greece, overall. Next we went to a bar called Clumsies, which was a trendy looking cocktail bar a few blocks away. Third on the tour was a Greek wine place with an...unfortunate....name for English speakers. The place was called heteroclito. The service and wine here was really good, and our waiter was eager to help us find a bottle we'd like. 

Finally, after a failed mission to find a music venue I had marked on my google map, we settled for some wine and food at a random restaurant perched on an alley of stairs in the Plaka. There were tons of restaurants here, so it's hard to pick one that's good...but we sat outside with the acropolis behind us and the city spread out below, so who cares if the food was a C-? At this spot we got a Greek appetizer plate with dolmas and a variety of fried cheese (I think my blood is like 20% fried cheese at this point). We also shared some moussaka, which is something that's kinda hard to find in America. We also made a few cat friends in the alley. One in particular was very friendly and sat on Janice's lap. We named him Yamas (Greek for cheers).

Peter's flight of Greek beers from Barley Cargo.

My cocktail from Clumsies.

Couple of clumsies!

Janice enjoying some of heteroclito's finest wine.

Greek sampler platter. 90% fried cheese...

...but that view though.

Janice made a lifelong friend in Yamas, the alley cat.