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.

Athens Stroll and Bar Crawl

After a great day-trip to Delphi, it was time to explore Athens. The city hasn't changed much since my last visit 10 years ago. It's hard to tell if that's a result of the Greek Financial Crisis or if it's just the type of place that time forgets. Athens is sorta grimy, with graffiti scattered around most buildings, dogs and cats wandering about, and infrastructure generally not in the best condition. Look past this, though, and you'll see a city with a lot of character. Little restaurants cling to the stairways in the Plaka, vendors hawk their wares in Monastiraki, and ruins from the city's grand past are scattered about the center of town. Unlike Rome, which was always a somewhat important city even after the fall of the Empire, Athens didn't really take off until the modern era. The city offers interesting ruins from the ancient past and some modern amenity but much of the middle of its history is harder to find.

To start off my half day before Janice and Peter arrive, I decided to take a stroll, visit the Benaki Museum and the National Gardens. One of my favorite things about Athens is that nothing is more than a 20 minute walk away from the city center. Staying right in the middle gives you easy access to most everything of interest to a tourist. The Benaki museum is a small museum of artifacts from Greece's past up through it's independence in the 1800s. One floor is committed to antiquities, one to Byzantine and middle ages, and finally a small third floor is dedicated to the period in the 1800s. The museum hosts lots of examples of clothes as well, which is interesting to see change over the centuries.

Benaki Museum

Surprised looking owl pots.

Dear tiny baby Jesus, why do you look 35?

Me when my camera opens facing inside instead of outward...

After visiting the museum, I took a stroll through the National Gardens near the Parliament building at Syntagma Square. People were walking dogs and children, others were out for a jog. The garden is a nice retreat from the loud polluted city all around you. Afterwards, I went shopping in the Plaka for random Greek things. Here I got into a bit of an argument with a shop owner about how good/bad America is. I mostly do what I always do when this topic is breached; I apologize and say that the American people mean well. By the way, he also told me I have a "Greek face."

National Gardens pond.

Lots of paths with nice plants.

A few nice buildings are scattered about and lots of citrus trees.

After shopping, I headed back to the AirBnB to chill a bit before Janice and Peter arrived. I went down to Monastiraki to bring them back to the AirBnB and then we all went out to get some food at a place called Tzizikas kai Mermigas. This place had a large menu of Greek classics. We opted to share a few small plates and got some drinks. Souvlaki, hand pies, fried cheese and pork on a pita were the highlights here.

Hi Janice & Peter! First of many "pleasantly surprising" Greek beers.

Yummy food!

After a late lunch, we decided to go for a stroll and walk around the Plaka and along the Anafiotika foot path in front of the Acropolis to the Areopagus Hill to take in the vistas. From here we climbed down and started a bar crawl that lasted until about midnight. In total I think we visited four spots from the Couleur Locale rooftop bar to Beertime in Psyri followed by a Christmas bar across from our AirBnB called Noel and finally a place for snacks and drinks. Overall a fun night barhopping!

For every cat you see, there's 20 you don't.

Oh hi there Acropolis!

Surveying the city.

Beer time at Beer Time.

This place is across the street from the AirBnB and is over the top Christmas themed year-round.

Sprinkles! Why don't all of my cocktails have sprinkles?!

Deconstructed Greek food. On the left is pastitio and on the right is dolmas. Not what we were expecting, but still good!

A Day Trip to Delphi

I arrived at the Athens airport, collected my bags and grabbed the metro into town. The AirBnB I lined up is coincidentally about one block from the hotel Paul, Christina and I shared in Athens almost exactly 10 year ago. Thinking back to that trip, I don't recall feeling that Athens itself was a particularly exceptional city, overall...but it was the first trip I made to Europe as an adult so I'm curious if my opinion will be different this go around. Also, since I'm half Greek I've committed myself to coming to Greece every so often to try to get some sense about the people and places here which define half my heritage. This between jobs Mediterranean city hop seemed like the perfect time for a repeat visit.

Getting off the train at Monastiraki I was instantly reminded of what a chaotic city Athens is. It's so densely packed, has narrow streets, and there are people, cars and motorbikes everywhere. Athens can be a bit overwhelming. I'm also instantly treated to a view of the Acropolis at sunset, which is a beautiful site. At this point I'm feeling pretty good about being back and I'm eager to settle in and work out a plan for the next few days. In total, I'm in Athens for 4.5 days. My friends Peter and Janice are coming from the UK for about 48 hours in the middle to keep me company. :)

Athens from above.

Monastiraki and the Acropolis at sunset.

First meal in Athens - Souvlaki.

After some internal debate on what to do the first day, I decided a day trip to Delphi would be a great opportunity to see more of Greece. Last time we visited, I ended up getting pretty sick and we had to skip Delphi. I didn't want to miss the opportunity again. I ended up getting my AirBnB contact to line up a private driver for me for the day, instead of waking up at 5:30 am to catch a super early 3 hour public bus there and then having to remain at the site for 6 hours before the return bus arrived. This was obviously more expensive, but the time and price difference seemed fair to me.

My driver's name was Dimitris. He's a mid 50s Greek man who speaks only a little English, but we had nice short conversations and he went out of his way to show me things he thought were interesting, including adding a "secret gift" side excursion to the day trip because he said he likes me. Dimitris used to be in the marines, studied at the academy and stopped doing extreme sports after being deployed to Bosnia and Kosovo. I didn't ask why, but I could speculate. He used to run Marathons, including the famous namesake run in Greece. Fun fact, when I told him that my family was half Greek and half Italian he told me they have a saying in Greece that Greek and Italian people share the "same face." This would be the first of two times today people commented on my face...

The drive to Delphi is half on the highway (boring) and half on a smaller road that winds through mountains and villages (awesome). Since it's winter, many of the mountain peaks are covered in snow and picturesque villages cling to some of the cliffs. Not a bad way to spend a day.

Don't worry, the dog is sleeping. There are dogs and cats everywhere in Greece.

Ski town at the base of Mt. Parnassus called Arachova.

Looking up to the snowy mountains.

Dimitris was eager to show me this monument to WWII victims.

After we arrived, Dimitris left me to wander around the ruins. Afterwards, I toured the small museum which holds artifacts unearthed in Delphi. To wrap is up, Dimitris and I both walked down to the Athena Pronaia Temple to see the Thalos. Delphi is a really cool archaeological site, with a really dramatic backdrop with the mountains behind and river valley below. Most of the site is destroyed, but there are a couple notable somewhat remaining buildings and signage along the route does a good job in describing what was here some 2,000 years ago. The museum also hosts interactive exhibits that do a good job in helping fuel your imagination on what a trip to Delphi must have been like to ancient people (Greeks, Asia minor peoples and Romans all visited the Oracle here for advice). 

Ancient Greek text on a stone tablet.

The sun is trying to peak through.

The best preserved building on site - the Athenian Treasury.

It's the great valley! I found it! ;)

Unfortunately, most of Delphi is rubble with the exception of a few column fields.

The site itself is as captivating as the ruins, like a mini-Machu Picchu.

Shot looking down at the Temple of Apollo where the Oracle would make prophecies.

Panoramic shot of the amphitheater, which held up to 5,000 people.

Eventually the sun came out and my pictures got better.

The front approach to the Temple of Apollo.

Artsy fartsy.

A group of columns.

These guys didn't skip leg day!

Me in front of the Thalos.

The Thalos money shot.

This was a perfect time to visit. There were hardly any people here and the weather was nice. I've heard it's a madhouse here in summer so if you're thinking of when to go, don't be afraid of coming in the winter! 

After wrapping up sightseeing in Delphi, Dimitris asked if I wanted to stop in Chalcis on the way back to Athens. He said it's just about 15 km out of the way and is on a spot where tides force water to rush in and out of a narrow opening in the bay with great force. He offered to take me on the detour for free. I think he just didn't have much else planned for the day and wanted to visit his old stomping grounds - he went to school here at the marine academy. But, not being one to turn down local suggestions on things to see I agreed and off we went! Chalcis is a really cute city on the island of Euboea at the Europis Straight. There's a nicely developed waterfront, cute houses and lots of restaurants. At the spot where the straight is very narrow you can see how quickly water was rushing through. People would kayak in that spot and be pulled through quickly for fun. Some men were trying to paddle against the current (perhaps for exercise) but were unable to make headway. Nature is fun! Dimitris and I watched the kayakers for a bit while I ate a gyro and we called it a day, returning back to Athens.

Europis Straight

Pinch point where the tide forces water through with bonus velocity.

After thanking Dimitris for a great day, I returned to the AirBnB to find it had flooded! Something went awry in the bathroom while I was gone and there was 1/2" of water covering the kitchen and bathroom floors. I called my host and he and Dimitris came to check it out. They seemed pretty shocked themselves, and we never determined with certainty what the source of the flooding was...maybe the toilet or washing machine. Either way, I'm on flood watch! While waiting for a plumber to return his call, the AirBnB owner, Sakis, asked me where I was from. I told him I was American, but had Greek and Italian parents. He gave a big "ahhh" and said I have a Mediterranean looking face so it made sense to him. Comment #2 about my face in 24 hours.

After the commotion, I took a stroll around Athens in the evening and found a place that sold open-faced Greek calzones. Yummy! Janice and Peter come tomorrow, I'm looking forward to eating in some actual restaurants. :)

Dinner! It's like an open-faced calzone.