Athens, Greece
Two weekends ago, Natalie and I headed to Athens to visit our friend Kara who had been aupairing in Geneva earlier this year and is spending the summer in a similar capacity with a family about an hour outside the city. Knowing someone there seemed to be a perfectly logical reason to visit a country I’ve heard nothing but positive things about and we had a great time. The family she’s staying with even has a small apartment in the city so we were able to crash there rather than a hostel.
Though we did quite a few touristy things (eating at Hard Rock Café, visiting the Acropolis), we also got an authentic taste of the city from some friends Kara has made since arriving. They took us out a couple nights and we were able to see a side of Athens we otherwise wouldn’t have. Here are some of the trip highlights:
Ruins
There are ruins all over Athens, the most famous being, of course, the Acropolis featuring the Parthenon. Everything was quite impressive (how they engineered such massive columns is beyond me) even if I don’t know what everything we saw was…
Kara, myself and Natalie atop the Acropolis. We did it early to avoid crowds and heat. A wise move.
Acropolis from a distance
You may remember this ampitheater from such PBS specials as Yanni: Live at the Acropolis
Kara and I in front of some impressive columns
The Parthenon, complete with bonus scaffolding!
Hadrian’s Arch
The temple of Olympian Zeus
The Ancient Agora
Culture
I’m not going to claim to have a full understanding of Greek culture after only 4 days. However, I will say that the pace of life is noticably slower. This has a great deal to do with the Mediterranean climate — of course we picked just about the hottest time of year to go. I feel like we probably did as much in 3 days in the city as I’ve in 1 in other places, but it’s simply not physically possible to move as fast in such blazing heat and bright sun. Instead, you walk a bit and see some sights, then find a café and sit down for an iced coffee or afternoon frappé (which is apparently becoming an Athens staple). Then you do a bit more before finding some shade or an air-conditioned restaurant. I loved the pace of the trip. Though it was hot and I didn’t get all that much sleep, it was definitely one of the more relaxing journeys I’ve had of late.
The Greek flag. Yes, Greeks are very proud of their heritage, but a lot of the younger Athenians we talked to weren’t that thrilled with Athens itself or their perceived lack of organization in the government, etc.
This is the park at Syntagma Square in front of Parliament. Our plane arrived at 2am and Kara couldn’t meet us until the next morning so here is where we spent the first night. It was actually great — well lit, plenty of other people around and nearby lots of taxis and buses, plus we actually got a few hours of sleep!
A couple of tasty examples of grafitti. There is a lot of grafitti in Athens.
Also tasty? Food. Here, some cheese pie, Greek salad and a frappé. I’m not a big coffee fan but I quite enjoyed these concoctions. I also enjoyed several other good meals including a fair amount of gyros, pork and even some pastitsio
Hydra Island
Everyone – seriously everyone I talked to before the trip told me I had to go to an island while I was in Greece. So on Sunday we took a day trip to nearby Hydra Island, which may not be as famous as, say, Santorini but was nonetheless gorgeous. We spent most of the day on the beach and browsing the small shops and cafés near the docks. The water was absolutely beautiful and it was great to get some beach in for the first time in over a year. I will definitely be going back to the country to do an island tour at some point.
Our boat, the “Eurofast 1.” For some reason, I thought the name was hilarious. The ride back was the choppiest water I’ve ever experienced and people were getting sick all over the place. I kept my cool, but didn’t exactly have fun…
This was the beach that we hung out at. If you look closely at the tree on the right, you’ll see a donkey underneath
There were a lot of donkey ride options around the island. We passed, but I felt really sorry for the donkeys waiting around that pretty much had to stand in direct sunlight the whole day.
The Olympics
At this point, it’s pretty much beating a dead horse to talk about how much I like the Olympics. However, Athens obviously has a pretty important history in the subject as the site of the first 1896 modern games and the most recent summer games in 2004. We headed out to the latter Olympic Complex on Monday and nearly melted in the midday sun (especially considering the place is now pretty much a concrete plaza, used for some local sports events but seemingly not much else). The architecture was still quite impressive though, even if we sought respite afterwards in the nearby air-conditioned mall (complete with food court!). The following day Kara had to return to work, but Natalie and I did a few more things including a visit to the original 1896 stadium. Can’t wait for next summer (though I hope China gets improves on its human rights record…)
Part of the large walkway surrounding the 2004 complex
the entrance to Olympic Stadium
The outdoor pool (we also saw the indoor one, as it was actually open, though several of the stadiums weren’t)
Commemorative stones at the 1896 stadium
Me in front of Panathinaikon Stadium (the 1896 venue)
Though we did quite a few touristy things (eating at Hard Rock Café, visiting the Acropolis), we also got an authentic taste of the city from some friends Kara has made since arriving. They took us out a couple nights and we were able to see a side of Athens we otherwise wouldn’t have. Here are some of the trip highlights:
Ruins
There are ruins all over Athens, the most famous being, of course, the Acropolis featuring the Parthenon. Everything was quite impressive (how they engineered such massive columns is beyond me) even if I don’t know what everything we saw was…
Kara, myself and Natalie atop the Acropolis. We did it early to avoid crowds and heat. A wise move.
Acropolis from a distance
You may remember this ampitheater from such PBS specials as Yanni: Live at the Acropolis
Kara and I in front of some impressive columns
The Parthenon, complete with bonus scaffolding!
Hadrian’s Arch
The temple of Olympian Zeus
The Ancient Agora
Culture
I’m not going to claim to have a full understanding of Greek culture after only 4 days. However, I will say that the pace of life is noticably slower. This has a great deal to do with the Mediterranean climate — of course we picked just about the hottest time of year to go. I feel like we probably did as much in 3 days in the city as I’ve in 1 in other places, but it’s simply not physically possible to move as fast in such blazing heat and bright sun. Instead, you walk a bit and see some sights, then find a café and sit down for an iced coffee or afternoon frappé (which is apparently becoming an Athens staple). Then you do a bit more before finding some shade or an air-conditioned restaurant. I loved the pace of the trip. Though it was hot and I didn’t get all that much sleep, it was definitely one of the more relaxing journeys I’ve had of late.
The Greek flag. Yes, Greeks are very proud of their heritage, but a lot of the younger Athenians we talked to weren’t that thrilled with Athens itself or their perceived lack of organization in the government, etc.
This is the park at Syntagma Square in front of Parliament. Our plane arrived at 2am and Kara couldn’t meet us until the next morning so here is where we spent the first night. It was actually great — well lit, plenty of other people around and nearby lots of taxis and buses, plus we actually got a few hours of sleep!
A couple of tasty examples of grafitti. There is a lot of grafitti in Athens.
Also tasty? Food. Here, some cheese pie, Greek salad and a frappé. I’m not a big coffee fan but I quite enjoyed these concoctions. I also enjoyed several other good meals including a fair amount of gyros, pork and even some pastitsio
Hydra Island
Everyone – seriously everyone I talked to before the trip told me I had to go to an island while I was in Greece. So on Sunday we took a day trip to nearby Hydra Island, which may not be as famous as, say, Santorini but was nonetheless gorgeous. We spent most of the day on the beach and browsing the small shops and cafés near the docks. The water was absolutely beautiful and it was great to get some beach in for the first time in over a year. I will definitely be going back to the country to do an island tour at some point.
Our boat, the “Eurofast 1.” For some reason, I thought the name was hilarious. The ride back was the choppiest water I’ve ever experienced and people were getting sick all over the place. I kept my cool, but didn’t exactly have fun…
This was the beach that we hung out at. If you look closely at the tree on the right, you’ll see a donkey underneath
There were a lot of donkey ride options around the island. We passed, but I felt really sorry for the donkeys waiting around that pretty much had to stand in direct sunlight the whole day.
The Olympics
At this point, it’s pretty much beating a dead horse to talk about how much I like the Olympics. However, Athens obviously has a pretty important history in the subject as the site of the first 1896 modern games and the most recent summer games in 2004. We headed out to the latter Olympic Complex on Monday and nearly melted in the midday sun (especially considering the place is now pretty much a concrete plaza, used for some local sports events but seemingly not much else). The architecture was still quite impressive though, even if we sought respite afterwards in the nearby air-conditioned mall (complete with food court!). The following day Kara had to return to work, but Natalie and I did a few more things including a visit to the original 1896 stadium. Can’t wait for next summer (though I hope China gets improves on its human rights record…)
Part of the large walkway surrounding the 2004 complex
the entrance to Olympic Stadium
The outdoor pool (we also saw the indoor one, as it was actually open, though several of the stadiums weren’t)
Commemorative stones at the 1896 stadium
Me in front of Panathinaikon Stadium (the 1896 venue)
posted by Aaron at 9:32 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home