Athens - The Ancient Wonder

We finally made our way back to Athens from Santroini and Paros after the port authority allowed the ships to sail again. Eventhough the ferries were running, the sea was still rough at times and on the 4 and a half hour journey from Paros to Pireus, Rav was not feeling well due to the unpredictable rocking of the boat. She managed to hold down breakfast and lunch, which was a good sign, as I needed her to carry my bags back to Athens. This year of travelling has striped all of my strength from the decade of going to the gym.

We were greeted at Pireus with sunshine and the bitter cold. Since we had been to Pireus before it was no trouble finding the metro station which would take us to the heart of Athens once again. We then would have to make our way to Kouros Hotel before the sun disappeared for the day. Not too sure if they had any vacancy, we hoped that there was at least one room left so we can get out of the cold. We have been so fortunate with the weather so far and this was the first time we had felt the bitterness of winter in 11 months. To our delight, the friendly woman that I met the last time still remembered me and told me that they still had a couple of rooms available, so we settled into one for 30 Euros a night with a shared bathroom.

We dropped off our bags and hoofed it up to the Lykavittos Hill the highest point in all of Athens even higher then the Acropolis. This was highly recommended by a lovely couple from Scotland whom now reside in Greece, that I had talked to on the ferry ride back to Athens from Paros while Rav was getting some shut eye. It was not a far hike, but a steep one and with the strong winds coming in all direction it was a little troublesome at times and the cold air made it hard to breath as well. Upon arriving at the summit, the sun had already disappeared in to the horizon, but we did get a good glimpse of not only the Acropolis but all of Athens as well. Surprisingly, Athens is extremely large in area, much more than we had thought. This may be due to the fact that there are no signs of any major high rise area(s), which made the horizontal sprawl the only solution to accommodate the 3.7million inhabitants.

View from Lykavittos Hill looking towards to sea. Note the low lying 4 to 6 storey buildings all over the city of Athens

The Partheon from Lykavittos Hill at sun set

The Partheon from Lykavittos Hill at night what a beautiful view. The sun sets rather early now with daylight savings in effect. It was only 5:40 pm and it was completely dark and the city was beginning to light up

We did not do too much that night as we mainly rested for the following day so we can get a head start on the rest of the dwindling tourists. Morning came too soon the next day, as the alarm startled us at half past 7. The lack of hot water and the frigidness of the ill insulated room cut our morning routine by half. The crisp clean yet cold morning air made me think of my days in Ottawa and Chicago walking to school and work respectively. It was the first time that we had to put on three layers of clothing and still found it a bit chilly. With breakfast in hand we walked through the quiet streets of the Plaka area even before the café shops, restaurants and tourists started to inhabit these places. To our surprise there were some other early birds that had beat us to the Partheon, but there was plenty of room for everyone. We paid our 12 Euros each and made our ascent to the Acropolis.

Theatre of Dionysos – what’s left of it anyways. This remain shows the importance of theater in the life of the Ancient Athenians. This theater could hold 17,000 spectators in its 64 tiers of seating. Only 20 tiers are visible here.

Theatre of Herodes Atticus - originally built during the Roman occupation now used by the Greeks for performances during Athens Festivals. This one was recently rebuilt and it is much nicer than its predecessor

The Erechtheion temple is also here with the Caryatids on the southern portico

An up close and personal look at the much photographed Caryatids of the Erechtheion. These are made from plaster casts, the originals are in the Acropolis Museum

What man can create, nature can easily take away

Rav and the dense City of Athens behind

Shifting column at the Temple of Athena Nike at the main entrance to the Acropolis. Much of this temple is under renovation and we could not see much other than columns

The west façade of the Partheon with Apollo shining down

There we were freezing our buns off in front of the Partheon

What’s left of the Partheon, not too bad for being 4000 years old. The temple still exudes grace and harmony. To achieve perfect form, its lines were curved to counteract optical illusions. The columns are slightly smaller at the top to achieve the overall effect of making them look straight

No matter where you are the Acropolis is always at the center and it commands your attention

Rav with a great view of Lykavittos Hill that we climbed the night before

Columns of the Temple of Olympian Zeus – even the mightiest of all Greek Gods could not remain immortal

It took 700 years to complete the Temple of Olympian Zeus, and it was the largest temple in Ancient Greece at the time

The 15 Corinthian columns that are still standing from the 104 columns that were erected to create this master piece. Today these columns are used as a landmark for the city

Olympic Stadium reconstructed for the Summer Olympics of 2004 which was in the same spot where the first modern Olympic games were held. Originally built by the Romans in the 4th Century BC as a venue for the Panathenaic athletic contests

When you say Greece, you automatically think of Zeus, Apollo, Athena, Hercules, Socrates and Plato, but did you know that the Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman Empires have has their dominance here as well. Thus changing the religious and architectural landscape dramatically. Today 98% of Greeks belong to the Greek Orthodox Church. The rest are split between Roman Catholic, Protestant, Evangelist, Jewish and Muslim inhabiting the 169 of the more than 1400 islands. The landscape is quite uniform; arid mountainous with little vegetation. Pockets of greenery were seen during our train ride into Athens. Athens is actually names in honour of Athena the Goddess of wisdom. Athens ranks along side with Florence and Rome for it’s rich past and its influence on western civilization. Although the urban sprawl and traffic congestion is a serious problem in Athens, the 2004 Olympic games saw a revival in Athens, as new shops and restaurants within the city core became more trendy. It was true that we came to see Athens past, but were quite impressed with Athens present state and its warm and genuine people.

We said good bye to Athens and Greece with a great dinner for 25 Euros. We had a chance to enjoy some of the great food (Moussaka and Moscuaki) and drank some their fine alcohols (Mythos and Ouzo). At the restaurant we met a very friendly couple for upper state New York, who were just finishing a 10 day cruise of the Mediterranean. We talked and laughed about our travelling experiences and just how lucky we are able to do this. It reminded us of just how wonderful this trip has been to the two of us and sad that it is coming to an end real soon. We are departing Greece knowing that we did not spend enough time here, but know that we will return.

At one of the many great dinners in Athens

Cheers! Here’s to Derek’s recommendation to try the local Greek ouzo

Okay down the Hatch!!!

I thought you said that it was good!

It is! It is ! Okay where’s the crown?

Image of Greece through Chris’ eyes

Image of Athens through Rav’s eyes

Chunger the unemployed bum