Made it to Athens!!

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Hello from Athens! Yes, we actually made it!

So, to recap from dinner last night…Went out early (again, to avoid the smoke) and walked over to Nargion, an old traditional tavern on the other side of the Crete’s Modern Art museum (located in an ancient arsenale space) just off the inner harbor. Very nice place, recommended in several books we’ve got for traditional Cretan food. For starters, R had fried zucchini and eggplant, which was delicious, and I ordered the spicy white cheese dip – which was fine, but not as good as R’s! For mains, R ordered fresh red mullet (you’ll be able to tell by the picture) and I ordered the boureki – potato and zucchini pie layered with feta cheese. Took R forever to debone his THREE fish, and my boureki wasn’t nearly as good as what we had at Elos a couple of days earlier! And, after a really hot day, it became really cool and breezy! We had been told that the weather would be cooling down; was this the start? Then back to the hotel and early to bed, as the alarm set for 4 a.m.

Up early and out of the hotel by 4:30 a.m. Misty and a bit rainy, and cool temperature; very pleasant! Very little traffic anywhere around, so no problem making it to the airport by 5 a.m. – and Antonia was right – very few people there! We were, however, the first to check in (surprise!) Our plane was set to leave at 7, and we were absolutely on time! Not too many people on the flight, so we had three seats between us. Unfortunately, it was overcast, so I wasn’t able to see too much. Landed and got our luggage quickly, and then to the metro into town. They have a great deal of 10 Euros for two people, which worked out well! Got off at Syntagma Square and caught a cab to the hotel – only 4 E so in all, a very comfortable journey into town! On our way to the hotel, we did spot one group of communists preparing for some kind of rally – it’s hard to ignore those yellow sickles on red flags! Arrived at the Centrotel about 9:30 a.m. Very lucky, we were able to get in our room in less than half an hour! Lovely hotel; we’re on the 6th floor in 602 (7 floors total). Very spacious room with nice couch and coffee table as well as a lovely private balcony with table and chairs; large bathroom with Jacuzzi tub. We took a few minutes to get things organized, then out we went, heading for the Acropolis about 10:30!

Daily transport passes are only 3 Euros each, so got those at the Larissa metro station. The hotel is located between the Larissa and Victoria stations – separate lines, so makes things fairly convenient for getting around town. R always prefers buses to metro, but in this case – with only a few days in town – it’ll probably be easier to use the metro to get where we want to go. We also have to plan things fairly carefully, as the Acropolis Museum is closed on Monday, and the National Archeological Museum is only open in the afternoon.
So…the Acropolis…WOW! We took the metro to the station called fittingly enough Acropolis. This particular station lets you out at the bottom of the acropolis … which means you have no way to go but UP! Whew! Fortunately, there is plenty to look at – several ancient theatres and temples – on the slog to the top. The weather was overcast but warm enough that we didn’t need jackets – just umbrellas occasionally! There were a lot of people there, but I can only imagine what the mob scene must be like in the middle of summer! Felt fortunate that the weather and crowds were manageable! We eventually made it to the top and toured all around. The views were absolutely spectacular, and it was really neat finding and researching the various ancient ruins we could see from the top. Our favorite building – which, to be honest, we hadn’t even known existed! – is called the Erechtheion, which was the most sacred place on the Acropolis. Took lots of pictures – you’ll probably be bored!

From there, we headed down and into the ancient agora, which was the commercial side of the city. There the neatest building was the Hephaisterion – like the Parthenon only smaller, and in really good shape! By this time, it was about 1 p.m. and we were feeling a bit peckish, so we headed out of the agora and decided to stop for lunch before hitting our last two sights for the moment.
Once you exit the agora, you walk out into a complete mob scene of humanity. It was pretty awful. Hawkers peddling everything from “name brand” bags to little jumping spiders that move with puffs of air…also, a complete row for blocks of restaurants catering obviously to those tourists who have had enough culture and sightseeing and only want to rest a bit. Like us…so, after spending something like 35 E per night for dinner the last week, including water AND wine – this was 32 Euros for 3 small bottles of sparkling water, two glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice, one eggplant dip and an order of two peppers stuffed with cheese! Whew! A different world over here on the mainland, that’s for sure!
Once lunch was over, we headed for Hadrian’s Library, just down the street. It is a HUGE area, (purported to have held 16,800 papyrus scrolls) and as Hadrian has always been a favorite of mine, (we have followed that man around Europe! His wall in England; his villa in Tivoli – and now here in Greece!) we very much enjoyed seeing it. Our last sight for the day was the Roman Forum; also lovely!
By this time we were exhausted and ready for a good sit-down, so we headed for the metro…only two stops, but seriously, one of the most awful rides of our lives! We got into a fairly full metro car, but when we made the first stop, all we could think of was sardines and the supposed “pushers” in Tokyo! It was unreal. Still not sure how we got out of the car; we sort of just popped out! Kept very close tab on purse and R’s shoulder bag (and all the valuables such as cash and passports are locked in our hotel safe) but no problems – other than being unable to breathe! It is a 300 m walk from the Victoria metro stop to our hotel.
Total collapse…in fact, R slept for several hours, and I finally had to wake him up to ask if he was planning on sleeping through! He wasn’t sure…Once we got back outside (about 7:15 p.m.) we first went around the corner to get fresh batteries for the camera and clock, as well as water – always necessary! Then headed out for dinner. Took the much-less-crowded metro back to Monastiaki and then Syngatma and – yes, we really did – had dinner at McDonald’s! (Sorry, folks, but sometimes these things just happen!) From there we walked back to Monastiaki so we could see the Acropolis at night. Very pretty. Figure we’ll try and find someplace with a “view” tomorrow night! Back to the hotel about 9:15 – and to bed very soon!
Much love,
m
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