Katie and Tommy: Around the World

Though we had to rush a bit to catch the Athens flight from Madrid, we were relieved that the flight itself went by very smoothly. In fact, we even got a meal on board the plane, a treat that we had admittedly begun to miss after having flown almost exclusively on budget airlines in the past 2 months.  We were a little bit surprised, however, to discover what great lengths the airline took to keep us from getting upgraded to first class. When we boarded the aircraft, we got excited when we realized our seats were in the last row of the first class section. Our excitement quickly faded to bitter defeat when soon after an airport technician boarded the plane, disassembled the dividing curtain between first and second class and then reassembled it right in front of us. The arrival to our hostel went well, too. In preparation for the 2004 Olympics, the city improved a lot of its infrastructure so just like in Madrid, we were able to take a subway from the airport all the way to our hostel without really having to walk really at all.

Though a little bit pricey, our hostel’s location can not be beat. When we finally arrived at the subway stop that was nearest to our hostel, the first thing we saw was the Acropolis and the Parthenon looming above us! Once we had settled into our room, we decided to go for a night walk around the Acropolis and the Placa district, since it wasn’t too late and we had after all spent most of the day in airports and airplanes. We were constantly being reminded that we really are sleeping in the center of the ancient city. In Athens, much like in certain sections of Rome, archaeological sites are cordoned in empty spaces amongst a mess of chaotic buildings. On the edge of the ruins of the Ancient Agora lay a McDonald’s and rows of shops selling nearly identical tourist merchandise. We ended the night with some baklava in our room and turned in early in preparation for a fantastic two days of visiting ruins.

A few years ago, a law was passed in Greece that forbade travel agencies from earning commission from the sale of ferry tickets. One of the many net results of this policy was the decline of the ferries’ websites. When we tried buying tickets over the computer, literally every company we tried gave us some error. So we had to spend about an hour during our first morning visiting with a travel agent to get an overnight ferry to the isle of Santorini. Once we had taken care of that, however, we went to go visit the Temple of Zeus and Hadrian’s Arch. Much like in Madrid, sites here were pretty inexpensive for students: $9 for a multiday pass to all of Athens’ ancient sites, and completely free for EU student citizens.

We had heard that the view from Mt. Lycabettus (one of the 8 hills of Athens) was spectacular, so we headed there next via the city’s gardens. We also passed by the Greek tomb of the unknown soldier. The guards in front of it wear traditional costumes and do a very elaborate (and actually a little goofy) march. Once we arrived at the base of the very steep Mt. Lycabettus, we rode a funicular to the top of the hill. We spent about 30 minutes at the top taking in the view of the city’s many ruins and the Mediterranean.

We decided that before we entered the National Archaeological Museum, we’d fare better if we first got a quick lunch. We had been craving some spinach pies so that was precisely what we got, along with two frappes, another Greek invention of frothed Nescafe and milk, to drink on our way from the mountain to the Museum.

It is worth mentioning at this point that adjacent to the National Archaeological Museum is the Polytechnic Institute. Katie and I planned to scour this area in the hope of finding a cheaper restaurant that we could dine at when dinner came. As we drew closer to the Museum, we were dismayed by how much expletive graffiti we saw on one particular marble building. About as high as one could reach with a can of spray paint, the wall was covered with symbols and mottoes of fascists, socialists, anarchists, racists, and xenophobes. We soon realized that this building was the university.

After passing its length, we turned north because our map seemed to suggest that the entrance to the museum was located at its east side. After walking no less than 10 yards or so, we knew we must have made a wrong turn– the street was filled with dozens of individuals, some staggering drunk, others leaning against the university building drooling, and others sitting asleep with vomit pooled on their shirts. We’re pretty sure that amongst the 30 or so people on this street, we could have counted on one hand the number of people who weren’t high. We also noticed a statue in the center that had been defaced with graffiti. We later learned that it was a statue dedicated to students who led the protest against the military junta that ruled Greece in the mid 70s. We walked as quickly as we could back to the main road. Once we got back, we then saw the official sign marking the entrance to the National Museum. Entering the museum complex, however, we were a bit surprised once more. There were dozens of homeless people asleep in the weed-filled grassy courtyard of the museum and like on the nearby street, lots of men drinking and smoking in the shade. To make matters worse, we learned that the museum had closed at 3:00 PM. Since it already half past four, we decided to go instead and visit the Ancient Agora.

Though much of it was classic “ruins,” ie piles of rubble, we were very impressed with the Temple of Hephaestus. Though we could not actually enter it, it was the best preserved of all the ones we saw in Athens and really lent an evocative perspective into what all of these temples really looked like. When the complex closed at six, we headed back to the hostel for a quick nap before going to a laundromat to make our clothes fresh once again. For dinner that night, we returned again to the heart of the gritty downtown and got quick carryout portions of gyros and fried goat cheese. After consuming it at the subway entrance, we returned once more to the hostel and retired for the night. Unfortunately, we both woke up quite a bit through out the night feeling very itchy and although we had had a few mosquito-looking bites the first morning, on the second morning we were all but covered in them. We later realized that they were due to sand flies, which are unfortunately ubiquitous to all of Greece.

We started the next day a bit earlier so that we could get a head start on the Acropolis. We had been told that amongst the marble ruins it could be quite hot; all the warnings we received ended up being quite true. Though the temperatures were pretty cool and crisp in the city, as soon as we ascended onto the top of the mountain we couldn’t believe how steamy it felt. In addition to seeing the Parthenon, we also got to see the Theatre of Dionysus. Visitors are even allowed to enter the theatre itself, sit in it, and imagine what it must have been like 2000 years ago. Another theatre nearby had recently been “restored” and apparently performances are put on there frequently.

After we had exhausted the archaeological sites, we decided to go to the Museum once more. This time, however, the museum was open and we were able to see its extensive, though somewhat esoteric, collection of ancient artifacts. On our walk home, we stopped by an English bookstore that we had briefly been in the day prior and bought a couple of books, as it seems that we will both be out of reading material before the trip is over. Our night ferry was leaving at 8:00 PM from the port of Athens, and following our lesson in Madrid when we had to rush to make it on board, we returned to the hostel around 4:00 so that we could cook dinner and eat it in comfort.

Our ferry ride over to Santorini was unremarkable except to say that it was quite underbooked, so even though Katie and I were supposed to stay in separate single-sex couchettes for the ride over, both our rooms were empty so we were able to switch early in the night and get a fair amount of sleep before we arrived the next morning at 6 in the port of Santorini!

Photos from Athens

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 1st, 2008 at 4:57 pm and is filed under Greece. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.