Athens Day 2 -- last day of the decade!

Woke (to my amazement and delight) at the normal hour of 7:30. Enjoyed our yogurt supplement to the hostel toast downstairs while chatting to a fellow American hostel-er. Young boys ran around clanging musical triangles and asking for money -- it's a new year's eve tradition in Greece! Then we set out for the Acropolis (means "high city"!). Not a bad hike -- it's amazing how quickly you find yourself at the top! The weather was beautiful -- the morning sun struck the white marble perfectly, making it glow, and the sky was a brilliant light blue. I feel like winter is the perfect time to be in Athens -- gorgeous weather and few tourists! The Acropolis rises almost 500 ft above sea level and offers a view of the entire city -- it's incredible! And I, being the lover of high up places that I am, couldn't be happier to explore each view.


First we walked up through the Propylaea, the monumental gates with columns of Pentelic marble.  You really do feel like you're approaching something amazing walking up those gigantic steps. Admired the little Temple of Athena Nike on our right (with it's Ionic columns!).

The sun illuminated the columns so brilliantly... then made our way around the Parthenon. I had no idea about all the cool architectural tricks used to construct the building! For example, the columns have a slight bulge as they rise to counter the effect of looking smaller as the distance between the column and the viewer increases. Also, the ancient Greeks were aware of the fact that long straight horizontal lines appear to sag, and so the Parthenon's roofline is bent upwards a bit. Also, all the columns point slightly inward (if they extended upward long enough, they would all eventually touch!). This is to counteract the optical illusion created when two parallel lines appear to bow, or curve outward, when intersected by converging lines. It's just amazing that the Greeks knew all this!! The columns are built as drums -- segments of column stacked upon each other, each piece fitting on top of the other with precision to the 100th of an inch. Apparently, when this was a temple of Athena, there was a giant, 40 ft tall statue of Athena (with a 6 ft tall Nike in her hand). Every year, the Athenians processed up to the temple and presented the statue with a new robe made of cloth to drape over her. Incredible.

The Parthenon was a temple dedicated to Athena, protector of the city. Construction began in 447 BC and was completed in 438 BC -- all by free men, not slaves. The temple also housed the city's gold and other material wealth (like a treasury) -- I guess it wasn't too easily accessible being up so high. Over the centuries, it was also used by the Christians as a church and the Turks as a mosque. Learned a bit about the Elgin statues taken from the top of the Parthenon and now housed in the British museum. On the one hand, it's great to have so many treasures housed under one roof in London, but on the other hand, the statues really do belong in Greece!


After wandering around the Parthenon, meandered over to the side to admire the city views. Then ventured to the Erechtheum. Rachel and I laughed at the 6 Caryatid ladies (apparently, this was the first time sculpture had been incorporated into architecture!) because they "showed some leg." I didn't realize that the marble ceilings  of the temples were once painted. Legend/myth has it that the location of this temple is where Athena and Poseidon fought over city of Athens.

Rachel and I had trouble tearing ourselves away from the Acropolis and its marvelous views (you can see the ocean, Temple of Zeus, the ancient agora, miles and miles of city sprawl...) but eventually we descended through the olive groves (olive trees = Athena's gift to the city. Athens has more than 100 million olive trees!), stopping at the slippery marble rocks to look out over the city once again. The Acropolis is just an incredible place. Rachel and I found ourselves inspired -- like millions of travelers before us -- by the elegance and beauty of the columns and buildings. We found ourselves fantasizing about the houses we would like to build one day and the olive groves we hope to plant at some point. The perfect place to spend the final morning of the decade!

Next we headed over to the ancient Agora. Main center/square/piazza/commons of Ancient Athens. In the Stoa, Sophocles performed plays, ostracisms were held, Socrates and Plato and Aristotle discussed philosophy, shop owners sold their goods and people gathered. It's cool how history is still being made in the Stoa -- this is where the 10 new members of the European Union were officially "signed in" just a few years ago. Wandered through the grassy field to admire Corinthian columns (which the Romans loved), ruined statues, and big chunks of marble. In the Tholos, the standards for weights and measures were held. In the Odeon, there were musical performances (auditorium sat up to 1000 people!). The Temple of Haphaestus looks so beautiful and intact perched up on the hill -- I love how it faces the Acropolis too. Apparently, having a tomb in the agora was one of the highest honors for an Athenian... Finally we circled the little church in the corner of the Agora grounds. It's amazing how many layers of history exist in this one spot -- from ancient Greece through the age of the Romans, Ottomans, and modern life. Who gets to decide which "layer" of history should be commemorated and emphasized in preservation?

Next we ventured over to Café Abyssinia. Thanks to the recommendation of our very friendly waiter, we enjoyed a delicious meal as we looked out on a view of the Acropolis. Tomato/cucumber salad, a fava bean-onion-caper-olive oil dip, a fish-egg dip (taromosalata) and bread. So tasty! Afterwards, our waiter brought over some little phyllo dough pastry filled with a pink rose-flavored jelly. SO flavorful and piping hot -- right out of the oven!

Refreshed and well-fed, we trekked out to Omonia to visit the Archaelogical Museum. Highlights included the golden mask of Agamemnon, marble replica of the Athena statue from the Parthenon, bronze sculpture of boy jockey on a horse (washed up from a shipwreck!), bronze statue of Zeus or Poseidon heaving a lightning bolt/triton (also washed up from a shipwreck!), coins, golden cups, jewelery and marble bowls from Crete. It's just amazing how many old sculptures and artifacts they have! We saw lots of very muscular statues of young men --kouros statues. Then there were all the Greek gods in statue form. Apparently, in classical Greek sculpture the figures often depict deities even though the human body is really actually the subject of study. It's incredible how accurately the ancient Greeks could depict the human body -- right down to the bulge of the calf muscle or the veins in the forehead. At the end of our museum tour, we stumbled across a more modern exhibit that combined HumBio and forensic anthropology with archaeology -- excavators had found the skull of a little girl who died of typhoid 3000 years ago and using all kinds of forensic tools, reconstructed her face to look as she might have when she was alive. The message: this little girl tied of typhoid way back then; now we have the technology to avoid these kinds of deaths; let's stop poverty by 2015! Ambitious, but an interesting way to make ancient history relevant and pertinent to the modern world.

After our museum visit, stopped for tea at one of the many Athenian cafés. Then we braved the marketplace. Omg, what an experience! So many lambs dangling in front of us -- eyes bulging, drenched in blood. Lots of turkeys with their black feathers still attached to the skin around the neck. Enormous pig hooves, white cow stomachs, deep red livers, pig testicles, long strings of cow intestines, cow tongues. We tried to avoid contact with the many blood-spattered butchers who laughed at us or called out to us. Also tried to the avoid flying pieces of meat that were launched whenever the butchers decided to hack away at a new spine or lump of flesh. I can't imagine buying anything here. As Rachel said, a stroll through this meat market could turn even the biggest meat lover into a vegetarian! So much anatomy -- luckily both Rachel and I tried to the liken the visuals to our dissection experiences in science classes... I personally preferred the fish market. I especially liked being able to recognize sardines, flounder, squid (covered in black ink!), octopus, swordfish, lobster and salmon -- so fresh, often caught in a rigor mortis position as if they had died mid-swim or mid-thrash. Also there was lots of seafood I didn't recognize... After these striking visuals, we meandered over to the calmer fruit and vegetable market to buy some oranges (like the many we see growing around Athenian streets!). Then strolled back to the hostel for some rest and relaxation.

Took a lovely nap from 6-7pm, woke up with some hot tea and chatted to our roommates (Aimee -- age 29 from Arizona/Georgia and Mee -- age 23 from South Korea). Then we looked up some restaurants and set out for the night. Tried to go to a place called "Aphrodite" but it was closed. We were able to walk by the huge Panathenaic Olympic Stadium though!  It is the only major stadium in the world built entirely of white marble (which is from Mount Penteli). In ancient times, it was used to host the athletic portion of the Paneathenaic Games in  honor of the Goddess Athena. It was refurbished in 1895 for the 1896 Olympic Games. It could seat ~80,000 spectators on 50 rows of marble steps! Huge, very impressive. Since Aphrodite was closed, we went past Syntagma Square to find a restaurant in the quaint Plaka neighborhood right at the  base of the acropolis. Went to a taverna up a narrow stairway. Enjoyed the house white wine, greek salad, spinach pie (Spanakopita) and grilled chicken moussaka. Our waiter invited us to the kitchen to take a look at the dessert "halva" (apparently made from semolina flour). I thought it had the flavor of cereal and the consistency of polenta. Our waiter was very kind and enthusiastic about california (he'd recently taken a trip there, rented a car and visited San Jose and San Rafael among other places...). The restaurant got very busy around 10 - 10:30 pm (typical Greek, as we've come to discover). After dinner, we walked to Syntagma square but didn't stay for long because there were only a bunch of musicians in red elf costumes and a lot of young men in the square. Instead of sticking around, we headed back to the hostel. Joined the other travelers downstairs at the bar for champagne at midnight. Rachel and I ran outside to try to catch the fireworks from Syntagma square but it was hard to see them through the trees. Didn't see any from the Acropolis either! But there were lots of lights (we mistook some blue tree lights for fireworks at one point) and everything looked very festive. Returned to the hostel bar, talked to some Swedish people, laughed at the bizarre musical choices (the "Build me up buttercup" song... how is that New Year's-themed?) and then ventured over towards Gkazi by foot. Tried to enter "Venue" but we turned away because we didn't have reservations. Instead we went to "Soho" which played mostly American music and was very lively all night, even by the time we left around 4:30am. Walked back along the street with the loudspeakers that blare political speeches in Greek, British English and American English. Not sure why they have those loudspeakers, but we've come to use that path quite frequently. Rachel and I decided it was an epic night.

Athens! The first full day

 So excited to be in Athens, one of the great centers of western civilization -- so classic.

Arrived last night around 6pm; took the metro to our hostel (very easy). I nearly nodded off several times, and almost had a heart attack trying to board the metro with my heavy 75lb+ suitcases. It was almost surreal to step outside of the subway station and look up and see the acropolis just behind us! Dragged the luggage up to our 2nd floor studio in the tiny, 1-person elevator. Then went hunting for the restaurant "Ambrosia" recommended by the guy who checked us in at the hostel. Realized we couldn't really read Greek (we strived to recall as much of the Greek alphabet as we had learned in algebra, trigonometry and calculus). Also realized we didn't even know how to say thank you in Greek! (It's Efharisto.) The word we did know was "ne" which means yes (and is accompanied by a head shake. The word for "no" is accompanied by a head nod.) Nevertheless, we found Ambrosia and enjoyed a real Greek salad with a huge slab of sheep-y feta cheese, hot lentil-tomato-onion soup and a 'gyro pie' which actually came with French fries on top. Realized the olive oil here is exceptionally good. That's why Rick Steves calls it one of the 4 pillars of Greek cuisine (along with tomatoes, phyllo dough, and feta). Exhausted, we strolled back to our studio and conked out at 10pm.

Woke up absurdly early (4am local time, though I looked at my clock and it said 6:15; five minutes later I realize it's still on CA time) and tried unsuccessfully to fall back asleep. Rolled out of bed at 6:30 to shower in our tiny hostel bathroom. The squeegie doesn't work too well. Breakfast at the bar with fresh bread, strawberry jam, cheese and hot tea. Then Rachel and I started our own walking tour of the city. Realized the Greeks don't really get going until about 11:30-noon. The streets were almost deserted until then. Wandered around the arch of Hadrian, which apparently constructed to honor Emperor Hadrian. Cars fly by it like it's nbd. Thanks to Anna, that acronym has become Rachel and my signature comment about our travels here in Athens. Oh, are those some ruins? Ancient columns? 3,000 years old? Nbd! Oranges growing every few meters on the sidewalk, nbd.

We walked over to the Parliament building at Syntagma square. Observed the changing of the guards at 9am at the tomb of the unknown soldier. Those soldier guards have a quite a stride! They must do some ballet-like stretching. We loved their pompom-ed shoes too! 400 pleats in their uniform skirt to represent the 400 years under Ottoman rule.

Then we meandered through the National garden, enjoying the fresh citrus-filled air as a welcome respite from the polluted city air of the streets. Found some cute ponds, a petting zoo, peacocks and chased the Greek soldiers (with blue berets) down the street as they marched past. Strolled along Amalia street, then into the Plaka district with many not-yet-open tavernas. Quaint crooked streets, shops selling strange things like sponges.... little churches in the middle of the block. Lots of stray dogs everywhere! Vendors selling rounded sesame-covered breads. Found a place to get a cup of hot tea (Forte tea actually -- white pear) and do some serious people watching. Greek people are very confused when Rachel asks for hot water. Continued along the neighborhoods into Anafiotika -- a neighborhood with very narrow cobblestoned streets, staircases and little houses, lots of stray cats, and moss, all of which hugs the base of the acropolis. Amazing views of the city--I didn't realize how huge and sprawling it was! Beautiful sunlight illuminated patches of the city -- looks like the greek gods had chosen their favorites for the day. I'm excited to climb the hill of the wolves, too (it's actually the hill of Lykavittos, the highest point in Athens rising 270 metres above the megalopolis. It is a pine covered hill visible from every part of the city. The name of the hill means "hill of the wolves" and the legend says that this name derives from the ancient times when the wolves roamed freely on the hill, then surrounded by countryside)... to me, it looks like a castle from a fairy tale at the top of the mountain up there.

After exploring the numerous stairwells, pointing out the adorable cats curled up under trees and chairs and descending back to the wider roads, we came to the Roman Agora, located on the north side of the Acropolis, and a short distance from the Greek Agora, with which it was connected by a paved street. An inscription on the the monumental Gate of Athena Archegetis ("Athena the Leader") indicates that Julius Caesar and Augustus funded its construction in the 1st century B.C. The Roman Agora consists of a large, open-air courtyard surrounded by colonnades on all four sides. Now most of the columns are crumbling, but you can still get a sense of how the market was set up. On the eastern side, there were also a series of shops. The Roman Agora apparently became the main market of the city, taking over many of the commercial functions of the Greek Agora, which had become something of an  archaeological park by that time. On the southern side was a fountain. At its east side is also a public latrine (you can still see the little canal to drain away waste and you can see a slab of rock with several holes to sit on...) and the "Tower of the Winds" (a tall, octagonal building designed by a famous astronomer Andronikos of Kyrrhos to be an elaborate water clock on the inside, a sundial on the outside, and have a weather vane on top). It was probably constructed in the mid-2nd centry B.C. -- Hellenistic period. 

After exploring the Roman Agora, we walked along Hadrian's library and into the Monastiraki district with its many shops, flea markets (I guess you could say, the modern agora?). Laughed at the many kitsch tourist-y souvenir vendors with random paintings, knick-knacks, etc. Then we used our trusty Lonely Planet guidebook to find a place for lunch. Decided on Filema and tried to walk over there (the streets here do NOT go straight -- so navigation is quite tricky and often screws up our reasonably good sense of direction.)

At Filema, we were warmly welcomed by two avuncular waiters. Tried the "Eggplant salad" -- babaganoush-like dip-- and baked sardines (heads, spines and all!). Absolutely delicious, as were the olives we enjoyed on the house. Our kindly waiter gave us a recommendation for a bar, warned to steer clear of the omonia district ("greek ghetto?") and wished joy and happiness upon us and all our loved ones. So sweet haha

Then we ventured over, past Stygmata square to the Museum of Clycladic Art. Lots of violin-shaped marble sculptures, feminine statues and sculptures (all with arms crossed, knees slight bent -- do they have to go to bathroom? suffering cramps? recently impregnated? all unclear). Early cycladic culture = 32000-2000 BC. So old but look strangely modern. I loved the "stargazer" sculpture -- so simple but with a delicate nose undoubtedly admiring the heavens. According to our guide, these sculptures with "their austere simplicity and abstract quality have inspired artists of the 20th century such as Pablo Picasso, etc." I love all the gold-foil jewelery too. Saw some cool gold haircoils (spiral shaped often), early coins, pottery that threw us back to 6th grade art classes (black figure and red figure varieties). It's amazing that the Greeks used potter wheels (foot powered) way back then. The little glass bottles. we learned, were among the most valued and difficult to make -- they were often used to store perfumes. 

At the top floor of the museum we learned all kinds of things about daily life in ancient Greece. "Gymnasium" means "place where you practice sports naked" and most girls married at age 14. The symposiums were gatherings centered around drinking as well as philosophical discussions. Lives of women were closely tied to spinning, weaving and domestic work. The only females allowed into the symposiums were dancers and musicians. The "stadium" footrace was 600 ft long and may have been the only event in the first Olympic games... 

In the Cycladic museum, we became extremely exhausted and so after we headed back to the hostel for a brief (nearly 3 hour...) nap. Awoke surprised by refreshed, ventured to a little market to get Greek yogurt and bananas, then scouted out a place to eat. Ended up at the Lonely Planet-recommended "Kanella" (means Cinnamon) in the Gatzi district. Had delicious zucchini-avocado-aged cheese salad, a lettuce-carrot-dill salad in yogurt dressing and a cheese pie (made with several different cheeses and phyllo dough) and their homemade bread. Greeks eat late, we've noticed -- we probably sat down around 8:30pm. After we headed to a bar and asked the bartender what he recommended. Tried traditioned greek "ouzo"-- an anise-flavored drink that was really strong! also had a shot of some mextaca or something like that. Very sweet and good! it was fun to stand at the bar and people watch... I definitely needed the popcorn they served us to help finish off the ouzo haha... I think tomorrow we'll try some greek wine. Then back to the hostel, using the illuminated Parthenon as our guide. The streets really do liven up at night!