Friday January 7th, 2010
Woke up at 6am ready to heave the massive suitcase across Athens to the airport. Got on the metro just fine (phew, no strikes today!) and managed to crowd in even at the always-busy Syntagma square. Almost died laughing when Rachel toppled backwards over her rolly suitcase in the metro. Much to the horror of the elderly Greek ladies around us, Rachel and I were both laughing too hard to pull her up, so she flailed about for a little while like a fish on land until she was finally uprighted. We continued to burst into giggles periodically for the rest of the ride -- it really was the most epic "trip" of all her many tripping incidents here in Greece -- until we realized that the the metro we were sitting on had been evacuated and it was about to head into retirement for the terminal! We scrambled off and waited in some random station for the next airport metro to arrive. Once we boarded and took off, we rose above ground and were able to catch a magnificent sunrise -- a big bright orange-pink ball rising amidst perfectly puffy, glowing clouds.
At the airport, all went smoothly (luckily the Greek check-in attendants ignored my slightly overweight luggage. Said goodbye to Rachel and boarded my 9:15 plane to Madrid! My flight is about 1/2 full, and as soon as the fasten-seatbelt sign turned off, people started moving all over the place. One couple moved into the empty row across the aisle from me and proceeded to half-way undress and make out with each other....
Time to get into Spanish-speaking mode! I better practice :)
Friday, January 7, 2011
Epiphany!
Thursday, January 6th 2010
Our last full day in Greece. We decided to take it easy and rest up in preparation for our journeys to Madrid/Paris tomorrow. Woke up at 7:30am, got breakfast at the Anytime! market (bananas, rice pudding) and spent some leisurely time in our room repacking our suitcases, checking our flights, weather, blogging, etc. Around 11am we headed outside (beautiful sunny day! ) to tour the last sites we hadn't yet seen. Actually, first we tried to rent bicycles but every bicycle rental shop we had ever seen or searched for on the internet was closed down with grills. Is this a New Year's thing or just a Greek economic slowdown thing? Who knows, but I guess bicycling in Greece will just have to wait for another time.
Decided to photograph some aspects of modern Athens that particularly appealed to us -- splat ball tchotchkes, babushka ladies with massive bundles of inflatable (perhaps also re-inflatable since who knows how many of those things they actually sell each day?) balloons and pretzel bread guys.
We visited Hadrian's library, right near Monastiraki. Learned that parchment scrolls were kept there, and a church was also built on the site. I feel like Hadrian left one of the biggest legacies in Athens in terms of architecture -- sounds like quite a guy. Rachel and I observed a man meditating in the center of a circular ruin (probably part of the church). We thought he wasn't doing such a great job meditating because he got easily distracted by the birds, but we couldn't blame him -- it was such a beautiful day outside, why wouldn't you want to keep your eyes open and absorb the sunlight?
After Hadrian's library, Rachel and I decided to venture into the tourist shops to get little trinkets of our own. I set my eyes on earrings -- blue with round dangling things of Greek art inspiration. Rachel wanted a round head in the Cycladian art style. Once we knew exactly what we wanted, we sped through the shops, checking prices, asking gentlyuntil we found exactly what we wanted. Very efficient, we joked, and we managed to find these little tokens.
After shopping and warding off salespersons, we decided to return to cafe Abyssinia for lunch. We had visited there on New Year's Eve and we wanted one last meal with a view of the Acropolis. Rachel spilled coins (from her money belt) everywhere as we walked in, but the waiter recognized us and welcomed us with a smile anyway. We had the Santorini fava bean dip and an assortment of mushrooms, onions, peppers and other vegetables. There was a cute Italian family eating nearby -- the father wore sunglasses inside and talked on his cellphone loudly during the meal. They ordered way too much food, and their cute little girls couldn't finish their plates.
After lunch we decided to explore what we called "the bomb hill" -- the hill from which 17th century invaders launched the bomb that destroyed so much of the parthenon. We scrabbled up to the top and took lots of photos, as usual. Some creepy guy asked if we wanted our picture taken together and asked for our names. We used our code/fake name -- Marissa and Bella -- and quickly turned away from him. Managed to get some pictures of the 2 of us anyway -- and it was cool to have a straight shot view of not only the Acropolis but also the Hill of Wolves and the Port of Piraeus. It was really fun to be able to look all around the city from so high up and realize how much of it we had explored and how many stories we had from each part of the city.
Descended the hill and wandered around the rocky trails -- we imagine that rebellious Greek teens come to this part of the park to smoke, drink and vandalize (judging by the amount of grafitti we found). Then we walked the perimeter of the park, stopping at a couple of bakeries along the way. We got baklava (made of almonds this time) from one and a little dough puff soaked in something with cream on top at the second. We enjoyed our Greek sweets back to our hostel, unsuccessfully researching to find the name of the 2nd dessert, and then proceeded to do laundry (it was busy this afternoon), drink tea and pack up.
At 7:30pm we ventured out for Kolonaki for our 8pm reservation at Oikeio -- the Michelin recommended restaurant which was also an "our pick" in lonely planet. It was very cute and homey inside (Oikeio means "homey" in Greek) with all kinds of mismatched chairs, fabric decorations and soft lighting. Our table had a great sweeping view of the whole restaurant and we enjoyed observing our fellow restaurant patrons. Many of them had iphones (some men had both the 3 and 4 version) and we were very confused when, at one point in the evening, the girls from one table went to join the guys at another table (Even though they had showed no sign of recognition when they walked in). Curious Greeks indeed.
After much menu-perusing and asking the waitress for recommendations, we chose the special tomato pie (very delicious and flavorful), Oikeo salad (also very fresh, with Haloumi cheese, which I liked for its saltiness and Rachel liked despite its rubberiness haha), smoked salmon rolls with dill (our favorite herb!) and delicious bread with Katiki-olive cheese. The house wine paired nicely too -- light and spritely, perfect for our excitement about tomorrow. After dinner we tried the cheesecake -- very different from anything you'd find at the Cheesecake factory. The cheese was almost like a yogurt-goat cheese, the bottom layer was like a cookie, and the cake was studded with cherries (for a brief second, Rachel and I thought they were olives haha) and drizzled with strawberry puree. It took a little while for the waitress to "update" our receipt with the dessert charge (Greek waiters always seem to give us the bill when they serve our main meal, so the bill always needs to be updated if we order dessert), but we were amused to sit and observe and imagine all the places we plan to explore in France and Spain.
On our walk home, we noticed that the big Sofias street that we usually walk on was closed off to cars and pedestrians. We asked the police officer what was going on and he said there'd been a bomb threat, so we turned around and walked down Konstantinou back to our hostel. Apart from the traffic jams everywhere, it didn't seem like a big deal, but we were glad to get back to our room anyway. Set our alarm for 6am and went to bed by 11pm.
Our last full day in Greece. We decided to take it easy and rest up in preparation for our journeys to Madrid/Paris tomorrow. Woke up at 7:30am, got breakfast at the Anytime! market (bananas, rice pudding) and spent some leisurely time in our room repacking our suitcases, checking our flights, weather, blogging, etc. Around 11am we headed outside (beautiful sunny day! ) to tour the last sites we hadn't yet seen. Actually, first we tried to rent bicycles but every bicycle rental shop we had ever seen or searched for on the internet was closed down with grills. Is this a New Year's thing or just a Greek economic slowdown thing? Who knows, but I guess bicycling in Greece will just have to wait for another time.
Decided to photograph some aspects of modern Athens that particularly appealed to us -- splat ball tchotchkes, babushka ladies with massive bundles of inflatable (perhaps also re-inflatable since who knows how many of those things they actually sell each day?) balloons and pretzel bread guys.
We visited Hadrian's library, right near Monastiraki. Learned that parchment scrolls were kept there, and a church was also built on the site. I feel like Hadrian left one of the biggest legacies in Athens in terms of architecture -- sounds like quite a guy. Rachel and I observed a man meditating in the center of a circular ruin (probably part of the church). We thought he wasn't doing such a great job meditating because he got easily distracted by the birds, but we couldn't blame him -- it was such a beautiful day outside, why wouldn't you want to keep your eyes open and absorb the sunlight?
After Hadrian's library, Rachel and I decided to venture into the tourist shops to get little trinkets of our own. I set my eyes on earrings -- blue with round dangling things of Greek art inspiration. Rachel wanted a round head in the Cycladian art style. Once we knew exactly what we wanted, we sped through the shops, checking prices, asking gentlyuntil we found exactly what we wanted. Very efficient, we joked, and we managed to find these little tokens.
After shopping and warding off salespersons, we decided to return to cafe Abyssinia for lunch. We had visited there on New Year's Eve and we wanted one last meal with a view of the Acropolis. Rachel spilled coins (from her money belt) everywhere as we walked in, but the waiter recognized us and welcomed us with a smile anyway. We had the Santorini fava bean dip and an assortment of mushrooms, onions, peppers and other vegetables. There was a cute Italian family eating nearby -- the father wore sunglasses inside and talked on his cellphone loudly during the meal. They ordered way too much food, and their cute little girls couldn't finish their plates.
After lunch we decided to explore what we called "the bomb hill" -- the hill from which 17th century invaders launched the bomb that destroyed so much of the parthenon. We scrabbled up to the top and took lots of photos, as usual. Some creepy guy asked if we wanted our picture taken together and asked for our names. We used our code/fake name -- Marissa and Bella -- and quickly turned away from him. Managed to get some pictures of the 2 of us anyway -- and it was cool to have a straight shot view of not only the Acropolis but also the Hill of Wolves and the Port of Piraeus. It was really fun to be able to look all around the city from so high up and realize how much of it we had explored and how many stories we had from each part of the city.
Descended the hill and wandered around the rocky trails -- we imagine that rebellious Greek teens come to this part of the park to smoke, drink and vandalize (judging by the amount of grafitti we found). Then we walked the perimeter of the park, stopping at a couple of bakeries along the way. We got baklava (made of almonds this time) from one and a little dough puff soaked in something with cream on top at the second. We enjoyed our Greek sweets back to our hostel, unsuccessfully researching to find the name of the 2nd dessert, and then proceeded to do laundry (it was busy this afternoon), drink tea and pack up.
At 7:30pm we ventured out for Kolonaki for our 8pm reservation at Oikeio -- the Michelin recommended restaurant which was also an "our pick" in lonely planet. It was very cute and homey inside (Oikeio means "homey" in Greek) with all kinds of mismatched chairs, fabric decorations and soft lighting. Our table had a great sweeping view of the whole restaurant and we enjoyed observing our fellow restaurant patrons. Many of them had iphones (some men had both the 3 and 4 version) and we were very confused when, at one point in the evening, the girls from one table went to join the guys at another table (Even though they had showed no sign of recognition when they walked in). Curious Greeks indeed.
After much menu-perusing and asking the waitress for recommendations, we chose the special tomato pie (very delicious and flavorful), Oikeo salad (also very fresh, with Haloumi cheese, which I liked for its saltiness and Rachel liked despite its rubberiness haha), smoked salmon rolls with dill (our favorite herb!) and delicious bread with Katiki-olive cheese. The house wine paired nicely too -- light and spritely, perfect for our excitement about tomorrow. After dinner we tried the cheesecake -- very different from anything you'd find at the Cheesecake factory. The cheese was almost like a yogurt-goat cheese, the bottom layer was like a cookie, and the cake was studded with cherries (for a brief second, Rachel and I thought they were olives haha) and drizzled with strawberry puree. It took a little while for the waitress to "update" our receipt with the dessert charge (Greek waiters always seem to give us the bill when they serve our main meal, so the bill always needs to be updated if we order dessert), but we were amused to sit and observe and imagine all the places we plan to explore in France and Spain.
On our walk home, we noticed that the big Sofias street that we usually walk on was closed off to cars and pedestrians. We asked the police officer what was going on and he said there'd been a bomb threat, so we turned around and walked down Konstantinou back to our hostel. Apart from the traffic jams everywhere, it didn't seem like a big deal, but we were glad to get back to our room anyway. Set our alarm for 6am and went to bed by 11pm.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Knowing only the direction of the sea
Wednesday, January 5th 2011
Woke up at 7, showered, let Rachel sleep in her "cave" until 8:30. Funny how she likes to create a cave of blankets for herself while I "burrow." I was surprisingly productive this morning -- sending out a bunch of SAY emails. Perhaps the mountain air revived and inspired me. Went to the same café next door for breakfast (tried to go to another first but we can't tolerate so much cigarette smoke in one confined space!). We had our fresh yogurt from the terra cotta pot, tea and these huge homemade croissants that arrived via dumbwaiter from below. After a very leisurely breakfast, which lasted until almost 10, we checked out of Hotel Sibyllia (the two young boys at the front desk looked exactly like their father who had been working there yesterday). They pointed out the hiking trail to Kirra and helped us store our luggage on the very narrow stairway.
Then we headed down the road toward the Sanctuary of Apollo. Before we reached the entrance, there was a giant "flock" of cats eating crumbs around the café table like pigeons! First we entered the archaeological site and started the 700 ft climb up the Sacred Way, the pathway that all pilgrims used to journey up towards the Oracle. Passed by ruins of columns where vendors once sold last-minute votives, offerings and trinkets. Reminded me of the pathways leading up towards the templed in Kyoto with all their vendors and mochi shops! Rick Steves guided us along the way, thought sometimes we paused for extra tidbits of information from the tour groups. There were some old treasuries along the way where city-states left treasures, loot, and souvenirs from battle to thank the Oracle for helping them achieve victory. There were also several pedestals where statues were once placed to honor Apollo (those remaining statues are all in the museum now). Lots of ionic columns, and remains of white and black marble -- pilgrims always brought their most precious marble stone. I liked the giant ionic column. The polygonal wall was also pretty cool (sort of like Incan walls -- rocks were fitted together perfectly without any mortar). The wall had without earthquakes perfects intact (even though Greece is the most seismically active European country!). Saw an "ompholos" -- a conical stone monument whose name means "navel" -- it was supposed to mark the center of the earth. Since Delphi was considered the center of the world, it was also the starting point of history, the Greeks believed. Then we ascended to the Temple of Apollo. The few remaining columns (made of a reddish stone that seemed to be the same stone as the surrounding mountains) were SO massive--it was incredible. The temple was the 3rd and the largest temple to be built on this site. Opposite the temple entrance was the giant altar of Apollo where pilgrims sacrificed goats and other animals (100 bulls were sacrificed at the start of every Pythian Games!). In the back chamber of the temple's "cella" (interior) was the Oracle, who sat in a bowl perched on a tripod (funny--I imagine it as if she was a witch sitting in her own cauldron haha). There was a hole in the temple floor right below her, and that's where the ravine bubbled up. Interesting that the Romans vacillated between preserving the Sanctuary (ie. Emperor Hadrian) and looting it. Around 400 CE, the Roman Emperor closed down the sanctuary altogether (along with other pagan worship sites). The site was covered up by landslides until the late 19th century when excavations began.
After circumnavigating the Sanctuary of Apollo, we wended up the staircase to the theater, where song contests were held in honor of Apollo. Theaters are semi-circular while stadiums and athletic venues are more "u-shaped." Rachel and I agreed that if we were ever in the audience of the theater, we'd probably be way too distracted by the incredible scenery in the backdrop to pay attention to the performance. The theater was remarkably intact too, which was pretty cool. Archaeolgists think the Bronze Charioteer statue (now in museum) stood at the entrance to this theater. There were LOTS of cats who purred and meandered along the steps. We continued climbing up and up, enjoying the view, which became more spectacular with each ascending bend in the road. We then entered a forested area and, slightly winded at this point, stumbled across the giant stadium where the Pythian Games were held every 4 years. The stone steps seated 7,000 people back in the day (we were surprised that so many spectators could make it up so high, and even more surprised that athletes would trek up so much before their competition! getting up to the stadium was exertion enough haha). Rachel and I both enjoyed the fresh mountainous air and both felt reminded of Yosemite -- the huge rock face that stood before us could be likened to Half Dome..
Then we visited the museum as it was starting to sprinkle a bit. Lots of little bronze statues and figurines, a very cool sphinx of naxos (I didn't realize the sphinx is made up of 4 animals: legs of a lion, body of a wolf, wings of an eagle and face of a human...) The twin Kouros statues made me laugh -- they are identical twins (rare in Greek statue work) who pulled their mother 5 miles in her chariot so she wouldn't be late for the women's athletic games. They were rewarded for their heroism by "death by blissful sleep" in the Sanctuary, so the legend goes. Perfect for Anna and Laura :)
The metopes and pediments from the sanctuary were cool and told stories like the judgment of Paris. Some things were really well-preserved because they had been covered in a layer of protective dirt from landslides. There were many statues of athletes and a statue of Emperor Hadrian's lover boy (who tragically drowned in the Nile...). Definitely the most amazing piece was the bronze charioteer. He had a very intense gaze-- some say his "stunned amazement" depicts the mood of the Greeks after they defeated the Persians... It was cool how he was holding reins for horses which had been lost in the rubble -- very ghostly. The sculptor was obviously very talented -- letting the folds of the fabric curve above the belted waist but letting them fall in very straight lines below -- the charioteer looked very upright and poised but not unrealistically rigid.
After the Archaeology Museum, the sun was shining so Rachel and I went looking for the hiking path which Rick Steves promised was 100m from the Hotel Acropole. After a few wrong turns, we found it and began our descent down the rocky but grassy mountainside like the billy goats we saw. Actually, we heard their goat bells first (didn't even know goats wore bells!) and suddenly we realized we were in the midst of hundreds of goats! They swarmed around us, staring at us with small slit eyes and then darting off to strip bark off a tree or nibble some fruit. They left their droppings everywhere, and the cacophony of sounds from their clanging bells was almost dizzying. Rachel and I got a little weirded out by some goats and their very strange horns -- we made similes to describe the various shapes, which ranged from horns like our morning croissants to horns like screwdrivers (all the better to drill into us and attack us) and horns like Pippi Longstocking pigtails. What would be the evolutionary or functional advantages of these different horn shapes?? We were also a little disturbed by the gobble tufts hanging from the goats' necks -- like teats in the wrong place? Gross... Once we passed the goats, we kept checking behind us to catch glimpses of Delphi and imagine what it would be like for the ancient greeks who carried the marble up to the site of the sanctuary way back when. We stopped at a little church and sat on a beautiful ledge to eat our apples, gazing out over the silvery green olive groves beneath. Talking about our routines at Stanford, our past family travels, Castilleja, things we want to do at some point -- all the good stuff that hiking inspires. We decided the view had so many different colors of green that the word "green" was insufficient to encompass them all. We kept looking ahead to the town of Kirra, glowing in the sunlight and perched on the shore. Funny how we could walk so far, not knowing anything about our destination but knowing only the direction of the sea.
Finally we reached the olive groves. We came across old farmers on ladders whacking olives from the branches into nets spread on the ground. They didn't seem to speak English, but they kindly smiled and pointed us in the direction of the path when it periodically disappeared into the thick wet grass. Wending our way under the olive trees, we agreed that the color and shape of the trees reminded us of "Our Day With Thee" -- the olive branches like a "crown of silv'ry hair" of an aged person. Something very peaceful about the sound of goat bells and birds chirping and the graceful gnarliness of the olive tree trunks. Eventually we came upon the sleepy town of Kirra. I wonder if that's where the names Kyra and Kira came from? Who knows. We loped along the seaside, spotted a very cute couple way off in a distant rowboat, and began our hunt for a lunch place. Most things looked closed -- clearly, this is the off-season for tourists. But we found a little taberna open right on the water (continuing our streak of meals with fabulous views). The host was a little surprised to see us, but set up our table with the usual big paper napkin, salt and pepper, olive oil and cutlery. We opened up the menu with big plastic pages and pictures of dishes, and we decided on "mountain vegetable salad" and "shrimp saganaki." Saw the host scrubbing some giant leafy green vegetable that looked like it had just been uprooted -- our salad was very fresh. Saganaki apparently is the word for a cooking pan -- our shrimp saganaki turned out to be big prawns in a tomato and cheese sauce -- very delicious, especially with our fresh bread. We were the only customers in the whole place and I think in the whole town, but the food was still very fresh and tasty. Listened to some American pop songs as we ate -- as usual.
After lunch, we ventured out in search of the bus that our guide books had mentioned could bring us back to Delphi. We first asked a convenient store shopowner where the bus stop was and he pointed us down the street. We waited at the curb which we thought was a bus stop for a while. A bus came by, we stepped in an asked, Delphus? but he waved us out of the bus indicating that the bus went in the other direction. So we crossed the street and tried hailing the next bus -- but that driver sped past and stopped at the next block to let out a passenger by some garbage dumpsters. We ran behind the bus, waving and yelling but he totally disregarded us! Dismayed and deflated in energy, we turned back to wait a little longer and try to find the actual bus stop. The shopowner (who had probably watched the whole episode in amusement) came out and walked over to the actual bus stop (probably thought we were idiots haha). It was right next to the dumpster bins, with no indication of that actually being a bus stop... typical. So there we waited for the next 20 minutes, during which time we learned a few more letters in the Greek alphabet to decipher the surrounding signs and wonder how the name 'Greece" came from the Greek word "Hellas." A question for the Oracle (or Wikipedia) for sure. Eventually we caught a bus, but soon realized that it only took us to Itea, the next coastal town. there we had to buy another ticket to get us to Delphi, but that bus didn't leave until 5:45, and it would be the same bus that would continue on to Athens. Clearly this was unacceptable, because it was only 4:45 and we needed to get to Delphi before 6pm in order to retrieve our luggage. We sat in a café to brainstorm over tea and hot water. Rachel thought up ways we could get a local person to let us hitchhike up to Delphi, but eventually we decided to try a taxi. Our barrista offered to order a taxi for us but couldn't reach his driver friend, so we walked out to the taxi stand and got an elderly taxi driver to give us a lift. 20 euros to get up the mountain, 16km. Definitely worth it to avoid missing the last bus back to Athens haha. Drove by a town halfway up the mountain called Crissa; our driver was very excited that we came from California (he chortled at the idea of how expensive it would be to take a taxi from California to Kirra), and he told us that the aquaduct that we had crossed while hiking brings water 320 km to Athens. Luckily we arrived in Delphi at 5:30 with plenty of time to get our bags and hang around the bus station until 6:15 when the bus rolled into town. Watched some street cats duke it out under a car with lots of high-pitched screeching. So happy to board the warm bus, warm up our hands, set down our heavy bags (lugging laptops around is heavy haha) and sleep for a bit. Rachel wrote a poem about our day -- so cute! It was probably my favorite day in Greece. Absolutely idyllic scenery, hiking, astounding views, kindly people helping us along our journey/odyssey, seaside towns, fresh air, Rachel's good humor and the natural tranquility.
When we arrived in Athens, it almost felt like coming home. We arrived at 9:15pm, then boarded a bus to go down Loisson street, then the metro from Attiki to Evangelismos. Tried to get into that Michelin-recommended restaurant for the 3rd time in a week but they were so crowded they turned us away. We did get a reservation for tomorrow night though! Then trekked back to the Metro to go to Acropoli, and finally sat down to dinner at 10:30pm. Even though we ate at a touristic café, the food was good and service was friendly. And, most importantly, it was only a 3 minute walk from the hostel. When we finally got back to the hostel, we had the privilege of lugging our suitcases out of temporory storage and back into room 10, our old room. I crashed immediately at 11:30pm. We have the lower bunks this time.
Again though, definitely my favorite day in Greece. From the mountains to the sea and back to Athina again!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Pilgrimage to the Oracle -- Tuesday Jan. 4 2010
Woke up at 6am today, ready to make our journey to Delphi. We realized we'd been pronouncing the name of the sanctuary wrong all this time -- it's dell-FEE, not DELL-fee... Showered, found a supermarket with apples and bananas (things definitely looked a bit more lively now that it was Jan. 4th. Rachel and I joked that the Greeks were finally stirring awake and returning to work for the first time since New Year's Eve.) Packed up our suitcases to put in storage and then headed out to catch our bus to Delphi. It was a little more complicated that we had thought... Apparently the local bus that usually runs to the big Terminal B long-distance bus station is no longer in service. We were informed of this by an avuncular gentleman who had spent 5 years in Pasadena (as he proudly exclaimed to us!). He apologized for smoking and then wrote us detailed instructions about how to get to Terminal B via metro. Luckily Rachel and I had allotted enough time so we made it to the metro, got off at Attiki, hitched a city bus (took 2 tries as the first driver did not speak English and seemed to be going the wrong way) to Terminal B. It was a typical grungy bus station, but it was amusing to watch the elderly ladies feed bread crumbs to pigeons inside. Greek people seem to especially love their pigeons! Caught the 10:30am bus leaving Athens for Delphi. So nice to travel when there aren't too many tourists around -- Rachel and I could sprawl out with our luggage and nap a little. Woke to these amazingly huge rocky mountains. It was a cloudy, misty day, but the overcast weather made the ubiquitous olive trees look even more silvery and beautiful. The bus ride lasted 3 hours, but it was nice chance to relax, read up about Delphi and just watch the scenery -- mostly mountains, farmland and tiny mountain villages. At one point we passed through a city and scraped a lady's car. She was very angry and called the police. We had to wait for them to arrive and sort it out with the bus driver, but it was actually kind of amusing to watch our fellow bus passengers make a point to go outside, crane their necks and try to converse (don't know what their intention was... haha). A few rows in front of Rachel was an Italian couple who periodically made out with each other on the bus -- also a source of entertainment for us...
Arrived in Delphi at the edge of the very sleepy little town. It is definitely colder than Athens -- Rachel says the weather makes her "ears feel pointy." The air is brisk but also very fresh -- so much cleaner than the city air of Athens! Everywhere in Delphi you look out on a gorgeous, dramatic view (craggy rocky mountains, vast plains of olive trees, a blue sky with patchy clouds, the distant port of Kirra). It's built on the slopes of Mount Parnassos, and there's definitely something inspiring and calming about being so high up with such a spectacular view of the surroundings.
First things first, Rachel and I checked in at our hotel, Hotel Sibyllia. The Sibyl was the name of the Oracle at Delphi. She (always a woman, usually an older woman)sat in a little tripod seat, inhaled the vapors from the spring and uttered some vague babbles in answer to the questions (about politics, morals, love, daily dilemmas, anything) posed by pilgrims. The Oracle was believed to be able to "channel" the spirit of Apollo. Priests interpreted her babblings to the visitors. Famous Delphi visitors include Alexander the Great (apparently the Oracle told him he was unstoppable) and Socrates (who was inspired by the quote "know thyself" above the entrance to the sanctuary of Apollo). The Ancient Greeks believed Delphi was the center -- the navel -- of the earth. This was determined when Zeus sent two eagles in opposite directions to fly around the world; they met in Delphi. Delphi was also the center of worship of Apollo, god of the Sun.
I'm getting carried away though... so we checked into our hotel (only 28 euros/night for one room, very clean and the brothers who work at the front desk are extremely helpful). Then went down to a neighboring café for lunch -- spanakopita and vegetable soup-- overlooking the gorge. Sitting just behind us was a Professor from Temple University, an archaeologist who specializes in Black Vase pottery. He said he was just visiting sites in Delphi he hadn't seen in a while (he's been coming here since he was a teenager). He tried to give us haggling advice for whenever we go to Istanbul and told some story about how he ended up buying 2 rugs the last time he went to Turkey.
After lunch we headed over to the ruins of the Temple of Pronaia Athena. First we walked by the Gymnasium where athletes trained for the Pythian Games (superseded in size only by the Olympic Games of the ancient world) which were held once every four years to commemorate Apollo's victory over Python. Then we came upon the Tholos -- a round temple with an unknown function. We wanted to hike up to the Castalian spring (where pilgrims went to wash themselves before consulting the Oracle) but it was all closed down and it looked like the wooden scaffolding up the trail was crumbling! As we walked around the Tholos and the gymnasium though, the sun peeked out from the clouds and illuminated the marble colums and the rocky face of the mountain. We spotted some billy goats way down below us and marveled at the old olive trees all around us. Everything was so lush and green -- can't wait to do a hike tomorrow!
Checked out the edge of town, ran into Mr. Professor again (waiting for the 4:00 bus back to Athens) who "name-dropped" that his daughter was an actress on Law and Order... One thing we did learn from him though was that 90% of the cost of the marble used to construct the sanctuary and temple here at Delphi came solely from transporting the marble from the port of Kirra up here to the mountain slope. Then we found some delightful staircases and narrow passages to poke around, purchased very fresh Greek yogurt in a terracotta pot (!!) retrieved our computers and lounged in the free wifi café after dark. They had delicious fresh squeezed orange juice. Our waiter was very intrigued by how we typed away at our computers "like they were pianos" and he asked if we ever did anything with pen and paper anymore. He was a Delphi-native, and he made a very interesting comment that Delphi "is a small town... small town, big problems." He didn't elaborate further, but Rachel and I guessed these problems had to do with the economy, the tourist industry and overall slowdown... but who knows?!
Then we headed to dinner at a little family-run taverna. Our waiter had a brother who looked just like him, and the whole family seemed to be eating in the restaurant. We had a rocket salad with very fresh goat cheese (almost like quark or something...). They made their own olive oil there too. We also had rabbit-onion stew. All their vegetables and ingredients were locally produced. Delicious baklava sticks for dessert too. Now it's 9:30pm and Rachel and I falling asleep! It's definitely a sleepy little town in the off-season, and I think we're just enjoying the chance to breathe the quiet mountain air deeply...
Arrived in Delphi at the edge of the very sleepy little town. It is definitely colder than Athens -- Rachel says the weather makes her "ears feel pointy." The air is brisk but also very fresh -- so much cleaner than the city air of Athens! Everywhere in Delphi you look out on a gorgeous, dramatic view (craggy rocky mountains, vast plains of olive trees, a blue sky with patchy clouds, the distant port of Kirra). It's built on the slopes of Mount Parnassos, and there's definitely something inspiring and calming about being so high up with such a spectacular view of the surroundings.
First things first, Rachel and I checked in at our hotel, Hotel Sibyllia. The Sibyl was the name of the Oracle at Delphi. She (always a woman, usually an older woman)sat in a little tripod seat, inhaled the vapors from the spring and uttered some vague babbles in answer to the questions (about politics, morals, love, daily dilemmas, anything) posed by pilgrims. The Oracle was believed to be able to "channel" the spirit of Apollo. Priests interpreted her babblings to the visitors. Famous Delphi visitors include Alexander the Great (apparently the Oracle told him he was unstoppable) and Socrates (who was inspired by the quote "know thyself" above the entrance to the sanctuary of Apollo). The Ancient Greeks believed Delphi was the center -- the navel -- of the earth. This was determined when Zeus sent two eagles in opposite directions to fly around the world; they met in Delphi. Delphi was also the center of worship of Apollo, god of the Sun.
I'm getting carried away though... so we checked into our hotel (only 28 euros/night for one room, very clean and the brothers who work at the front desk are extremely helpful). Then went down to a neighboring café for lunch -- spanakopita and vegetable soup-- overlooking the gorge. Sitting just behind us was a Professor from Temple University, an archaeologist who specializes in Black Vase pottery. He said he was just visiting sites in Delphi he hadn't seen in a while (he's been coming here since he was a teenager). He tried to give us haggling advice for whenever we go to Istanbul and told some story about how he ended up buying 2 rugs the last time he went to Turkey.
After lunch we headed over to the ruins of the Temple of Pronaia Athena. First we walked by the Gymnasium where athletes trained for the Pythian Games (superseded in size only by the Olympic Games of the ancient world) which were held once every four years to commemorate Apollo's victory over Python. Then we came upon the Tholos -- a round temple with an unknown function. We wanted to hike up to the Castalian spring (where pilgrims went to wash themselves before consulting the Oracle) but it was all closed down and it looked like the wooden scaffolding up the trail was crumbling! As we walked around the Tholos and the gymnasium though, the sun peeked out from the clouds and illuminated the marble colums and the rocky face of the mountain. We spotted some billy goats way down below us and marveled at the old olive trees all around us. Everything was so lush and green -- can't wait to do a hike tomorrow!
Checked out the edge of town, ran into Mr. Professor again (waiting for the 4:00 bus back to Athens) who "name-dropped" that his daughter was an actress on Law and Order... One thing we did learn from him though was that 90% of the cost of the marble used to construct the sanctuary and temple here at Delphi came solely from transporting the marble from the port of Kirra up here to the mountain slope. Then we found some delightful staircases and narrow passages to poke around, purchased very fresh Greek yogurt in a terracotta pot (!!) retrieved our computers and lounged in the free wifi café after dark. They had delicious fresh squeezed orange juice. Our waiter was very intrigued by how we typed away at our computers "like they were pianos" and he asked if we ever did anything with pen and paper anymore. He was a Delphi-native, and he made a very interesting comment that Delphi "is a small town... small town, big problems." He didn't elaborate further, but Rachel and I guessed these problems had to do with the economy, the tourist industry and overall slowdown... but who knows?!
Then we headed to dinner at a little family-run taverna. Our waiter had a brother who looked just like him, and the whole family seemed to be eating in the restaurant. We had a rocket salad with very fresh goat cheese (almost like quark or something...). They made their own olive oil there too. We also had rabbit-onion stew. All their vegetables and ingredients were locally produced. Delicious baklava sticks for dessert too. Now it's 9:30pm and Rachel and I falling asleep! It's definitely a sleepy little town in the off-season, and I think we're just enjoying the chance to breathe the quiet mountain air deeply...
Monday, January 3, 2011
Water, water, everywhere!
Monday
Breakfast with Mee, our roommate who is leaving for Istanbul today
Athensbybike bike rental not open, even at 10:30
Piraeus walkabout. This is the biggest port in the Mediterranean!
no bicycles in Piraeus. everyone was shocked by the idea that we wanted to bike around the port city!
Lots of ferries
At one of the harbors, we found a series of exercise machines with detailed instructions. They were mostly being utilized by excited old ladies. The "surf simulator" was pretty cool -- as was the giant metal elliptical. In English, signs detailed how they improved "pneumonic function and flexibility" and also explained how to use the machines.
Beautiful little harbors with fishing boats and leisure yachts.
It was funny to see how the buildings were practically toppling into the water because they were so built up to the water. We came across a beautiful little sandy beach with swimming pools, tennis courts and squash courts. We talked about water polo, team sports, competition...
Lunch at the slowest place on earth. Probably because we ended up eating around 12:45 -- way too early by Greek standards. The first place we visited wasn't even open until 1pm. Exhausting attempt to order our greek salad and fisherman's spaghetti. We practically had to walk out of the restaurant before they brought us the bill. Waitresses had to walk across the street to get the food from the kitchen. Rachel and I suspect we get better service from male waiters. The food was good though, and we were sitting right next to the water with a gorgeous view of the sea.
After lunch, we walked over to one of the huge stadiums in the city -- no signs to explain, but it looked like a giant grey and orange dome that was perhaps built for the Olympics. Conveniently, the metro stopped right next door so we hopped on. Unfortunately though, once we got to Monastiriki, the metro backtracked and starting heading back to Piraeus! So we quickly jumped off at Thissio and walked back to the hostel. The streets have very poor gutter systems, so water was flooding down the Acropolis. Droves of umbrella salesmen approached us, but on principle, Rachel and I decided we would not purchase one from them. We were going to get wet anyway on the 20 minute walk (rain was torrential at this point) and we had raincoats already.
Back at the hostel, we dried off, enjoyed hot tea and stretched and planned for Delphi tomorrow.
At 5:30 we trekked over to Kolonaki for yoga, but I think we may have gone to the mailing address and not the actual studio... it's hard to tell because the website was mostly in Greek, but bottom line, we couldn't find it. We have yet to find a good functional online map of Athens! And google maps is surprisingly unhelpful.
Oh well though, we laughed it off, did some yoga on our own in the room (which we now have all to ourselves) and napped from 6:30 to 8:45! Then went to Strofi taverna for dinner -- a historic establishment where visitors often dine after a performance at the Odeon.
We had very hospitable service, delicious food (an amuse bouche of breadcrumbs -- had to be soaked in water first -- with tomato and cheese, beets with yogurt-dill sauce, tomatoes stuffed with rice, pinenuts and raisins, and sea bream fish). House wine was the best we've had in Greece. oddly, they served a shot of vodka to us as we ordered (definitely didn't drink it -- made no sense to us) and limoncello afterwards. Finished up dinner at 11:30 and went right back to bed hahah! So exhausted but such a relaxing evening.
Breakfast with Mee, our roommate who is leaving for Istanbul today
Athensbybike bike rental not open, even at 10:30
Piraeus walkabout. This is the biggest port in the Mediterranean!
no bicycles in Piraeus. everyone was shocked by the idea that we wanted to bike around the port city!
Lots of ferries
At one of the harbors, we found a series of exercise machines with detailed instructions. They were mostly being utilized by excited old ladies. The "surf simulator" was pretty cool -- as was the giant metal elliptical. In English, signs detailed how they improved "pneumonic function and flexibility" and also explained how to use the machines.
Beautiful little harbors with fishing boats and leisure yachts.
It was funny to see how the buildings were practically toppling into the water because they were so built up to the water. We came across a beautiful little sandy beach with swimming pools, tennis courts and squash courts. We talked about water polo, team sports, competition...
Lunch at the slowest place on earth. Probably because we ended up eating around 12:45 -- way too early by Greek standards. The first place we visited wasn't even open until 1pm. Exhausting attempt to order our greek salad and fisherman's spaghetti. We practically had to walk out of the restaurant before they brought us the bill. Waitresses had to walk across the street to get the food from the kitchen. Rachel and I suspect we get better service from male waiters. The food was good though, and we were sitting right next to the water with a gorgeous view of the sea.
After lunch, we walked over to one of the huge stadiums in the city -- no signs to explain, but it looked like a giant grey and orange dome that was perhaps built for the Olympics. Conveniently, the metro stopped right next door so we hopped on. Unfortunately though, once we got to Monastiriki, the metro backtracked and starting heading back to Piraeus! So we quickly jumped off at Thissio and walked back to the hostel. The streets have very poor gutter systems, so water was flooding down the Acropolis. Droves of umbrella salesmen approached us, but on principle, Rachel and I decided we would not purchase one from them. We were going to get wet anyway on the 20 minute walk (rain was torrential at this point) and we had raincoats already.
Back at the hostel, we dried off, enjoyed hot tea and stretched and planned for Delphi tomorrow.
At 5:30 we trekked over to Kolonaki for yoga, but I think we may have gone to the mailing address and not the actual studio... it's hard to tell because the website was mostly in Greek, but bottom line, we couldn't find it. We have yet to find a good functional online map of Athens! And google maps is surprisingly unhelpful.
Oh well though, we laughed it off, did some yoga on our own in the room (which we now have all to ourselves) and napped from 6:30 to 8:45! Then went to Strofi taverna for dinner -- a historic establishment where visitors often dine after a performance at the Odeon.
We had very hospitable service, delicious food (an amuse bouche of breadcrumbs -- had to be soaked in water first -- with tomato and cheese, beets with yogurt-dill sauce, tomatoes stuffed with rice, pinenuts and raisins, and sea bream fish). House wine was the best we've had in Greece. oddly, they served a shot of vodka to us as we ordered (definitely didn't drink it -- made no sense to us) and limoncello afterwards. Finished up dinner at 11:30 and went right back to bed hahah! So exhausted but such a relaxing evening.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Thunderbolts in the sky! January 2, 2011
Today is our first day with sub-optimal weather. Rain started around 9am and the forecast says it'll last through the evening. The thunder and lightning reminds me of all the statues and pictures we've seen of angry Zeus wielding heavy thunderbolts. Luckily it wasn't raining too hard in the morning, so Rachel and I were still able to walk about a fair bit, dodging rain drops like pros.
Started off the day with a morning stroll to get our greek yogurt for breakfast. Since it's Sunday, we decided to attend a Greek Orthodox service. The first church we tried had just ended it's Mass, so we moved on to a different one somewhere at the base of the Acropolis. Inside, we were confronted with the strong smell of incense and the sounds of the priest chanting (in Greek, I assume?). The priest wore a big white cape embroidered with silver thread. Every bit of wall space in the church was adorned with murals or hung paintings, all in the typical 2D Byzantine-style. The church-goers continually crossed themselves, and everyone who entered kissed a painting that was placed at the entrance of the church. I think it was a painting of a saint... After the mass, all the churchgoers went to the front to take communion. Instead of crackers, they all received a big chunk of bread. Then they went outside to mingle and socialize.
After the church service, Rachel and I ventured over to the New Acropolis museum. Lots of street vendors tried to sell us umbrellas (amazing how quickly they can switch from the tourist tchotchkes to practical necessities).
Rick Steves had suggested that the New Acropolis museum had been built to demonstrate to the world in general and the British Museum in particular that Greece was ready and deserved to get its Elgin marble statues back (most are currently housed in the British Museum but some are in the Louvre, Germany, other places). Our visit today convinced me that this was a primary motivation for the construction of this museum! Throughout the museum we were reminded by placards and gaping holes that many of the ancient Greek treasures are housed thousands of miles away from the Parthenon. Don't doubt the power of ancient artifacts to stir heated political controversy...
First of all, the architecture of the New Acropolis museum is pretty cool. The floor is made of glass so you can look down and see what looks like an archaeological dig site. The top floor of the museum is positioned slightly askew from the other floors -- the top floor (which provides a life-size model of the Parthenon) is actually positioned to parallel the Parthenon. The glass walls and windows allow visitors to constantly look back and forth between the actual Parthenon and the remnants of statues, friezes and artifacts that once adorned the structure. Rachel and I agreed the museum designers had definitely done an impressive job.
On the ground floor we saw mostly pottery, lamps and votives. Since the first temple was built on the Acropolis, Greeks brought offerings to the Goddess both to please her and to thank the gods for granting them a wish. Apparently a lot of ancient Greeks got married along the slopes of the Acropolis. Mid-January to mid-February was the month of marriage, and the preparations and ceremonies were a big deal. On the first floor we saw the remains of one of the oldest pediments from the acropolis: The earliest Parthenon was called the Hekatompedon, and its pediment shows 2 lionesses tearing up Taurus. It was built around 570 BC and its name means "100 feet long."
Then we went up to the Parthenon gallery, which was definitely my favorite part. It showed the life-size layout of the marble pediments, frieze and metope panels. The frieze reliefs depict the summer procession (the Great Panathenaia) honoring the goddess Athena, which took place every 4 years and lasted 12 days. It depicts lots of important Athenians, animals and horses, and on the east side (would have been above the entrance to the temple) it also depicts the Athenian people presenting the "peplos" gift to the cult statue of Athena. Of the 160 original meters of frieze, the Acropolis has 50, the British Museum has 80, 1 is in Paris and fragments of the others are scattered around Europe. The New Acropolis museum noted under each panel whether it was rear or original and, if the real one was not present, where that panel currently exists. Rachel and I also laughed because the plaster replica panels were so crude and ugly -- they hadn't even bothered to smooth out the lines of plaster -- probably because the Greek museum curators hope those plaster proxies will only need to be used for a very short period of time before the British deliver the Parthenon treasures to their "home". I wonder if the British will ever let go though...
While the frieze decorated the outside of the Parthenon, the inner wall was covered with metopes -- 92 panels depicting self-contained scenes of struggle. Most of the subjects were scenes from legendary battles (especially Greek victories over the Persians). While the metopes are also relief art, each relief is so substantial (if that's the right adjective...) sometimes up to 6inches deep, that these reliefs could almost be considered sculptures.
Probably the most impressive part of this exhibit were the pediments -- the triangular spaces at the roof at each end of the temple, which were the last parts of the building to be decorated in sculpture (437-432 BC). Again, the museum detailed exactly which parts of the sculpture were original and which fragments were replicas based on originals housed in foreign museums. The east pediment (above the temple entrance) depicts the birth of the Athena from the head of her father, Zeus, in the presence of the Olympic gods like Apollo, Iris (the other messenger) and Artemis. The west pediment illustrates the dispute between Athena and Poseidon for the claim of the land of Attica (which, of course, Athena won). Athena and Poseidon are both flanked by their respective chariots, though sometimes only the hooves of the horses remain.
After admiring the Parthenon gallery, Rachel and I descended to see the Caryatid maidens from the Erechtheion. These statues are undergoing laser renovation, which is actually taking place in the museum so as not to have to move the very fragile statues. They were very beautiful, although unfortunately their faces were mostly rough and eroded. Apparently, the pollution and grime to which the statues were exposed during 20th century caused more destruction to the statues than all the other centuries preceding. Makes me wonder what the pollution is doing to my own face every time I walk into the street ... ew. There was another cool goddess statue head made of marble with a dark stain down the face -- looked like the goddess was crying. The statue had holes in the eyes too -- probably for inlay of some sort.
After the New Acropolis museum, Rachel and I walked over to the Temple of Olympian Zeus. It was the biggest temple, has huge Corinthian columns (one of which toppled very dramatically in a gust of wind), and took almost 700 years to complete. It was finally completed by Emperor Hadrian (a "philhellene"), who took the liberty of commissioning an enormous statue of himself, exactly the same size as the giant ivory-gold statue of Zeus -- they were to be worshipped as co-equals! Temple construction began in the 6th century BCE and was completed in the 2nd century CE.
Then we continued on to the Panathenaic stadium, the marble stadium which we'd walked past at night on New Year's eve. This is where the 2004 Olympic marathon finished. Many more umbrella salesmen...
Then we found a street of chocolate shops -- all still mostly selling Christmas chocolates. Then we went to a "no-frills" restaurant for lunch. Even though it was probably 1:30pm when we sat down, we were clearly very early. Waited for 30 minutes for our waitress to write in the prices on the menu (based on the stacks of vegetables and fish she could find in the kitchen). We ended up having our favorite fava bean dip, bread and eggplant-tomato-garlic-onion dip all for 12 euros. When we asked for hot water to drink, our waitress confirmed, "so, almost boiling?" The food was very good, but too bad the service was so lackadaisical. Oh well, not many places are open on Sunday so it was a good find overall. After lunch we headed back to the hostel for tea and the dessert we purchased in a bakery yesterday: almond-honey cookie and a shredded-wheat-honey-walnut-pistachio thing. Quite tasty, and it was nice to have something sweet with our tea as we gazed out at the rain.
After our siesta, went out in search of bananas (luckily the rain had stopped) but no success in finding an open grocery store. Returned to the hostel to look up restaurants in Psirri, the student neighborhood. Ventured over to Iroon square to eat at a place filled with young Greek-looking people and red-and-white checked table cloths. Felt like a tavern of sorts -- I guess it was a "taberna." Had our greek salad, eggplant-tomato-garlic-potato casserole, bread, graviera cheese and white house wine from a red pitcher. Meals extend forever! When our waiter brought a 2nd pitcher of complimentary wine against our wishes, we asked for the check. We find amusement in the fact that the Greeks who are sitting in the restaurant when we arrive are still eating and drinking by the time we leave 2 hours later.
On our way walking back to the hostel, we started coming up with lists of things that are randomly sold on the streets of Athens: huge balloons (often 100+ are being touted by a stooped little old lady in traditional dress. Balloons include giant inflated Dora the Explorer and other cartoon characters), umbrellas on rainy days, artificially colored roses in the evenings, plastic "splat" toys, mass-produced kitcschy paintings, chestnuts, corn on the cob, oranges picked straight from the trees that line the sidewalk....
Back at the hostel, we met up with "Moo" and his Egyptian hostel roommate. Moo, a year younger than us, has lived in Athens for 2 years (is originally from Indianapolis), but Rachel and I knew the streets and neighborhoods better than he did. Moseyed through Psirri (Greeks apparently pronounce the P every so slightly) and then over to Gazi. The Egyptian guy, touting his high-tech camera, bought Swiss iced tea from a kiosk. He informed us that the city of Philadelphia is in Pennsylvania and that he has "loads" of American friends. Moo said that Greek people don't work -- they just go out and eat all the time and pass the night away in bars and nightclubs. He doesn't seem to like living in Athens. We learned en route that the loudpseakers blaring political propaganda are in fact an effort to inspire social consciousness among passersby. We were disturbed that some of the speakers in the recordings included Stalin, Hitler and Moussolini... When we ended up at Soho again, Rachel and I decided to duck out and return to the hostel to sleep instead.
Started off the day with a morning stroll to get our greek yogurt for breakfast. Since it's Sunday, we decided to attend a Greek Orthodox service. The first church we tried had just ended it's Mass, so we moved on to a different one somewhere at the base of the Acropolis. Inside, we were confronted with the strong smell of incense and the sounds of the priest chanting (in Greek, I assume?). The priest wore a big white cape embroidered with silver thread. Every bit of wall space in the church was adorned with murals or hung paintings, all in the typical 2D Byzantine-style. The church-goers continually crossed themselves, and everyone who entered kissed a painting that was placed at the entrance of the church. I think it was a painting of a saint... After the mass, all the churchgoers went to the front to take communion. Instead of crackers, they all received a big chunk of bread. Then they went outside to mingle and socialize.
After the church service, Rachel and I ventured over to the New Acropolis museum. Lots of street vendors tried to sell us umbrellas (amazing how quickly they can switch from the tourist tchotchkes to practical necessities).
Rick Steves had suggested that the New Acropolis museum had been built to demonstrate to the world in general and the British Museum in particular that Greece was ready and deserved to get its Elgin marble statues back (most are currently housed in the British Museum but some are in the Louvre, Germany, other places). Our visit today convinced me that this was a primary motivation for the construction of this museum! Throughout the museum we were reminded by placards and gaping holes that many of the ancient Greek treasures are housed thousands of miles away from the Parthenon. Don't doubt the power of ancient artifacts to stir heated political controversy...
First of all, the architecture of the New Acropolis museum is pretty cool. The floor is made of glass so you can look down and see what looks like an archaeological dig site. The top floor of the museum is positioned slightly askew from the other floors -- the top floor (which provides a life-size model of the Parthenon) is actually positioned to parallel the Parthenon. The glass walls and windows allow visitors to constantly look back and forth between the actual Parthenon and the remnants of statues, friezes and artifacts that once adorned the structure. Rachel and I agreed the museum designers had definitely done an impressive job.
On the ground floor we saw mostly pottery, lamps and votives. Since the first temple was built on the Acropolis, Greeks brought offerings to the Goddess both to please her and to thank the gods for granting them a wish. Apparently a lot of ancient Greeks got married along the slopes of the Acropolis. Mid-January to mid-February was the month of marriage, and the preparations and ceremonies were a big deal. On the first floor we saw the remains of one of the oldest pediments from the acropolis: The earliest Parthenon was called the Hekatompedon, and its pediment shows 2 lionesses tearing up Taurus. It was built around 570 BC and its name means "100 feet long."
Then we went up to the Parthenon gallery, which was definitely my favorite part. It showed the life-size layout of the marble pediments, frieze and metope panels. The frieze reliefs depict the summer procession (the Great Panathenaia) honoring the goddess Athena, which took place every 4 years and lasted 12 days. It depicts lots of important Athenians, animals and horses, and on the east side (would have been above the entrance to the temple) it also depicts the Athenian people presenting the "peplos" gift to the cult statue of Athena. Of the 160 original meters of frieze, the Acropolis has 50, the British Museum has 80, 1 is in Paris and fragments of the others are scattered around Europe. The New Acropolis museum noted under each panel whether it was rear or original and, if the real one was not present, where that panel currently exists. Rachel and I also laughed because the plaster replica panels were so crude and ugly -- they hadn't even bothered to smooth out the lines of plaster -- probably because the Greek museum curators hope those plaster proxies will only need to be used for a very short period of time before the British deliver the Parthenon treasures to their "home". I wonder if the British will ever let go though...
While the frieze decorated the outside of the Parthenon, the inner wall was covered with metopes -- 92 panels depicting self-contained scenes of struggle. Most of the subjects were scenes from legendary battles (especially Greek victories over the Persians). While the metopes are also relief art, each relief is so substantial (if that's the right adjective...) sometimes up to 6inches deep, that these reliefs could almost be considered sculptures.
Probably the most impressive part of this exhibit were the pediments -- the triangular spaces at the roof at each end of the temple, which were the last parts of the building to be decorated in sculpture (437-432 BC). Again, the museum detailed exactly which parts of the sculpture were original and which fragments were replicas based on originals housed in foreign museums. The east pediment (above the temple entrance) depicts the birth of the Athena from the head of her father, Zeus, in the presence of the Olympic gods like Apollo, Iris (the other messenger) and Artemis. The west pediment illustrates the dispute between Athena and Poseidon for the claim of the land of Attica (which, of course, Athena won). Athena and Poseidon are both flanked by their respective chariots, though sometimes only the hooves of the horses remain.
After admiring the Parthenon gallery, Rachel and I descended to see the Caryatid maidens from the Erechtheion. These statues are undergoing laser renovation, which is actually taking place in the museum so as not to have to move the very fragile statues. They were very beautiful, although unfortunately their faces were mostly rough and eroded. Apparently, the pollution and grime to which the statues were exposed during 20th century caused more destruction to the statues than all the other centuries preceding. Makes me wonder what the pollution is doing to my own face every time I walk into the street ... ew. There was another cool goddess statue head made of marble with a dark stain down the face -- looked like the goddess was crying. The statue had holes in the eyes too -- probably for inlay of some sort.
After the New Acropolis museum, Rachel and I walked over to the Temple of Olympian Zeus. It was the biggest temple, has huge Corinthian columns (one of which toppled very dramatically in a gust of wind), and took almost 700 years to complete. It was finally completed by Emperor Hadrian (a "philhellene"), who took the liberty of commissioning an enormous statue of himself, exactly the same size as the giant ivory-gold statue of Zeus -- they were to be worshipped as co-equals! Temple construction began in the 6th century BCE and was completed in the 2nd century CE.
Then we continued on to the Panathenaic stadium, the marble stadium which we'd walked past at night on New Year's eve. This is where the 2004 Olympic marathon finished. Many more umbrella salesmen...
Then we found a street of chocolate shops -- all still mostly selling Christmas chocolates. Then we went to a "no-frills" restaurant for lunch. Even though it was probably 1:30pm when we sat down, we were clearly very early. Waited for 30 minutes for our waitress to write in the prices on the menu (based on the stacks of vegetables and fish she could find in the kitchen). We ended up having our favorite fava bean dip, bread and eggplant-tomato-garlic-onion dip all for 12 euros. When we asked for hot water to drink, our waitress confirmed, "so, almost boiling?" The food was very good, but too bad the service was so lackadaisical. Oh well, not many places are open on Sunday so it was a good find overall. After lunch we headed back to the hostel for tea and the dessert we purchased in a bakery yesterday: almond-honey cookie and a shredded-wheat-honey-walnut-pistachio thing. Quite tasty, and it was nice to have something sweet with our tea as we gazed out at the rain.
After our siesta, went out in search of bananas (luckily the rain had stopped) but no success in finding an open grocery store. Returned to the hostel to look up restaurants in Psirri, the student neighborhood. Ventured over to Iroon square to eat at a place filled with young Greek-looking people and red-and-white checked table cloths. Felt like a tavern of sorts -- I guess it was a "taberna." Had our greek salad, eggplant-tomato-garlic-potato casserole, bread, graviera cheese and white house wine from a red pitcher. Meals extend forever! When our waiter brought a 2nd pitcher of complimentary wine against our wishes, we asked for the check. We find amusement in the fact that the Greeks who are sitting in the restaurant when we arrive are still eating and drinking by the time we leave 2 hours later.
On our way walking back to the hostel, we started coming up with lists of things that are randomly sold on the streets of Athens: huge balloons (often 100+ are being touted by a stooped little old lady in traditional dress. Balloons include giant inflated Dora the Explorer and other cartoon characters), umbrellas on rainy days, artificially colored roses in the evenings, plastic "splat" toys, mass-produced kitcschy paintings, chestnuts, corn on the cob, oranges picked straight from the trees that line the sidewalk....
Back at the hostel, we met up with "Moo" and his Egyptian hostel roommate. Moo, a year younger than us, has lived in Athens for 2 years (is originally from Indianapolis), but Rachel and I knew the streets and neighborhoods better than he did. Moseyed through Psirri (Greeks apparently pronounce the P every so slightly) and then over to Gazi. The Egyptian guy, touting his high-tech camera, bought Swiss iced tea from a kiosk. He informed us that the city of Philadelphia is in Pennsylvania and that he has "loads" of American friends. Moo said that Greek people don't work -- they just go out and eat all the time and pass the night away in bars and nightclubs. He doesn't seem to like living in Athens. We learned en route that the loudpseakers blaring political propaganda are in fact an effort to inspire social consciousness among passersby. We were disturbed that some of the speakers in the recordings included Stalin, Hitler and Moussolini... When we ended up at Soho again, Rachel and I decided to duck out and return to the hostel to sleep instead.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Kalí hroñá -- Happy New Year!
So all morning I've been thinking the Greeks are whispering about Rachel and me because I keep hearing them say "California." But actually, I've now realized that their "Happy new year" greeting (Kalí hroñá) just sounds like "California"! Crazy...
Woke up this morning at 9am. Aimee is leaving for Cairo today. Showered, too late for breakfast but luckily we had our yogurt-cereal-banana stash. Realized, as we sat down to eat at 10am, that it was just only midnight back home in California! So strange to be so many hours ahead of home....
After breakfast, we packed up for a stroll over to Kolonaki so we could ascend the Lykavittos Hill.
The hill is located in the center of the city and rises to a height of 910 feet. It can be seen from virtually every corner of the city, and its views from the top encompass the city, the mountains, and the coast. We enjoyed the chance to breathe in fresh air and start off the new year with a good hike through the trees. About halfway up we came upon a chapel grotto. Inside the little chapel, the rock wall was visible. The floor was carpeted (interesting...) and it smelled strongly of incense. Watched a Greek woman light 2 candles and another man prayed. Saw lots of images of St. George (which reminded me of Natasha's house and all her paintings and enamel pictures of St. George). Then we continued up the hill (asked a Greek soldier which direction). Up at the top were beautiful sweeping views of the city! The Acropolis looked like a tiny little mound from where we were. Rachel enjoyed looking at the many rooftop swimming pools -- all brilliant turquoise blue. At the top of the hill was also a small chapel of St. George (a whitewashed building from the 1800s). Rachel and I looked inside and also were sure to get our picture taken together at the top. Being up high -- again, my favorite way to spend the new year! We noticed a lot of elderly Greek people were also making the trek up -- I wonder if it's a traditional thing to do?
After our climb, we meandered back down the hill and scouted for restaurants. Most places were closed, though there were many cafés open and packed with people! We decided on a somewhat tourist-y place in the Plaka (it seemed like most Greek people were visiting family homes and not eating out for lunch) that was actually quite good. We enjoyed feta-tomato-olive-lettuce toast sandwiches and greek salad. For once we actually ate at a somewhat normal Greek lunch time (2:15pm)! Then we headed back towards the hostel for our usual afternoon siesta and relaxation....
Woke up this morning at 9am. Aimee is leaving for Cairo today. Showered, too late for breakfast but luckily we had our yogurt-cereal-banana stash. Realized, as we sat down to eat at 10am, that it was just only midnight back home in California! So strange to be so many hours ahead of home....
After breakfast, we packed up for a stroll over to Kolonaki so we could ascend the Lykavittos Hill.
The hill is located in the center of the city and rises to a height of 910 feet. It can be seen from virtually every corner of the city, and its views from the top encompass the city, the mountains, and the coast. We enjoyed the chance to breathe in fresh air and start off the new year with a good hike through the trees. About halfway up we came upon a chapel grotto. Inside the little chapel, the rock wall was visible. The floor was carpeted (interesting...) and it smelled strongly of incense. Watched a Greek woman light 2 candles and another man prayed. Saw lots of images of St. George (which reminded me of Natasha's house and all her paintings and enamel pictures of St. George). Then we continued up the hill (asked a Greek soldier which direction). Up at the top were beautiful sweeping views of the city! The Acropolis looked like a tiny little mound from where we were. Rachel enjoyed looking at the many rooftop swimming pools -- all brilliant turquoise blue. At the top of the hill was also a small chapel of St. George (a whitewashed building from the 1800s). Rachel and I looked inside and also were sure to get our picture taken together at the top. Being up high -- again, my favorite way to spend the new year! We noticed a lot of elderly Greek people were also making the trek up -- I wonder if it's a traditional thing to do?
After our climb, we meandered back down the hill and scouted for restaurants. Most places were closed, though there were many cafés open and packed with people! We decided on a somewhat tourist-y place in the Plaka (it seemed like most Greek people were visiting family homes and not eating out for lunch) that was actually quite good. We enjoyed feta-tomato-olive-lettuce toast sandwiches and greek salad. For once we actually ate at a somewhat normal Greek lunch time (2:15pm)! Then we headed back towards the hostel for our usual afternoon siesta and relaxation....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)