Greece: Athens

Athens was another late night arrival. We took a train from Patras, after returning our slightly damaged rental car. The train dropped us off quite far from the hostel we planned to stay at, so we decided to take the metro to Omonia square where we would then hop on the number 11 tram to our hostel. Our Lonely Planet guide helpfully informed us that the trams stopped working at midnight, and being it was 11:30 we rushed helter-skelter around the darkened city looking for something recognizable, which is always difficult when dealing with another alphabet. Hannah asked one helpful Greek, who, after being asked where the tram stop was, stared for a long time with a slimy, toothless grin; then said, "If you don't help me, I can't help you." So this lasted for 45 minutes, at which time, realizing it was past midnight our spirits slackened as the thought of walking an hour to the hostel, with our packs, loomed over our heads. Luckily, we decided we would just ask to see if there was any chance to catch a stray tram that might be heading in our direction. Because, as always happens, we found that Lonely Planet was wrong and the tram ran all night....

... So we took the tram. The hostel was still open, and we got a dorm room upstairs. The hostel was clean and friendly with lots of plants and open air hallways. We went straight to sleep amidst the gentle snoring of other travelers.


Overall Athens turned out to be a wonderful time and we enjoyed our busy yet relaxing days there. Not only did the city unfurl its marvels and secrets to us, but we got along very well and it was all very romantic. The first morning we bustled around going to the supermarket and doing little errands. We spent the rest of the day walking around town, wherever the streets took us. We began by seeing one of the many ruins that are nestled among the modern developments of Athens. We lazily walked around the Temple of Olympian Zeus with its towering columns and then followed the road into the winding streets below the Acropolis. All the small cobbled streets were lined with Tourist shops but they were inoffensive to us mainly because there didn't seem to be that many tourists in town. We found a hill that looked very nice and also had no admission fee and it turned out to be the hill next to the Acropolis called Filopappou Hill. We wandered around an ancient Hill of the Nymphs with a cave altar to Pan, and then went up to the closed down observatory which was perched on top of the hill. From there we could see all of Athens and it was so shocking in its enormity and its sprawl. There was quite a lot of smog and it made the off-white apartment buildings look gray and ugly. Very little greenery embellished the city except for the rugged olive tree lined hill that we were on, and the hill that the Acropolis sits upon. We were surprised to find the city so ugly, and especially surprised that we considered Tirana much prettier than Athens. But then Tirana's apartments have all those insane paint jobs with asymmetrical patterns and bright yellows amidst purples amidst greens. But we couldn't explore for too long because we were hungry.

So we hunted around, following our Lonely Planet (something we have finally learned to stop doing) to a Noodle Bar which was, of course, mediocre. After a late lunch we tried to head to some other ancient sites but we arrived too late so instead we sat on top of Areopagus hill and watched the sunset over Athens and the Acropolis.



The next day we tried our best to head out early to the Acropolis in order to miss the crowds, but these things never work for some reason. We arrived relatively early, but then, so did everyone else. We enjoyed the Theatre of Dionysus and the Odeon of Herodes Atticus relatively uncrowded, but then the droves of tour buses poured in and we found ourselves on the steps of the Acropolis sandwiched on the one side by Italian high school kids, on the other side by Koreans, and on the other by older Americans who must have been from Florida. And we found the Acropolis covered in scaffolding with half of the Parthenon removed and two smaller temples completely dismantled. A bitter disappointment visually, but the majesty and spiritual feeling of the ancient site was not ruined by the crowds nor the construction. An incredible place and we spent a good 2 1/2 hours there wandering, sitting, writing, photographing. We were especially taken with the Erechtheion with the six women supporting the portico, beautifully carven and amazingly in tact. But it was a difficult experience and I, Hannah, was overwhelmed with the indifferent tourists and the juxtaposition of the modern with the ancient, the base with the majestic, the loft architecture against the gray concrete of Athens. The Acropolis rivaled Epidavros in its effect on us in its intense spiritual and visceral impact.



After the Acropolis we went to the Central Market and wandered around the slaughtered animals and the enormous fish displayed on ice. The fish market was filled with octopus, swordfish, and fish of every kind and it reeked like only fish do as we slipped along the wet concrete. The meat market almost made me throw up, but I managed to contain myself amidst the smell of exposed flesh and blood and the sights of entire goats, pig feet and heads, and rabbits skinned except for their little bunny tails. Back into the fresh air we went to the fruit and vegetable market and bought the makings of a Greek salad with figs and persimmons for desert. We went to a little 'park' with some tufts of grass and had our little meal. We sat next to a pair of gypsies who asked us for money by making up a story about needing bus money, and next to a man chain smoking and looking worse for wear. Midway through our meal he did an enormous line of cocaine off the ground and then looked sheepishly at us and apologized. Maybe it was inappropriate but I couldn't help but laugh.

We spent the rest of our time in Athens walking from early morning to night in between home (hostel)-cooked breakfasts and dinners. Particularly memorable was the Byzantine Museum which followed the evolution of the Byzantinian empire with its influences and effects. A small and very well curated museum which approaches Christianity froma refreshingly historical point of view. We also stumbled across the National Gallery which we were not as taken with. It was romantic to visit the Agora where Socrates spoke and where the Athenians have done some suprisingly good renovation. We often find that the attempt to rebuild a ruin destroys the mystique of the ancient as well as leaving too little up to the imagination. The agora, however, was tasteful and allowed for a better sense of its ancient function and aesthetics. We walked around many of the hip areas in Athens with outside cafes overflowing with smoking youngsters. There is an entire pedestrian street (if not a few) with blocks
upon blocks of subtly different cafes all in a cheap though appealing mod style. We walked but we did not stray in, ever nervous about thriftiness (except for that Haagendaaz).



Besides the awe of the Acropolis and the Agora, the memory of Athens that pleases us the most is the restaurant that we ate at for two lunches. I do believe we would have gone for every meal if they had only been open all the time. For once Lonely PLanet served us well guiding us to this 'traditional gem of a place', or some such jargon. Very hungry and a little weary from sightseeing and walking, we searched for some sign of recognition, walking endlessly around the streets behind the central market. We heard the sounds of lunch drifting from a basement and peered in to see huge wooden doors opening down

unto stairs that led into a wine cellar. Packed with Greeks and an occasional tourist like ourselves, this unassuming and sparsly decorated room lured us in with its bustle. We found a small table on the wall and the chef unceremoniously brought us to look at what was cooking on the stove. For that was the menu: the big pot of steaming chi ckpea soup, grilled fish charring in front of us, small pasta with lamb, a bucket of salad, some large-white-bean soup, and bread. We pointed to the fish and the soups and sat down as we were brought sweet refreshing home-made wine. Greek wine is unlike anything we had tasted and perfect for lunch with its light orange hue, subtle sweetness and crisp coolness. The place buzzed and the
food was superb in its simplicity, particularly the chickpeas which we have consequently become obsessed with. Middway through the meal an acordian player came in and sang heart wrenching French style songs with all the blaze yet energetic style of the Greeks. We sat for hours and went back the next day where our experience and our delight were repeated dish for dish, glass for glass and song for song.
After our first lunch we walked back into the main city, along the overflowing streets dizzy with full stomachs and homemade wine. We passed a street entertainer behind a little table with two very excited women surrounding. Hannah ventured to have a look despite Matt's disinterest. An interesting little scene followed which is best told from Hannah's perspective.
The gypsy looking man was performing a classic street game. He placed three cups upside down with a red ball in one of them, and then proceeded to shuffle them clumsily and obviously. The two women were betting €20 notes and winning each time. They were slightly hysterical and breeding an air of heightened excitment. I am ashamed to say that I was entranced. Seeing my interest they tried to engage me and encouraged me to bet. I looked at the woman and motioned towards the man with wonderment, and in return she made the sign of 'who knows?' followed by 'he's crazy!'. This seemed a sufficient explanation for me and I wanted very badly to bet. Matt said no and looked questioningly at me, and to my repeated pleas he tugged my arm more and more firmly. We walked away and he expressed his shock at my behaviour when it had been so obvious that all of them were related for they looked very much alike. The obviousness of the situation became clear as I realized they were all conning and moreover, what a stupid con it was. I left abashed at my forsaken street-sense.

We also watched the strange changing of the guards and a shadow puppet show, to which these videos will attest.

All in all the days passed full and pleasantly. Yet we looked foward to heading north to the Pelion Peninsula where we had planned to stay for three weeks working on an organic farm and helping with their horses. An experience htat we could never have imagined ensued...

Greece: Overnight Ferry from Corfu - Patras

The ferry was scheduled to leave at 10:30pm so we drank wine and ate homemade Greek salads at the port until the ferry came. It arrived very late and we boarded in the middle of the night. When the enormous ship pulled up trance music was bumping and young people were screaming and dancing on the deck. In Matt's words: "This is either going to be horrible or kind of fun. Either way it will be interesting". We boarded and went up two long decked out escalators with little mood-lights submerged in the shiny metal walls. We thought we were heading into a very classy joint. The ferry had three levels of restaurants, cabins, lounges, cafes, outside bars and decks. We soon realized that we had been put on a ferry from Italy to Greece that was not equipped to deal with picking up stray travelers along the way. Thus, it proved an uncomfortable and strange experience.

We put our bags down and went up to the party deck which had been turned into a classless and dirty college-like party. Everyone was trashed and dancing under the fluorescent lights which were bright enough to be offensive while dark enough to make everything bleak and eerie. We moved into the lounge where the TVs were blasting and men were watching football, drinking coffee and smoking. Lights were blaring and there was much loud talking. All the same, we laid out on a couch between two TVs which was the farthest we could get away from the sound. And we slept a little bit with our heads covered by our jackets, but it was restless and horrible. Hannah woke up to go to the bathroom and stumbled sleepily past people puking on themselves and unable to walk themselves to their cabins. She also passed numerous travelers sprawled out on the floor, on couches, on anywhere really, in the same situation as we were in. Or, stumbling around in an exhausted stupor. Without going into disgusting details, the bathrooms were equally as filthy and so we moved downstairs where things were quieter, cleaner and dimmer. We laid out our sleeping bags and insulites and had quite a long restful slumber. However we awoke to an announcement that instead of arriving at 7am we would get in at 1pm. As we looked out the window we saw other ferries zoom past us as we puttered along due to some unknown technical problem. So we read and sunbathed and finally arrived in Patras as the infamous 2:30-5:30 Greek siesta set in.

A jump in time to be filled later

We still have to write about Albania and about Corfu in Greece but they are both somewhat exhausting and time consuming entries which will have to be postponed. We're going to jump to our ferry ride from Corfu to Patras.