out and about: Athens

Hitting up the beach by Edam (in Athens).

The Trip

Our journey this week began at 5AM on Saturday morning. We walked over to Great Portland Street to catch the first train to West Brompton. When we realized that our train was never coming we found that both lines were closed for upgrades and that our only option left was a twenty pound taxi ride. Despite the price, it was a nice ride. We drove through parts of london I had yet to explore including the Kensington gardens. We made it to the bus stop with perhaps five minutes to spare. Every time I venture towards the outskirts of London I find the same thing: rows beyond rows of identical houses and each time I wonder, "lack of imagination or desire for serious uniformity?" Slowly the houses turn to farms and forests. An hour later and we have arrived at Gatwick for the first time. Our flight passed over the Alps for an amazing view of the grandeur and size of that mountain range. I felt cool looking down at them thinking, "I was there!" By 2PM we were in Athens and grabbed a train to the center of town.

Upon our arrival we meandered through the National Gardens which apparently house many animals as well as many paths winding between some sort of palm trees. With each city we go to I discover a new definition of the word park. I feel so closed minded for having thought for twenty years that a park was a grassy area with a playground or fields perhaps. But each city really does have it's own way of defining it I think!

We then strolled by the original Olympic Stadium (1896) and then by the Parthanon and the Temple of Zeus which were both closed. This left us on top of a very large rock, a hill really, where we watched the sunset. Although I was sitting next to my camera the whole time it was filming the sunset, it was stolen as I turned to say something to Brendan. This has probably tainted my view of the city...

A few minutes later we watched an american fellow propose to his girlfriend just as the sunset. His Canadian friend popped out from behind a bush playing the guitar when she accepted and everyone (including Brendan and I) raised up glow sticks that they had handed out. It was a bit too bright for them though (unfortunately). Nice thought though.

We then spent three hours walking around Athens searching for our B&B. We probably walked about 4 miles before finding it ending up in dingy places along the way honestly. The B&B was really nice though. A very nice fellow ran it and showed us around the flat and how to work the toilet (two small pulls and then one big pull on the chain--don't forget to take the tube from the laundry room out of the toilet first). The bedroom was warm and in the morning we were served a delectable meal consisting of salami, bread, feta cheese, jam, a hard boiled egg, and some orange juice!

From there we basically just walked around the city. We visited the Parthenon, Archaeological Museum, Temple of Zeus, Parthenon Museum, changing of the guard, you name it we probably saw it. I must say I have never seen so much graffiti, so many stray dogs, and so many child beggars before. I mean there was graffiti on the walls (of course), the Parthenon, and the rocks even. Granted, I have yet to travel to, say, Delhi but Athens/Greece is clearly in a poor economic state when you see it. I am quite bitter about the stolen camera bit and while many of the sights were very cool, it doesn't change my opinion that Athens is really not the best place. I certainly don't care to go back there anytime soon.

On Monday we took the funicular up Mt. Lycabettus (the tallest point in Athens) for a nice view of the city before heading to the beach where we hung out for a bit and then headed off to the airport. If it sounds like a bit of a short day (although we spent a good deal of time at those two locations) that is because we accidentally slept in until 11am! I wasn't feeling very well the night before though so some rest was probably best.

Throughout the weekend we got to enjoy some fine Mediterranean food (like gyros) and meet some interesting locals. We were also fortunate to know the Greek alphabet (yay engineering) as it made a few things a bit easier at times. Although it took us a while to figure out that we weren't on ODOS street--that's just how they spell street... And honestly not many people there speak English. Perhaps they speak some broken English but not like everywhere else we have been. Lastly, the weather was quite perfect the entire weekend. Any who...

Our flight that night passed Paris on the way back. As I peered through my window I could just barely make out the Eiffel tower and squinted to see if I could make out its hourly glitter. Crossing the UK border over vibrant Portland I looked back and could still make out the french coastline with street lights glowing orange as though the city were on fire. I could see just north of Portland was London dominating the horizon as the plane landed in Gatwick. The next plane I board will be States bound!

The Sights

Some of these photos are Brendan's and some were taken with my Blackberry.

The first Olympic Stadium

Left: After my camera was stolen. Right: How I actually felt.

Sunset

Acropolis

Night Time Acropolis

The Bed & Breakfast

[Breakfast also included orange juice, a hard boiled egg, some jam, and a basket of bread just to be clear :)]

Brendan in the archaeological museum

Left is an amphitheater. The rock on the right is where my camera was stolen from.

The Parthanon and Mt. Lycabettus

The Greek flag and me being really cool.

Me with the Parthenon

The Acropolis

View from the acropolis

The Parthenon

From the acropolis: an old theater?

Lower part of the acropolis (the theater on the right is just inside the arches in the photo on the left)

Parthenon Museum

Temple of Zeus, Olympia -- Try reading the sign! :)

Just knocking over some ancient temple columns.

Brendan

Temple of Zeus, Olympia with the acropolis in the background

The Park. I liked these balloon guys.

Changing of the guard.

Parliament

The view from one of the park's plateaus/tops.

Another park top

This pretty much sums up Athens. Mopeds. Graffiti. And while there aren't that many people in this photo, crowded streets filled with shops/markets (this photo is after some have closed of course).