Roaming around Athens

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After getting in late last night, morning came a bit too soon. I showered and packed up my things to store since I have to change rooms today. After leaving my things in the storage room, I checked in at the front desk and found out that there was a walking tour organized by the hostel that would leave at 10:30.

About 20 of us joined the tour; mostly college aged girls, many of whom were likely studying abroad. We set out to the nearby Temple of Zeus Olympian and the accompanying sight, Hadrian’s Arch. Along the way we picked up a four legged member who accompanied us to Hadrian’s Arch, listened a bit and then took off. He must have heard the background story on the arch before.

From there we walked a few blocks to the Olympic stadium from the 1896 Olympics. In 1896, the Olympic games resumed in their modern form today. The stadium can allegedly hold 69,000 people, though it didn’t look nearly that large. There must have been a lot of toddlers and midgets used in that count.

After joking around with pictures we walked to the Zappeion, a building that was constructed in the 1800s to conduct formal meetings and ceremonies for the Greek government.

Next, we went to Parliament. Outside the unimpressive building was a tomb dedicated to the unknown soldiers. We arrived at exactly 11:30. Once an hour at half past, the guards discontinue their rigid stance and perform a coordinated walk around their zone. The walk involves high leg kicks which are often held for several seconds. As the two guards reached one another, they would connect the bottoms of their shoes and hold for a few seconds. After several minutes of this they returned to their stations and resumed their rigid poses, not even blinking and barely breathing.

Adding to the spectacle was their traditional dress. The white tights with long jackets and red hats weren’t enough. They had to throw in shoes that had little fur balls on the end. The fur balls once served a purpose as they hid a dagger. Now they just add to the outfit.

From there we walked down to a large Greek Orthodox church which is used by wealthy people and statesmen.

Next it was off to the flea market in Monastiraki. The flea market consisted of a few roads lined with shops along their sides. The shops sold a lot of tourist items, as well as shoes, jewelry, paintings and combat boots and fatigues (which one doesn’t belong).

Finally, we arrived at the nearby Agora, or marketplace. We stood between the Roman Agora built when Greece was occupied by Rome, and the Ancient Greek Agora, a much larger market with theaters and what once were several large buildings.

There our tour wrapped up and we all went our separate ways. I took off to look around at the flea market a bit more and then made my way up to a nearby street that our guide suggested for good kebabs. The kebab street was actually a series of cafés all lined next to one another where patrons could either have a sit down meal or get takeaway kebabs. I went with the takeaway €1.80 option, grabbing a beef kebab from a place called Sabbas.

My first bight of Sabbas’ kebab made me think we had a legitimate challenger for Sebah’s in Salzburg. The warm naan-like pita filled with juicy beef, onions, white sauce and some sort of ground red pepper was magnificent. If only that first blow had been a knockout we’d have a new kebab champion. Unfortunately, the rest of it lacked in consistency. Sabbas holds a solid second but Sebah of Salzburg remains champion, as he clearly understood that it’s not just tasty ingredients sloppily thrown together that makes a good kebab. Every bite must be the best.

My kebab history, I went up to the Acropolis to start my solo touring. I bought a ticket for €12 which covers the Acropolis and some of the other major sights that I plan to tour. Oddly, a ticket just to the Acropolis is also €12.

The Acropolis is the large hill that contains some of the world’s most famous sights, including the Parthenon and the Temple of Athena Nike. On my way up to the top where these are located, I passed the Theater of Dionysis, the Temple of Asclepios and the Theater of Herodes Atticus (a massive theater). The Temple of Athena Nike had a lot of scaffolding around it but the nearby Propylaia, which serves as an entrance to the hilltop, would have overshadowed it anyway.

Up top, the Parthenon looked as I expected it to look, having seen so many pictures of it over the years. It was surprisingly more intact than I had pictured it, although some of that was due to repairs being made.

Across from the Parthenon was the Porch of Caryatids and a number of stone blocks being used for reconstruction.

The most impressive part of it all was the views of Athens that the Acropolis provided. It really showed how large Athens is as buildings stretched as far as the eye could see in every direction.

I left the hilltop and went down to the Acropolis Rock to observe the majestic Acropolis from a different view.

After the Acropolis, I found myself back in kebab row and a bit hungry for another. I tried a chicken kebab from a different café. It didn’t stand up to the earlier one. There’s only so much you can do with chicken.

I returned to the hostel and caught up over Skype with my parents and Sarah. Skype is pretty incredible when the Internet connection is solid. I’ve saved a small fortune on phone calls this trip.

For dinner, I found a taberna nearby. There I dined on a fixed price menu of Greek salad, pastitsio and white wine. The pastitsio is another lasagna like dish that is traditionally found in Greek restaurants. This one had a hint of cinnamon in the middle that went surprisingly well with the meat and pasta dish.

At the end of dinner, the waiter brought me and a couple other guests complimentary dessert. I don’t know what it was but it was something traditional and it was really good. The small cake did not have any overpowering feature. The balance was what made it so good. Each sweet flavor blended so well with the others.

I headed back to the hostel to clean up. Then I left to check out the hostel’s bar at its sister building nearby. On the way I ran into Michelle, a girl I had talked to a bit on the tour today. I told her to meet me at the bar later on.

She showed up about 15 minutes later. We talked about travel, her studying abroad in Spain, adrenaline rush activities like skydiving and bungee jumping and sports as we watched a soccer game in the background. Eventually a rugby match between Australia and New Zealand came on. We spent a good bit of time after that trying to figure out rugby, how they score and the rules. By the end we had shifted from clueless to not so smart.

Once the rugby match concluded, we both called it a night and headed off to bed. I get an extra hour tonight since Europe’s clocks go back an hour.

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Photos

Posing
Goofing off by the Olympic stadium.

Guard walk
The two guards in their outfits doing their synchronized leg kicks.

Guard
This still shot would look the same as a video (other than from my unsteady hand). He did not blink at all while I watched him for several minutes.

Parthenon
Seen from my walk up through the Propylaia.

Pastitsio
This lasagna like dish was delicious. Somehow they worked cinnamon in and it actually made it taste better.

Dessert
Mmmm