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Published: September 30th 2017
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Famous Thanasis ...
.... made with a secret recipe, the Cretan couple was right in that the sausage was fabulous, but we quickly realized that it was just the Greek version of the cevapcici you'll find everywhere in the Balkan countries. Geo: 37.9792, 23.7166
Souvlaki Row, the name given to the pedestrian street in Athens that is the ultimate temple to Greek fast food - cheap, quick, and delicious, nothing makes you forget Transatlantic jet lag like the humble yet mighty souvlaki wrap! A soft, warm, and chewy pita stuffed with delicious, succulent, expertly-grilled meat and the freshest of veggies, all smothered in thick, rich, garlicky tzatziki. Who wouldn't love this tastiest of Greek foods? Probably only vegetarians and vampires!!!
Exhausted but starving after a very long day of travel, the call of our stomachs drowned out the call of a comfy bed and the promise of rest, so we quickly dropped off our bags at the hotel and made a beeline for Souvlaki Row, trading sweet REM sleep for hopes of some dreamy good eats. Perhaps the most famous souvlaki joint in all of Athens is Thanasis, at least, that's what a couple from Crete that happened to be sitting nearby told us. Apparently, whenever people from other parts of Greece travel to Athens, Thanasis is a must-eat destination, and we quickly understood why.
For the grand price of only two Euros, you can get a takeaway pita stuffed with their specialty
Ruins Everywhere ...
... despite being so touristy, part of the charm of walking around this part of Athens is how amongst the trendy cafes and restaurants, you can come across ruins that are seemingly haphazardly scattered about. kebab, a Balkan-style casing-less grilled beef and veal sausage, and all the other fixings you would find in a souvlaki wrap. But that wouldn't do on this day - we needed something more substantial, so we sat down and tucked into two massive platters of fine food, platters that were so good, they gave us a great first impression of Athens.
Great first impressions of Athens are rare, as for a long time people have used the standard adjectives of crowded, dirty, hot, and polluted describing Athens, a city whose bad reputation is widely known among the travel crowd. When it comes to Athens, standard advice for tourists has long been to get the hell out of there as soon as possible, or simply bypass the place altogether.
We did consider the latter option, as we could have easily picked up our rental car upon landing in Athens, and immediately hit the road for Delphi - but the thought of arriving on little to no sleep after nearly nineteen hours of travel, and then hopping in a car and driving on Greece's chaotic roads wasn't something we wanted to do. So we chose the former option and decided to spend
the night in Athens, before leaving for Delphi tomorrow morning.
Perhaps the standard descriptors of Athens can no longer simply be accepted as truth, as they once were. The Greek government made massive efforts to clean the city up in advance of the 2004 Olympics, but it seems that the old reputation of Athens has still stuck, even though it no longer seem to be true. I can't say that I'd be in a hurry to return to Athens, or that it's a must-see destination on the typical European itinerary, but as a re-introduction to Greece, a day here was a nice way to kick off another leg of this year's travels.
Though a not-so-quick siesta meant that we skipped the obligatory stop at the Acropolis, we still found plenty to occupy ourselves while strolling around the city's tourist and historic centre. The Plaka district may be excessively-touristy, but it's packed with people and has a great vibe, and is a perfect area for a pre or post-dinner stroll.
Beyond the touristy areas, Athens supposedly has a vibrant, edgy cultural scene that the average visitor like us will never see, as they are too busy rushing to the Acropolis and browsing souvenirs
Zappeion ..
... a conference venue in the National Garden. at the myriad vendors of crap found all throughout the Plaka. Perhaps if we one day return, we'll have the chance to see that side of Athens, but until then, we are content to enjoy Athens like the typical tourist.
So the verdict - for me, Athens will never be able to compare to most other major European capitals, but it definitely deserves a better reputation than it has. After all, a city offering such delicious souvlaki, a city where you can find baklava somewhere even at midnight - could it really be as bad as they say?
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