Celebrating Independence in Athens

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March 26th 2008

Published: May 24th 2008

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Andy and Christine

Independence Parade, Athens

It's celebration time in Athens!

Where had the time gone? What had just happened? There we were on Mar. 24th, finally arriving in Europe. We had a quick layover in Amsterdam, where it was snowing! It was so odd to see the snow falling and feel that icy chill after being in a hot place like Egypt. Luckily it was just a layover, since none of our clothes could withstand that cold. What wimps we had become, already missing the heat of Cairo!

We got onto the next plane and in a few hours, landed at our destination, Athens. The sprawling and historic capital of Greece, somewhere we couldn't wait to explore. Things were starting to look a little more normal once again, as we waltzed into the airport.

We hopped a train to central Athens, where we planned to look for a hotel. The area is called Monastiraki, and as we departed the train station, we noted that it looked like a pretty neat place. We cut through a market filled with fruit and craft vendors, just outside the station. After asking people for a few simple directions, we made our way to the hotel.

The one we found was actually a

Independence Day, Athens

Patriots of the future enjoying their freedom

pretty good price for our first European hotel experience, thirty euro per night. But since we got the last room available, we had to share a very small single bed in a room that must have been a small wooden sauna in it's former life. But the woodsy smell happily reminded us of home. As it was on the very top floor, we were treated with a picture perfect view of the Acropolis from the deck that was just outside our door. A fair trade, to be sure.

We were exhausted from the all nighter that we had pulled due to our messed up early morning flight from Cairo, but that didn't stop us from doing a little exploring. The weather was chilly, since it was still early spring. It made us a bit sad that we'd have to wait to start camping again, something we hadn't done since Australia. We wandered around town, through the many narrow and winding streets and alleys around our hotel. Once again, we were thrilled by the super clean streets (or so they seemed to us at the time) in comparison to Egypt. Also we were anonymous again, back to being nobodies, not

Independence Parade, Athens

Never thought we'd see guys marching with guns, flippers and skis!

standing out in a crowd and we were loving it!

We started to understand why Greece has the highest rate of road accidents in Europe. It was a little intimidating to cross the street there; it seemed that cars often didn't stop for lights and motorbikes and mopeds were constantly dodging around us, sometimes on the sidewalks too. But we went on our merry way to find the nearest spanakopita (spinach and feta pie) to satisfy our appetite. The bakeries were great, full of delicious pastry snacks. It was hard to walk by without stopping to grab a quick bite. Everywhere around us, it seemed like the locals did the same, walking and munching.

Everyday we would enjoy a gyro, a favorite quick snack of the people. You see people from six to eighty slopping down this pita stuffed with lamb or chicken, then filled with tzatziki or a garlic mayo, then tomatoes and onions. Another tasty and refreshing dish is the Greek salad. The vegetables tasted so fresh and the huge slab of feta is so much better and more flavorful then what we get back home. Also the famous souvlaki, mmm. All of this topped off

Lykavittos Hill, Athens

Just like the flag, the typical white and blue of Greece

with a Mythos, the local beer of choice, made for a delicious meal.

Our hotel had a kitchen that we could use to refrigerate items and heat up water for a morning tea, which was great for us to do a bit of self catering. A perfect way to save money in a country much more expensive then any of the previous ones that we had visited. Every morning we would enjoy tea, a pastry, and a yogurt outside our room, while admiring the view of the Acropolis from the little patio.

This is where we met Heinrich, a fellow Canadian visiting Athens for his third time. An interesting gentleman who had similar travel interests, such as the love of travelling in Mexico. The three of us set out on a self guided walking tour of Athens, and he pointed out many highlights, from a great pita restaurant, to the many Greek ruins and famous sites around town.

He explained the Greek alphabet to us while we walked, which is similar, but also contains quite a few different letters than our. We sounded out words written on signs, posters and graffiti on walls around Athens. The city

National Archaeological Museum, Athens

Another famous nude bronze statue, recovered from the sea for hoardes of school children to admire!

was actually filled with graffiti, much of it the usual stupid tags, but also some incredible art.

We ended up walking around for hours, even though the cold was getting to us. Finally we realized the time and called it a night. The sleeping bags came in handy for us once again, happily not because of dirty sheets this time, but because of the cold breeze that seeped into our 'sauna hut' on that windy, chilly spring evening.

Our second day in Athens, March 25th, was Greek Independence Day, a very important national holiday. Greeks celebrate the success of the Greek War of Independence, which was waged to win freedom from the Ottoman Empire. The Greeks take this holiday very seriously, and of course there was a huge celebration. It seemed that all of Athens and beyond had turned up in the city centre, waving flags and waiting to enjoy a massive parade that marched through the streets.

The parade was first led by military vehicles of every type and kind. Tanks, boats on floats, trucks with large mounted guns, and even planes on floats all drove through the streets, painted in green camouflage colours. Then came

National Archaeological Museum, Athens

2nd century AD statue of Aphrodite also known as 'When I think about you I touch myself...'

the army, marching on foot. Every section, in an amazing array of uniforms, including guys carrying scuba gear and ski equipment, all stomped through the streets. Some were accompanied by a band, and others shouted out typical marching songs in Greek as they trudged along. To top it off, military jets and helicopters flew by overhead with the loudest roar. It was crazy and very impressive to see all the action, we doubt that all of Canada could round up such a military display!

Our plan to see the Acropolis soon changed, since we got hit with a heavy rainstorm the next day. But it was the perfect time to see the National Archaeological Museum, one of Europe and the world's greatest museums. We sped walked through the rain for fifteen minutes and were soon there. The museum was packed with everything from huge ancient Greek marble and bronze statues, gold masks and jewelry to artifacts. Everything from the Neolithic, Cycladic, Mycenaean, Minoan and ancient Greek cultures, a most impressive collection.

Almost every statue was naked; we've never seen so many well shaped marble butts in our lives. Everywhere we looked there was another piece of history, the

National Archaeological Museum, Athens

'Youth of Anticythera' with his hypnotic eyes

most important finds from all the major sights around Greece. We spent over three hours looking around, which made for a good day, especially considering the weather.

Then back to Monastiraki, to explore the shops that lined the streets. We wandered around, and passed by the flea market, filled with loads of used stuff and some antiques. But damn it, we kept comparing the prices of the things for sale with the goods we had previously seen shopping in other countries. Many of the goodies were from places we had already visited, but they were marked up about a thousand percent or so. But we finally found a few local souvenirs to remind us of our stay there.

We also had a great view of Lykavittos Hill from our hotel deck. Lykavittos Hill is the highest of eight hills surrounding Athens, and has an incredibly beautiful 360 degree view all around the city.You can even see the ocean and a some Greek islands off in the distance.

We had already hiked up it once on Independence Day, after seeing cannon balls being shot from it. It was an adventure to weave through the labyrinth of narrow streets

Athens

Interesting street art 'Hungry Siamese Twins'

and climb up steep steps as we passed people everywhere chatting over coffee and a pastry. Athens had a major cafe culture going on.

It was a great hike, and we decided to conquer the hill once again, but this time Heinrich joined us. He found us a quicker route up, and we wandered around, admiring the view and the small church perched on top. Luckily we had Heinrich's short cut to take on the route back, since it started pouring rain again on our way back down.

The next morning the weather finally let up, so we went to see the main attraction, the impressive Acropolis. First of all we checked out the massive open air Theatre of Dionysus, which sits at the base of the Acropolis. It was built around 340 BC on the sight of a previous theatre. It was crazy to think that this great theatre would have held around 17 thousand people at it's peak, all watching the performance of some Greek comedy or tragedy.

After that we hiked up the hill to the Acropolis, the 'high city', to explore the top and visit the Parthenon. Completed in 438 BC, the Parthenon

Theatre of Dionysos, Athens

Theatre of the gods

is a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena, and has an interesting history. At various times, it was used as a Christian church, a mosque, and even as a an ammunition dump. An explosion severely damaged both the Parthenon and it's marble sculptures. And of course, we could not admire the Parthenon marbles, due to their controversial removal to Britain by Lord Elgin in 1801. Much of the Acropolis' temples were covered in scaffolding, and under intensive reconstruction. But it was still impressive.

After hiking down, we continued on to admire the other sites included in our ticket to the Acropolis. First the Ancient Agora, the ancient market place of Athens. It contains the Temple of Hephaestus, one of the best preserved temples in all of Greece. Then the Roman Agora, the market sight later used by the Romans. Next, the Keramikos, the ancient cemetery of ancient Greece, where the wild flowers were most beautiful, tadpoles swam in ponds and tortoises wandered through the grass.

To top this off, we enjoyed the peaceful setting of the Temple of the Olympian Zeus, which is like a big beautiful park with some ruins thrown in to sweeten the deal. It

Parthenon, Athens

Us at the legendary Parthenon

was built in the 6th century BC and took more than seven hundred years to be completed. Originally there were 104 Corinthian columns, but now only a few survive. It was unbelievable to imagine ancient Greece as it was back in the day, so many massive buildings, it must of looked unstoppable.

Even though we could have happily spent another week in Athens, it was time to move on to another great destination, the island of Crete, Greece's largest. We bought tickets for the nine hour overnight ferry which left from the port of Piraeus, a short metro ride away. We opted for the cheap deck seats, since the private cabins on board were very expensive (or so we thought at the time).

Unfortunately, we discovered that it is really hard and very uncomfortable to sleep in these seats. Nobody seemed to care that you weren't allowed to smoke inside and the lights were kept on for safety reasons (or to promote the cabins or something). We figured that sleeping on the hard floor was a better option and laid out on the grubby carpet. After a smooth sailing but a long night of tossing, turning and inhaling

Athens

View of the city with Lykavittos Hill in the background

second hand smoke from Greeks of all ages, we finally made it to Iraklio.

It was pitch black when we got off the ferry, and as we walked, somewhat lost, it started to rain. We had arrived in Iraklio (also spelled Heraklion), the capital of Crete, with no reservations, no map and it was around five thirty in the morning. We thought to ourselves 'What are we doing, the crazy travelling was supposed to be over!'. After wandering for a bit, we got back on track, found the main square, found a room, waited outside the hotel for an hour until it opened, and then took a well deserved nap.

Iraklio was very pretty and mellow for a capital city. We walked around town and down to the beautiful harbour, admiring the blue-green waters of the sea of Crete. We kicked back by the sea, and fed a couple local mallard ducks some sunflower seeds we had bought from a vendor nearby. We could see our huge ferry docked in the distance and watched the local fishermen mending their nets and casting lines from the rocky shore.

The old harbour was home to a large Venetian fortress

Parthenon, Athens

Nice columns!

from the 16th century, which protected it from the crashing waves, though we still had to dodge some as we walked. We had planned on camping in Crete, but just like the mainland, the weather was very unpredictable. One minute it was warm and sunny and the next it was rainy and windy. It was especially chilly after the sun went down in the evening.

The following day we went with our plan to see Knossos, the most famous Minoan archaeological sight of Crete's Bronze Age. The site was purchased in 1900 by English archaeologist Arthur Evans in 1900, who paid for and organized the excavation of the site.

There is much controversy surrounding his restoration and reconstruction of the site; the structures were extensively rebuilt with concrete 'wooden' pillars, and it is hard to say which part is based on fact and which on Evans' imagination. Either way, the site was still great for exploring and we had a good time imagining what a Minoan sight might have looked like.

We hiked around for a few hours and gave ourselves our own guided tour with a guidebook we had bought before entering the ruins. After enjoying

Athens

'Who Needs Oil?'...even in Athens they love George W.

another day with the history of Greece, we dined on a Greek salad and a gyro before catching a bus back to the main square, a mere five kilometers away.

Our plan was to continue on to Santorini next, but the ferry schedule was almost non existent, due to it being the slow season. Instead, we agreed to take the bus to Hania, three hours west of Iraklio along the coast. Hania (also spelled Chania) is Crete's second largest city, with only fifty thousand people. Our bus ride took us through some incredible landscapes where goats perched on the sides of cliffs overlooking the sea and sheep filled fields.

When we got there it was still pouring rain. We spotted a random hotel that we rushed to and hoped for the best, so we could dry off and set up camp. Luckily it was better than we had hoped for, a beautiful and cozy place decorated in white and blue, with a view of the sea and a kitchen too. This place was so comfortable that we could have spent the whole day just lounging around, reading and relaxing. Once again we could enjoy a cup of tea

Athens

Mythos and a gyro, a meal fit for a king

in the morning and keep some snacks refrigerated.

Later we ventured out into the rain and explored the old harbour while walking the sea wall out to the old Venetian lighthouse. The waves bashed against the shore as we hung out, admiring our surroundings. There weren't many tourists in Hania at this time of year, but it supposedly gets incredibly busy, and we could understand why. An incredible location and historic buildings, making it such a great place to just walk around and explore.

When we looked outside the following morning, it was a clear and sunny day. We had some groceries from the night before, so we packed a bag and took off towards the beaches, which started just a little bit past the fort wall near our hotel. We walked and walked for hours, but didn't really see anyone. Finding the perfect spot to sit down, we enjoyed a big-ass tomato and cheese home made sandwich and some warm but tasty beer.

A couple brave souls were swimming, along with a guy kayaking in the water just out in front of us. After a few hours of laying around in the sun, we ventured over

Athens

Even the kitties love ancient Greece

a nearby hill, walking along an old path that led out to cliffs over the water. The wind was really blowing, which sped us up on our little adventure. A nice day spent relaxing came to an end, and as usual, too quickly. It would be neat to visit Hania when it is all packed with tourists, but at the same time it would probably be a bit disappointing.

We left to return to Athens the following evening, to spend a day before continuing our trip through Greece. Again, the only way to get back was to take the overnight ferry. The woman at the hotel kindly let us stay in the room until around seven at night, for no extra fee, since there was a severe rainstorm going on again that day. This is pretty much unheard of in the hotel world. Usually if you stay a couple minutes over the checkout time, people are just waiting to charge you an extra day, trying to suck more money out of you.

We had one more nice, sloppy gyro while waiting for the bus to the ferry and before we knew it we were again sleeping in chairs

Ancient Agora, Athens

Christine enjoying a nice sunny day

on the smoke filled deck. Suckers for punishment. Once arriving back in Athens, we found a different hotel, which was special in it's own sort of way, since it came with a free breakfast. It also had a wonderful view of the Acropolis from our deck that faced the streets in front of the Monastiraki area.

We had one more day to explore our favorite spots in Athens, revisiting the Archaeology museum, and a couple other sights, which were all free, since it was Sunday. We even had the perfect timing of seeing a weird street party, where people carted a DJ around as he cranked out tunes. A couple hundred followed behind him, all riding bikes. We had no idea what the parade was about, but it added yet another strange tale to our time in Greece. Our time was up in Athens, and we were about to set off towards Delphi, ancient home of the Oracle.

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