Athens

We flew into Athens International Airport on Wednesday, April 19, just after noon. I had the window seat and as we made our approach to the runway, I could see the hills of Attica in the distance. Just writing those words feels unreal. 

We deplaned outside (presidential style) and got on a bus to take us to the terminal. After going through passport check, we found our prearranged taxi driver who was holding up a sign with my name on it. He was a distinguished looking man, probably in his fifties, with short gray hair, sunglasses, and a nice suit. He installed us in the cab, did some loud honking to get out of the parking space, and floored it. We drove onto a modern-looking freeway (about 15 years old, he told us, built in connection with the Olympics) and he pointed out a few things along the way, for example, olive groves. By pointing out, I mean he gestured. And by gesturing, I mean he took both hands off the wheel and waved them around to punctuate his thoughts as we rolled along at freeway speeds.

I was struck by how much the fields and hills in Attica look like southern California: low brush, small trees, some barren areas. No wonder southern Cal is said to have a Mediterranean climate. 

After a few miles I remembered that I had a voucher for the trip and had forgotten to show it to our driver. I got it out and mentioned it to him. He held out his hand expectantly so, of course, I handed it over. Then he pulled out his reading glasses, and put them on OVER HIS SUNGLASSES! With this ingenious arrangement in place, he perused the voucher while looking up occasionally to avoid catastrophe.

We exited the freeway into the controlled chaos that is the streets of Athens. Lots of honking and random lane changes, swarms of motorcycles darting in and out and driving between lanes, pedestrians ignoring the traffic while crossing the street, and motorcycles driving on the sidewalks. In the midst of all this, drivers consistently signal their intentions before aggressively going for it. An interesting mixture of good manners and insanity.

We arrived at our hotel intact and tipped the driver generously for not getting us all killed.

Our Hellenic Home

Our first night here was slightly hellacious. Around 11:30 PM, a group of several 10-12 year old French kids started banging on each others' doors, shouting, laughing, screaming, and playing games in the stairwell which seemed to involve bouncing hard objects down the stairs. This went on for about 20 minutes before an adult intervened and loudly read them the riot act. It must have been a poorly chaperoned school trip of some kind. When we complained in the morning, they had already checked out. Anyway...

After checking in and gathering our wits for a few minutes, we left the hotel in search of the Acropolis. Using google maps we confidently set off and, after a few minutes, got thoroughly lost in a warren of narrow and inconsistently labeled side streets. After some blundering about, we managed to find our hotel again and asked for advice on the easiest route, not necessarily the shortest. Note to self (and not the first such note): Google Maps is stupid.

Our hotel is on Pireos street. We walked several blocks to Omonia Square and took a hard right onto Athinas which goes south to Monastraki Square near the base of the Acropolis.

Nuts for sale on Athinas street

A plaza on Athinas street

Monastraki Square - we paused here for some ice cream!

 From Monastraki (Little Monastery) Square we walked in an easterly direction through the Plaka neighborhood to the Acropolis side entrance near the Acropolis Museum.

We walked this route three or four times during our stay and we went to the Acropolis twice: Once on Wednesday afternoon and again on Thursday when we took a guided tour with Athens Walking Tours.  So, next I will show you a few dozens of photos from Monastraki Square, Plaka, and the Acropolis combining pictures from both days.

Monastraki Square

Our first glimpse of the Acropolis! From near Monastraki Square. The columns are part of the ruins of the Library of Hadrian (Roman not Greek)

The ice cream stand

The monastery church

Just off the square there is an interesting flea market, so called. It is actually a collection of small shops.

Balcony above the flea market

Walking through Plaka

Our Acropolis tour guide told us that Plaka is a very expensive neighborhood since it is at the foot of the Acropolis itself. He said many of the houses have rooftop swimming pools!
The streets are narrow and steep, the sidewalks are 2-3 feet wide, and some streets are actually stairways. There are restaurants everywhere, most with outdoor seating.

The Library of Hadrian

Cats are everywhere around and on the Acropolis

We are not in Sweden any more

Our first day post-Acropolis snacking place is across the street from the umbrellas in this photo

Feeling good after our first day on the Acropolis. Fried cheese, bread, and extremely flavorful olives. And wine, of course.

Approaching the Acropolis from the East Entrance

We visited the Acropolis twice, once on Wednesday afternoon and again for a guided tour starting on Thursday at 11:30 in the morning. Our Wednesday visit was uncrowded and we were able to take our time soaking everything in and contemplating the significance of what we were seeing.

Our tour on Thursday was wonderful in a different way. Our guide, Kostas Kastellakis, is a knowledgeable young fella from Crete, soon to be daddy to a baby girl.  He had the tourist patter and jokes down pat but, since he is an archeologist by training, he also has the background to answer almost any question about the Acropolis you can think of.

Starting our approach from the east

The Theater of Dionysos dates from the 6th century B.C. and was modified several times, finally by the Romans in about 100 A.D. This is theater is considered to be the birthplace of Greek Tragedy. The original theater was about twice this size; excavations are still going on and you can see lines above the exposed seats indicating where the remaining seats were.

The floor area is the "orchestra" which would have been for musicians and choirs

This is a portion of the stage

Seating at the theater

Stoa of Eumenes

New life among the ruins

 The Odeon of Herodes Atticus dates to Roman times. The arches, we are told, were the tallest building in Athens for centuries (until they built a Hilton hotel in the 1960s). The theater was refurbished in the 1950s and is still in use. We need to come back some day for a concert!

 The Acropolis of Athens

This is why we came to Athens. According to the UNESCO World Heritage List, "On this hill were born Democracy, Philosophy, Theatre, Freedom of Expression and Speech, which provide to this day the intellectual and spiritual foundation for the contemporary world and its values." Knowing all this and being in this place makes for an indescribable feeling.  So I won't try to describe it. 

The pictures we took, while pretty and all that, cannot capture the majesty of the real physical presence we experienced.

The Propylaea or monumental gateway to the Acropolis

The Propylaea

The Parthenon

This is the Parthenon

The east front

The east front showing some remains of the pediment

Closeup of the north end of the east pediment

The south end of the east pediment

The north side of the Parthenon

This is a collection of column fragments. Researchers are trying to figure out where they fit in to the Parthenon or other structures. Someday they will be installed as part of the restoration.

The Erechtheion

According to our guide, in ancient times, this was the most sacred structure on the Acropolis.

The Erechtheion

The Erechtheion

The Erechtheion

The Erechtheion

This is the olive tree that appeared miraculously when Athena's spear landed here to win the competition for naming rights to the city. Well, maybe a descendant.

Mount Pentelicus, in the distance on the left, is where the marble was quarried for the Parthenon and other buildings on the Acropolis.

The Port of Piraeus in the distance

On our first visit, we walked to the Areoagus (a rocky outcrop, also called Mars Hill) for a good view of the Acropolis.

The view from Areoagus

 On our second visit, we extended our Acropolis walking tour to the Ancient Agora of Athens and we are glad we did. An Agora is a gathering place used for political, commercial, and religious purposes and the Agora of Athens includes one of the most well-preserved Greek temples in existence, the Temple of Hephaestus.

Emperor Hadrian's Torso

Notice the Roman features, notably the wolf suckling Romulus and Remus

Later, the Athenians sliced off his back to better use the statue as a sewer cover

After the death of Emperor Hadrian, the Athenians were free to show their contempt and they did so by incorporating his statue into their sewer system.

The Sewer used for emperor ridicule. 

The Acropolis from the Agora grounds

Temple of Hephaestus

Temple of Hephaestus

Temple of Hephaestus - now THAT is a colonnade

Temple of Hephaestus

Temple of Hephaestus - the legendary battle between the Lapiths and the Centaurs which is also depicted on the metopes from the Parthenon at the British Museum

The Acropolis from the Temple of Hephaestus

Temple of Hephaestus

Remains of the Tholos of Athens, which housed the executive powers of Ancient Athens

Remains of the Bouleuterion of Athens. This was the council house for the city and, it is fair to say, is the true birthplace of democracy.

Remains of the House of Simon who was a shoe maker and good friend of Socrates. Socrates often hung out here to talk philosophy.

This is the state prison where Socrates was imprisoned and where he carried out his death sentence by drinking hemlock.

Our tour ended at the Agora of Athens Museum which is in the Stoa of Attalos, a building restored to its 5th century B.C. glory.

The Stoa of Attalos from the Acropolis

 Among other things, including an ancient baby potty seat, the museum displays hemlock capsules found in the state prison. Everything in the museum was excavated from the Agora.

One of these capsules may have been used by Socrates when he drank his hemlock.

 When our tour ended, we went to Monastraki Square for some restorative ice cream and then walked through Plaka again and visited the Acropolis Museum. We were quite tired by this time but we did the best we could. 

For us, the high point of our visit to this museum was the array of stainless steel columns spaced exactly as the columns of the Parthenon itself. Metopes and friezes are positioned in analogous locations to the actual Parthenon and it is made very clear which are the real pieces and which are copies of the pieces currently in the British Museum. 

Obviously, the Greeks want the British to return the Parthenon marbles looted by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century. The British excuse for years was that the Greeks had no way to properly care for and display them. With the construction of this beautiful, modern museum that argument no longer holds water. However, the Brits still refuse to consider sending the marbles back to Greece which, we are now convinced, is where they belong.

And by the way, the Acropolis Museum is fantastic! We need to come back.

When you look out of the Acropolis Museum you see the real Acropolis

This is the entry to the Acropolis Museum. When the museum was under construction, ancient remains were uncovered everywhere and excavations continue beneath the building. On the ground floor, you often find yourself walking on glass and seeing the excavations beneath your feet.

After our museum visit, we walked back through the Plaka neighborhood (trudged is more accurate) stopping for dinner at an outdoor restaurant. It was a warm day and we did not bring jackets but temperatures dropped in the evening so we didn't linger over dinner. 

Our dinner spot. Note the jackets and scarves. Which we did not have.

We made it back to our hotel and collapsed. My fitbit said we had walked over 23000 steps this day. And that doesn't count all of our standing around time looking at stuff. Tired dogs.

Overnight we were only mildly annoyed by our fellow guests who talked loudly on the phone in a staccato language I didn't recognize and rapped loudly on each others' doors. We woke up in the morning with plenty of time to prepare for our scheduled pick up time of 10:30. Since the driver came at 10:00 instead, it was good we had prepared early.

We took a circuitous route out of the city, partially in order to make a stop to pick up something or other. The vehicle was a large van and it was entertaining to see the driver maneuver it through the very narrow streets with cars parked on both sides (mere inches of clearance) and lots of traffic. The motorcyclists were out in force, swarming everywhere, dodging in and out of traffic and on and off the sidewalks. I watched with fascination as our large vehicle made turns in the tiny streets missing other cars by inches. Or millimeters. Our driver, clearly a philosopher, was unfazed. 

We made it back to the airport without mishap and boarded our nonstop flight back to Stockholm. From the airport, we took the train to Uppsala and walked back (in the cold) to our apartment.

Back to Uppsala