Our travels in Athens, Greece
“Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going.”
– Paul Theroux
We arrived in Athens, Greece on May, 7th and when we arrived at our hotel we were amazed. After spending over a week in our hotel in Beirut full of plugged toilets, plumbing problems and pubic hair, we were surprised at the exceptionally clean room in Athens. I guess this is Europe and the room cost us $50 but it could’ve been worth thousands of dollars compared to hotel Valery in Beirut.
The owner seemed confused when we asked to see the room before staying the night. He looked at us with a dumbfounded expression and I was tempted to describe to him that our last room was a blanket covered, stench box with a toilet hole under the bed, so a close inspection of this room was not an insult, just a new força do hábito. The room, of course, met our standards and was far a lot more than we expected, so we took it and headed out on the town.
Flying into Greece from Lebanon
Our first day we took a walk down to Monistraki Square which is a really funky, cobble stone, hangout spot for both locals and tourists. On the way we stopped in a really lively outdoor market with fish hawkers yelling out their products in Greek and butcher shops using complimentary samples of sausage.
We need to be back in the first world, some things here are actually FREE! We were still pretty worn out from our early morning flight and travel day so we headed home just as the sun was setting. This is when we first realized that we were staying in the east Hastings of Athens. Prostitutes swarmed around every corner calling out to any passing male with loud kissing sounds. We enjoyed plenty get picked up and even a lot more get turned down.
See Also: Our massive guide To travelling in Greece
There were drunks and junkies everywhere. Dariece was a little concerned but I thought it was some of the best people enjoying of my life. That night we slept like babies, it could have been because the bed sheets were clean, it may have been that the mattress was a lot more than an inch thick, or that there was no mosque blaring prayers at dawn through distorted loud speakers, or that there was no drainage pipe under our bed, whatever the case I don’t think we’ve slept so well this entire trip.
vibrant fruit available at the market in Athens, Greece
Funky Monistraki Square, Athens, Greece
The next day we got up early (around 9:30) and went downstairs to take pleasure in the complimentary breakfast that our hotel offered. It comprised of hard boiled eggs, bread, cheese, Greek yogurt, OJ, fruit, ham and coffee. Estava uma delícia. After breakfast we headed out on a walking excursion of Athens, loosely following the suggested sights in our guide book.
Because it was Sunday there was a special, changing of the guards ceremony at the parliament buildings. We missed the changing of the guards in England so it was really cool to enjoy this one. They were dressed to the nines and a whole marching band blocked of the street for about 10 minutes while groups of generally clad soldiers stomped in rows diligently showcasing their extraordinary balance.
Well their balance was extraordinary until one of the soldiers slipped on the marble ground and slammed hard on his ass. He may have seriously injured his tailbone to a chorus of gasps from the thousand or so tourists who were watching. The severity of the fall may have been why a silence befell the crowd, but that silence was swiftly broken by Dariece and I laughing. We were the only ones to find the situation humorous and as the soldier slowly made it back to his feet we gained our composure and continued filming the fantastic spectacle.
Changing Of The Guards Ceremony, Athens, Greece
Changing Of The Guards ceremony in Athens, Greece
Mid-way through the show the crowd of a thousand or so tourists were ambushed by school children. Their teachers prodding and pushing there way through the mob of tourists trying to get the kids a front row seat. A couple of other tourists yelled at them saying that they must have come earlier. Dariece and I just laughed as the drama unfolded, although I may have thrown an elbow or two for good measure. After we had seen enough of the guards we hastily left the agitated mob, giving up our much wanted front row seats to a group of aggressive tourists.
After the show we continued on our walking excursion which took us by some excellent roman ruins in downtown Athens and finally led us up to the top of The Acropolis to its crown, and the most popular and crucial ancient site in Europe, The Parthenon. The Acropolis was beautiful and its Pentelic marble columnS Positivamente brilhar no sol da tarde, no entanto, após sites no Egito e do Oriente Médio, o próprio Parthenon era um pouco subjacente.
Talvez agora somos esnobes para maravilhas antigas. Depois de enrolar o monte da acrópole através de parques e pistas de parques, nos encontramos de volta em Monistraki Square foram resolvidos para um delicioso almoço grego de pita quente com tzatziki, espetos de cordeiro e um bloco de queijo feta regado com oliva óleo e orégano. Foi fantástico. Pode ser meu sangue grego ou meu amor pelo cordeiro, mas acho a comida na Grécia para ser um dos meus favoritos.
Caminhando até a Acrópole, Atenas, Grécia
Ruínas antigas em Atenas, Grécia
Cabras na estrada no Parthenon, Atenas, Grécia
Fantástica comida grega: giroscópio de cordeiro, tzatziki mergulho e queijo feta
O último dia em Atenas não acabamos fazendo muito. Tivemos um monte de recados para correr, sim mochileiros têm recados. Nós tentamos enviar coisas em casa e lavar roupa, mas isso não funcionou. Mas conseguimos obter fotos de passaporte novas, obter mantimentos e dardo pegou um corte de cabelo. É uma vida difícil aqui, toneladas de coisas para fazer em nossos dias de folga … mas nós administramos.
No final do dia, estávamos parando para obter algum café expresso quando observamos alguns skatistas na praça principal. Desfrutando da cafeteria, observamos rapidamente que eles não eram apenas patinadores regulares. Eles precisam ser profissionais. Eles estavam tentando kickflip para o nariz moer em um trilho de mármore a cerca de 10 pés de altura. E eles estavam filmando-o com toneladas de equipamentos de alta qualidade que estava montado em todo o quadrado. Eu tenho algumas imagens incríveis dos saltos e algumas boas fotos também. Nós não poderíamos tirar nossos olhos e provavelmente acabamos desfrutando por algumas horas. Não é exatamente o que eu esperava estar fazendo na Grécia, mas foi legal, no entanto.
Skateboarding em Atenas, Grécia
No dia seguinte, embarcamos na balsa para a ilha de Santorini. A viagem de 8 horas era rochosa, chuvosa, ventosa e muito fria. Até percebemos (em torno da última hora ou mais) que havia uma ótima área dentro de área completa com cadeiras moles e plug-ins para o laptop. Nós vimos no caminho até o convés, mas não parecia haver qualquer sala, então nós apenas congelamos no convés até que percebemos que as pessoas haviam saído em diferentes ilhas e deixou assentos vazios. Então, descemos lá, conectados ao laptop e desfrutamos de uma família moderna enquanto cruzamos em direção à nossa primeira ilha grega. Santorini, aqui chegamos!
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