Thursday, April 14, 2011

Greek Adventures

GREECE!!!!


Where to begin! Greece/Athens was amazing!! Our adventure started Thursday night (Apr. 7) when Caitlin, Taylor, and I headed to the airport. We decided to take the train to the airport while the other half of our group elected to take a taxi. Now, since you are reading this I would assume you know me pretty well and know that I like to be on time or even a little early to things- especially when traveling. The three of us decided to leave at 8.30 to catch the bus to the train station to catch the 9.20 train to the airport, so you can imagine my... lets say impatience... when I was ready at 8.30 and had to wait another 15 minutes before we actually left. The 15 minute set back almost caused us to miss the train. When we arrived at the stop for the train station the three of us when running across the plaza and down to the platform entrance. I'm sure we were quite the site! Luckily, we made the train with a few minutes to spare and made it to the airport without any problems!

We arrived in Athens a little after 3am and took a taxi to our hotel. The hotel was in an area called Varkiza- a 30 minute bus ride to Athens and a 10 minute walk to the beach. The hotel was really nice. The lobby reminded me of Frank Llyod Wright with its rather brutal yet inviting with the use of various stone materials. The rooms were nice too- they were set up more like an apartment so we had a kitchen and living room along with a balcony overlooking the pool! After settling in and settling down from the excitement of being in Greece we went to bed.

Walking up to the beach!


Friday was spent at the beach! We leisurely got up in the morning and all together headed down to the beach stopping to get lunch along the way. After a delicious lunch we crossed the street to the beach! After a walk along the beach, it was maybe a half mile total, we found a place to plop and soaked up some sun! I definitely soaked up more sun than I realized! Four of us headed back to the hotel a few hours later to change before going out to dinner and man oh man was I red! It didn't look that bad when we were outside but once we got inside the redness just appeared! Caitlin was probably redder than I! But no worries we lathered with lotion and sent the remainder of our time exploring Athens as covered as possible! Anyway, dinner that night was delicious! Krista, Katie, Caitlin, and I went to a place recommended by the lady at the front desk of the hotel called Bavaria. It was a short walk from the hotel and when we arrived we were the only ones there. Needless to say we were a little apprehensive since no one was there, but it turned out to be delicious! We were seated and this little old Greek lady came out and took our order then turned around, went in the kitchen and started cooking our meal! I ordered a pork steak and a salad, both were very good! We also sampled some local desserts which were also good! After a very satisfying dinner we headed back to the hotel. Caitlin and I ventured down to the pool for a bit to sit and talk while enjoying the pool atmosphere (mostly the pool lights changing colors).

Saturday we were up early and ventured out to catch bus 171 to the metro station about 30 minutes away. Once at the metro station we hopped on the subway and took into a few stops into Athens, getting off at the Acropolis stop. When we came up from the subway station we had the new Acropolis Museum to our left the the first sightings of the Acropolis in front of us! We decided to hit up the Acropolis first, before it got too hot and before it got mobbed with people. The hike up to the Acropolis was a decent hike but had some spectacular views! Eventually we made it to the top! It was spectacular! You enter through the Propylaea, which is how you would have approach in ancient times, it was quite amazing! As you pass through the Propylaea, the Acropolis opens up in front of you with the Parthenon ahead to the right and the Erechtheum on the left. The whole thing was so cool! The Parthenon had been damaged more than I had originally realized- mostly by pillagers. Much of the decoration that was taken and not destroyed now resides in the Parthenon room in the Acropolis Museum. The views from the top were almost as spectacular as the structures themselves!

The Parthenon.

Panoramic of the Acropolis.

It's the Parthenon!

View back out through the Propylaea.


After the Acropolis we found some lunch then headed to the Acropolis Museum which exhibited various artifacts from the Acropolis and the Greek Empire. The museum itself was really interesting too.... I think some of us, myself included, spent more time looking at the museum- its materials and construction- than the displays it housed. At one point a couple of us even got into a discussion about the placement of columns within the museum and decided that it had to be referencing the spacing of the Parthenon's columns! We are dorks, I know, but hey! From the museum we split up and Caitlin, Taylor and I went off to see the Temple of Olympus. Sadly, it was already closed for the day when we arrived so instead we headed across the street to the National Gardens. The garden was pretty and reminded me of my various garden tours! Next we headed over to The Panathenaic Stadium where the first olympics were held. The stadium was an impressive marble structure (the largest marble stadium in the world). We got audio-guides upon entering and slowly made our way around the horseshoe shaped stadium. The tour even takes you down the tunnel where athletes would enter and leave the stadium. It was pretty neat! Caitlin and I came out of the tunnel and walked onto the track and proceeded to run down the track- Caitlin did a full lap where I only ran down the straight and back... it was a little too hot for me to want to run the whole thing! But I can officially say that I ran on the same track as some of the best athletes! After a long day of sightseeing the group met back up for dinner and a little shopping before calling it a night and heading home.

The Panathenaic Stadium


Sunday was our last full day in Greece, so in the morning we headed back into Athens! Our first stop was the Athens Flea Market. It is supposedly one of the largest flea markets in Greece. And I could see why- it never seemed to end! We kept wandering and wandering! And there was so much stuff! Everything from cloths to furniture to bikes, to toys and books, there was even a stand selling bras and underwear! It was pretty interesting... Jacqueline you would have been in heaven! After the flea market we decided to visit some more historic sites. When we purchased our ticket to go to the Acropolis it came with 6 other tickets to go see 6 other historic locations; and thus after the flea market we decided to get our 6 euros worth and check out a few of the places. First place we went was the Ancient Agora. It is an area right next to the Acropolis where several ancient buildings still stand. My favorite was the Stoa of Attalos even though most of it had been reconstructed. I think that's why I liked it so much though. I got to experience the building exactly as it would have appeared in ancient times. The shear size and detail of the building was magnificent. It is a long slender building with 2 rows of columns creating a loggia like space that was absolutely incredible to walk along. I loved it!

The Stoa of Attalos

This guy has the life! He gets to stare out at the Stoa of Attalos all day, everyday!


The other structure we checked out was the Temple of Hephaestus. It too was really neat. Especially since it was the best preserved temple I saw. It was also located on a slight hill and had a great view of the Ancient Agora and the Acropolis. It was actually neat to see the temple b/c we were able to get so close to it. There was also a sense of power the temple evoked and not just because of the awe factor; instead I mean more of a power related to the Greek gods- so here are these mammoth stone structures and there are plants just growing out of them. Like literally the plants magically planted themselves in the stone 50 feet up and were just growing there now. It was really cool!

Anyway, after the Ancient Agora we decided to head to the Temple of Olympus! Along the way we came upon the Roman Agora and since our ticket covered it we decided to have a quick look. It was much much smaller than the ancient Greek Agora. There was also a clear difference to me between the Greek style and the Roman. The remaining Roman structures (mostly lines of columns) used a marble that was very white and almost seemed refined compared to the more sandstone coloring of the Greek structures.

After a satisfying visit to the Roman Agora we continued our walk to the Temple of Olympus. Our chosen path turned out to be quite the hike. The temple was on the opposite side of the Acropolis from the agora so we chose what looked like it would be the quickest route around the Acropolis. It was the shortest route, but it also took us up the side of the hill of the Acropolis- basically to the base of the Acropolis- so it was quite a hike up. It did, however, offer some spectacular views out over Athens! Eventually we made it around and down and to see Olympus, which was yet another incredible structure even though probably 95% of the temple has been destroyed and all the remains is a tiny bit of one corner and a few columns. I think it was so spectacular because I was sitting on a bench looking out at the Temple of Olympus, king of kings, and off in the not so far distance was the acropolis and a view of the Parthenon. There I was sitting on a bench in Greece with the sun shining down on me starting at what I consider to be some of the most incredible pieces of architecture known (especially since they have clearly stood the test of time). There aren't words to describe the awe I was experiencing! I finally tore myself from the bench to walk around the rest of the temple, or what remains of it, and just soaked it all in! Being in Greece was such an amazing experience! Just as amazing as the first time I experienced Italy. There is something about seeing these monuments in person that I simply cannot explain. I mean, here are these structures that are thousands of years old still standing. And when I am standing next to them looking up, I can't help but wonder how they were able to construct such incredible works of art- the amount of time and labor and shear dedication that went into planning and constructing these things is mind boggling - especially in today's world where we want things done quickly. And what is even more mind boggling is that construction for the Parthenon, for instance, started in 447 BC and was finished in 432 BC - thats 15 years later! Which, yeah, sounds like a long time, but have you seen the Parthenon!?! It's a huge structure made entirely of stone in a time that didn't have the modern technology and machinery that we have! It's crazy!! However, I will compare this to the Temple of Olympus which took over 600 years to fully construct, but still! It too is a magnificent structure that I am in awe of.

The Temple of Olympus with the Acropolis in the distance.


The Temple of Olympus (and me being artsy)!


Shops along the streets of Athens.


Ok, back to the rest of the day. Once I finally regained my senses we headed out. The group split as Krista and Michele wanted to see the Panathenaic Stadium, leaving Caitlin, Taylor and I. We decided to take the subway and check out the port area. It turned out to be less exciting than we had hoped as it turned out to be a port for large ships, not the smaller boats and sailboats with piers and boardwalks we were seeking. We didn't stay long before heading back into town for a little bit of shopping before saying bye to Athens and heading back to Varkiza to have one last Greek dinner with the gang! Then, with our bellies full of delicious Greek food, we walked over to the beach for a night stroll and photo op! It turned out to be quite the adventure for when we decided to leave we walked back to the gate we came in through only to find that it was locked. We all kind of looked at each other and laughed before having a moment of oh my gosh we are locked in at the beach! Which really isn't a terrible thing, but I was looking forward to sleeping in my nice comfy, warm bed. It took about 10 minutes of searching but we finally found someone who directed us to another gate that was still open and alas, we were free!

The beach at night.


Monday morning Caitlin and I ventured out for one last visit to the beach before checking out of the hotel and all 7 of us heading off to catch the bus to the airport. With only one small bump in our journey home (the first bus we caught to transfer to the stop to catch the airport bus broke down) we made it to the airport and on our first flight without a problem. We then had a 4 hour layover in Munich where I finished my novel, The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks - highly recommend- and then finally we flew home where Krakow greeted us with 45 degree temperatures and rain.... a stark contrast to the mid 60s and sun we had just come from.

Overall, the trip was amazing. I absolutely loved Athens! As I'm sure you have gathered I was in awe much of the time and highly enjoyed the day at the beach! It was the perfect vacation (withing a vacation)! I can't wait for the opportunity to return to Greece and discover more of it (like the area with the white washed buildings and blue roofs that match the sea beyond them)!

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