“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 force of habit. 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. Den var lækker. 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 positivt glød i eftermiddagssolen, men efter steder i Egypten og Mellemøsten var Parthenon selv lidt underwhelming.
Måske nu er vi snobs til gamle vidundere. Efter at have vundet vores vej ned ad bakken af Akropolis gennem parker og cobble stenede baner vi fandt os tilbage i Monistraki-pladsen, hvor vi slog sig ind for en lækker græsk frokost af varm pita med tzatziki, lam skewers, og en blok af feta ost drizzled med oliven olie og oregano. Det var forbløffende. Det kan være mit græske blod eller min kærlighed til lam, men jeg finder maden i Grækenland for at være nogle af min favorit.
Gå op til Akropolis, Athen, Grækenland
Gamle ruiner i Athen, Grækenland
Geder på vejen på Parthenon, Athen, Grækenland
Fantastisk græsk mad: Lam Gyro, Tzatziki Dip og Feta Ost
Den sidste dag i Athen, vi ikke ender med at gøre for meget. Vi havde en flok ærinder til at løbe, ja backpackere har ærinder. Vi forsøgte at sende ting hjemme og gøre vaskeri, men det fungerede ikke ud. Men vi lykkedes at få nye pasfotografier, få dagligvarer og darrie fik et hårklipp. Det er et hårdt liv herover, tonsvis af ting at gøre på vores fridage … men vi klarer.
I slutningen af dagen stoppede vi for at få nogle espresso, da vi observerede nogle skateboardere på hovedtorget. Nyd fra kaffebaren observerede vi hurtigt, at de ikke var bare regelmæssige skatere. De skal være professionelle. De forsøgte kickflip til næse slib på en marmor skinne omkring 10 meter høj. Og de filtrerede det med tonsvis af højt endeudstyr, der blev oprettet hele vejen rundt om pladsen. Jeg fik nogle fantastiske optagelser af hoppene og nogle gode billeder også. Vi kunne ikke tage øjnene af det og sandsynligvis endte med at nyde i et par timer. Ikke præcis det, jeg forventede at gøre i Grækenland, men det var koldt ikke desto mindre.
Skateboarding i Athen, Grækenland
Næste dag gik vi ombord på færgen ledet til øen Santorini. 8 timers rejse var stenet, regnfuld, blæsende og meget koldt. Indtil vi indså (omkring den sidste time eller så), at der var et stort varmt inde i området komplet med bløde stole og plug-ins til den bærbare computer. Vi så det på vej op til dækket, men der syntes ikke at være noget værelse, så vi bare frøs på dæk, indtil vi indså, at folk havde gået af på forskellige øer og venstre tomme pladser. Så vi gik ned der, plugget i den bærbare computer og nød nogle moderne familie, mens vi krydsede mod vores første græske ø. Santorini, her kommer vi!
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