Departure

This is a travel blog about an incredible vacation we spent in Greece. Our itinerary of mainland and islands gave us a very diverse experience - from the frenetic capital Athens, to the austere monasteries of Meteora and historical ruins of Ancient Delphi - to jewels of the Cyclades and a finalé in stylish Thessaloniki.

For the first time, we used a travel agent because trying to book everything ourselves was proving to be too difficult. Sandra at Aegean Thesaurus was a great help with accommodating our wants and needs. And it made the entire travel experience stress-free. We got ourselves to Athens and then they took over from there.

The first day of traveling was a wash and completely draining but all worth it for the dirt cheap price. We flew Malev Airlines to Budapest and after a long layover (but not long enough to leave the airport) we then flew to Thessaloniki and arrived in the wee hours of the morning. The terminal we spent 4 hours in was small and half of the shops were closed. It was very quiet and only a handful of people were around while we watched Hal Hartley's "Trust" on the video ipod after eating crappy, dry pizza.

We arrived in Thessaloniki at 1:30am and took a cab to a nearby hotel. The taxi driver spoke English and couldn't understand why were were traveling to Greece in October. He thought we were odd for wanting to come after the tourist season. He said, "In the summer, these streets are so crowded with people I couldn't even drive here." he also said it was cold even though it was in the 70s and humid now, at 2:00am. Sounded like a nightmare to us so we felt absolutely confident we booked at the perfect time of year.

He got lost and his GPS wasn't recognizing our hotel's address and never turned off the meter. We were completely overcharged and after finally finding the hotel (after he got a good laugh at it) it was 2:30am and we were relieved to get out of his taxi.

Finally, we were getting to sleep about 3am when distant rumblings could be heard and a full blown thunder and lightning storm ensued and kept us up in a hallucinatory semi-awake state. The wake-up call at 9am was harsh but we needed to get some breakfast and then return to the airport to fly to Athens!

Athens - Day 1

After breakfast we had a taxi called and not surprisingly paid 10€ less than last night's fiasco. Greek Election Day is in a few days, and political posters were plastered everywhere.

democracy at work

Groggy from an awful night's sleep, we boarded Aegean Airlines and flew to Athens. We had a hotel transfer - it was awesome. A man held a sign with my name and when I approached he said "You are Jennifer Sp...this name is very difficult for me!" He brought us to an awaiting taxi, paid the driver, and sent us on our way.

It was a 35 minute ride and the driver interjected with names of sights along the way. The traffic was terrible in the center near our hotel and he told us it was because of the Agora, or daily market. Saturdays is always the busiest and the narrow side streets are clogged with cars. After checking in to the Hotel Attalos, we walked to the Agora. There was a huge hall of seafood and another of meats.

the seafood hall of the Athens Agora

the proud octopus seller

where's a grill and lemon juice when you need them

the surly butchers

The sellers were really pushing their goods, amping up the sales pitches towards the end of the market day. If you hesitated to look at anything they yelled out prices and a list of sea creatures. It was around 3:00 and beginning to breakdown so we saved the produce and goods section for another day.

Very close to our hotel was Monastriaki Square and a restaurant recommended for gyro/souvlaki called Savvas.

Monastriaki Square, 5 minutes from the Hotel Attalos

Ken at Savvas taverna

We sat outside and it was a frenetic scene. Every few minutes someone came by selling CDs, DVDs, or junk souvenirs. The pedestrian only street was jammed with people and tables and noise - lots of noise. It was also in the 80s and balmy, much warmer than we were used to in Amsterdam. Welcome to Athens! I planned for my foray into meat to be a gyro and a souvlaki, not necessarily in that order. I ordered the beef gyro which came open faced on a plate with fries and tzaziki. Oh man, it was scrumptious. Ken ordered some veggies: fried eggplant with long peppers and white beans in tomato sauce. The beans were not gigantes like we expected but more like cannellini in a tomato based soup. It was delicious and we knew there'd be plenty of gigantes opportunities to come.

After lunch we went on a long walk and saw a lot of the old part of the city. It is not a particularly beautiful city but it makes up for that with history and at every turn there are ancient ruins. We went to the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, filled with sculpture from the beginnings of prehistory through late antiquity.

Athens Archaeological Museum

a harpy perhaps?

Zeus or Posesidon? The experts can't decide

For us the highlights were the Mycenaean gold burial masks and the Cycladic room. Ken bought a Cycladic statue at the museum shop.

Cycladic figure

1550 B.C.E. Mask of Agamemnon golden death mask

Exhausted, we took a break in the museum cafe and sat in the courtyard where a man in a safari hat admired the ancient statues lining its perimeter. He was attracting a lot of attention.

man on safari

We dragged our tired selves back to the hotel for an energizing siesta and showers. We went up to the hotel rooftop bar and watched the sunset on the Acropolis as we sipped our first frappés. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's instant Nescafé, water, milk and sugar blended and poured over ice. As it settles, a thick foamy milky head forms on the top (that's the best part). Think coffee milkshake. I think perhaps this is the inspiration for the Starbucks frappuccino.

view from Hotel Attalos rooftop bar

sunset over Athens

frappé! and the ubiquitous ashtray

Our guidebook recommended a restaurant for dinner called Vizantino. It was on a street with a lot of tavernas but we first wanted to look at the menu before committing to it. As soon as we paused to look at it, we were swooped upon by waiters trying to get us to come in. We didn't like that approach so we walked down to the next one. The same thing happened : "If you don't like, don't pay!" and "Free wine, Greek hospitality!" After cruising the area and deflecting sales pitches left and right, we decided to go to our original pick. The food was good and the menu standard. Menus are pretty much the same at tavernas, but there are some dishes that are different. We ordered a spread of mezés - cheese saganaki, fried small fishes, and boiled greens. Here's some bad food photography:

steaming fried cheese (saganaki)

boiled greens (horta) and small fried fishes (marides)

It was a good dinner washed down with house white wine. We weaved our way through the Plaka after dinner and if you looked up you could always see the Acropolis. We stopped for a nightcap at taverna Spilia Tis Akropoleos and I got eaten alive by mosquitoes but that didn't stop me from having an excellent first night in Greece!

the night in ruins

Athens - Day 2

Grecian pride

After a tasty breakfast at the hotel of thick Greek yogurt with honey, we started a trek up to the Acropolis. The walk took us through the Plaka's ancient streets. There was an archaeological site at every turn.

Ken on Acropolis Day

Roman agora

We took the scenic roundabout walk through the back roads. Tucked away here and there were small Byzantine churches. We had a clear view all the way to Lycabettus Hill. It was hot and I was starting to sweat.

sweating with a smile





one of the many Byzantine churches at the base of the Acropolis

a great name for a church

We didn't see many people on the walk until we found the main path up to the gates. From the height you can look down onto the theater and that large modern rectangular building which is the new Acropolis Museum.

Theater of Dionysus




Temple of Olympian Zeus



Temple of Olympian Zeus, street level

Acropolis this way

the herd

Entrance is free to all archaeological sites the first Sunday of the month. Seeing the Parthenon is awesome and I mean that in the true sense of the word. The most amazing fact we learned about it was the builders took into consideration the way the eye bends lines at a distance and compensated for that in its construction. Actually, the Greeks were aware of optical distortions even before the building of the Parthenon, proof in the design of an earlier temple on the island of Naxos.

overall the signage is few and not that informative
so bring a guide book





Ken and Parthenon





Parthenon and Ken





ancient inscriptions






Caryatid Porch of the Erechtheion - I can spell it but I can't say it

We also went to the Acropolis Museum and saw the artefacts found at the Acropolis site displayed in a beautiful, modern space. It was jam packed with people and closing early because today is Greek election day. It was only 1€ to enter. After, we weaved back down through the Plaka. The streets were quiet. Cafes and tavernas appeared around every corner. There was graffiti everywhere and colorfully painted walls and shutters.

cool geckoman

faux window

typical tourist menu

afternoon break

cattitude

Ken checking out a menu

a small artist's studio

After an appetizer of vegetarian gyros, we stopped at a taverna for a few mezés. We ordered the gigantes which we were told were fresh out of the oven and also a spinach pie. Spinach pies vary from place to place and this one was in a log form and without feta. The spinach flavor was rich and really tasty. We had a free dessert of semolina cake laced with orange peel and sticky with sugar syrup.

lunch in Plaka

spinach pie (spanakopita)

giant beans baked in tomato sauce (gigantes)

Exhausted from the hour walk in the sun up to the Acropolis, the museum, and the walk down, it was time for siesta.


A jolt of frappés geared us up for taking the metro to the neighborhood Keramikos where we planned to have dinner. We read high recommendations about a fish taverna called Sardelles. We got out of the metro into a huge lively square with cafes and trendy restaurants on all sides.

Sardelles Taverna

the namesake of TWELVE grilled sardines




a piece of fried baccala the size of a TV guide with garlicky skorladia (garlic dip)



vegetable puree to feed a family of 6

complimentary ouzo for 2

We sat outside amongst white wooden tables and colored lights and dined on vegetable puree made of carrots, broccoli, potatoes (?) aside a huge fillet of breaded and fried salt cod with garlicky skordalia and a tremendous platter of a small school of grilled sardines with spicy oil and a blazing hot grilled banana pepper. The bread was dense and crusty and the house white was a perfect accompaniment. After, we waddled back to the metro.

I woke up in the middle of the night with a sore throat from the AC so I turned it off and opened a window. I heard bats outside and it crossed my mind that where there are bats there are insects and sure enough, mosquitoes flew into the room and feasted on me. They kept us up the rest of the night and we had an unfortunate wake up call at 6:30.