Morocco, Greece, Egypt, Jerusalem & More: Athens

Athens!!

Truly the ancient center of the historical development of the civilized world, was a much needed stop on our journey. After the Dark Ages, the different sections of Greece culturally all came to accept, partially due to Homer’s influence in around 800 BC with the Illiad and other works, the development of “The Gods”. Couple the belief in Zeus and his “children” with a common language to bind the region and slowly Greece began to pull together as a people.

It was the Persian War, around 500 BC, when the country put aside their personal skirmishes and united to fight the invaders. After victory, Sparta and Athens area signed a 30-year peace treaty and the Golden Age ensued, lasting about 200 years, before invasion, and then eventual Roman Rule about 150BC, where the Romans learned far more from the Greeks than the other way around. The development of geometry (Miletus, and then Pythagoras, Euclid, Archimedes); democracy, the odometer, the water mill, alarm clock, huge advancements in Cartography (making of maps), the Olympics, practicing of medicine (Hippocrates), philosophy - how we view the world and what makes it work (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle), and scientific development, specifically in astronomy, biology, and physics all developed in the 200-year “Golden Age”. Aristotle even gave the idea of earth being a globe and classified animals to the point of being referred to today as the father of zoology. The greeks proposed the heliocentric hypothesis that the earth revolves around the sun, not the other way around, which was not fully accepted until much later in history.

In any case, I was looking forward to connecting with the birthplace of all of this, and walking the Agora( ancient streets ). Seeing the faces of these men on statues. Checking out the things they built; the region they lived in, embracing present-day Greeks and their culture, and finally learning about the gaps in-between the Golden Age and today. What I ended up learning was beyond even that, and further back with the advanced Mycenaean civilization 1000 years before even the Golden Age; their wide-spreading vast trade empire across all of Europe and the east, beautiful art, unique and civilized society, clothing; and massive wealth. 3500 years ago. And their sudden disappearance. The greeks of today have many gaps in their history. Myths, legends. Facts are still being unearthed as we learn more. And their history connects to ours. Without Greek advances politically, scientifically and medicinally, democracy, where would that put us today? Over the centuries, many of their thoughts merged with the thoughts of men, kings, and leaders. Today they have merged with Founding Fathers, presidents, and others, thousands of years later. Their influence is everywhere and it was their thoughts that helped to shape our world today. What are your thoughts? What can you think of that could impact civilization for millennia?

Egypt to Athens - 3 hours - enter into a different world. =) Better English, infrastructure, and back into the 1st world, or close enough. Greek tips/cheat sheet/advice:

Efcharisto = Thank you

Giassou or Yassis = Hello

Parakalo = your welcome, as well as please

Kalo = good

Ne = yes (sounds like no almost, but it means yes haha)

Ochi = No (sounds like OK, which is confusing because it means no)

Nero = water

There isn’t as much negotiation as exists in Morocco, Egypt, Mexico, etc, but you can still tell if something is overpriced, based on looking around a bit. And for things like Taxi rides, and any Vendors (of which there aren’t many, it’s mostly stores as in the US), some negotiation does work.

Their truffle dishes are awesome.

They have unique Champaigns and amazing lemon, rice, grape leaf concoctions.

You won’t find unsweetened Ice Tea or Arnold Palmers or many vegetable dishes anywhere. Though being in Athens, the big city, we found some awesome vegetarian spots, but we were also looking to explore Greek Traditional cuisine.

As our trip in Athens begins, we arrive “near” our Airbnb, yet cannot get into the apartment building or access to our keys. Without the best check-in instructions, it took going to a nearby restaurant and having one of the staff members call 4 different numbers to finally get a hold of someone who could tell us that the keys to get in were at an Indian restaurant across the street. That being done, we got in and settled, did a quick bit of research, and headed out to a super unique spot: Champaign bar warehouse CO2. Excellent reviews, excellent food, and unique drinks; you can sample red, pink, and other unique Greek campaigns while enjoying some amazingly unique Greek dishes, cheese, and more. Nova blockade established, we hung out here for a while before heading back and getting our plan of attack all setup for the 2 days in Athens.

I woke up the next morning, climbed to the top level of our apartment building, gained access onto the roof, and looked around at the surrounding city. I saw a hill in the distance, which my GPS identified as Mt Lycabettus, looking like it would offer a spectacular view of the city and I wondered if it was possible to get up to the top of it. Checking it out on google maps, it appeared that it would be possible and that there were some trails.. Thus began the adventure, as I put on my running shoes and headed out to the streets to attempt to get to it, and up it.

Winding through the streets of Athens at a trot, heart rate about 150s, I saw tons of police in riot gear, passed the capitol building, and after another 2.5 kilometers of uphill roads, stairs, and alleyways I was at Mount Lycabettus. There was a cable car that took people to the top, but I was enjoying my morning workout and moved into Z2 (160s heart rate), and up the trails of the mountain to the top!! Rewarding for sure, there is a reason they built a restaurant up top and a cable car to get there: its 360 degree spectacular. As spun around I could see all of the city of Athens; mountains in the distance on one side, with the ocean on the other and the hill of the Acropolis with its 2500 year old ruins in between: you can truly see everything from this viewpoint. A truly spectacular view, and one of the coolest I’ve ever seen. Being that it was my first morning in Athens, I didn’t know much what I was looking at from the summit there. Now, were I to return, I’m confident that I would enjoy it even more with the context that I’ve learned in the intermediary time. But alas, I’m in a different Greek city right now.

Just one Portion of the view from top of Mt Lycabettus

Starting out with a day walk in downtown Athens that Rick Steves recommended, we headed to Syntagma Square to start our walk on Ermou street, a cool shopping district that extends west through the city. We found some cool stuff to purchase, came to the end of Ermou st., and were soon gazing up at the unique Church of Agios Eleftherio, walking in the Monastiraki (flea market, principle shopping district, like a Medina in Morocco except way less congested), and viewing other sites. Heavy rain interrupted us half-way through our “downtown Athens tour” and we took shelter at a restaurant on “Souvlaki Row”, which had live music and some authentic Greek food that we dove into. After randomly coming across 2 umbrellas without even shopping for them, just people walking by, we decided that we were well equipped to continue the day and move on to check out the famous Acropolis, atop its cliff-walls.

Snuggled and bundled up, Nova kept warm with mom, as I pulled the stroller up stairs that had rivers of water flowing down them. Soon we were climbing the steps to the ancient grounds. Well dug in and basically surrounded by cliffs, this was the perfect location, in Ancient times, to protect anything of value: the Treasury, people of royalty, an important temple, etc. With a huge outdoor theater as well, it was a gathering place for simple entertainment or, on occasion, to discuss invasion, war and decide the future of Greece. We passed through the huge pillars, some of them carved into statues and serving as support as well as art, and walked the grounds, enjoying the expansive view into the distance in almost every direction. We were lucky that the rain had abated and we were able to enjoy a leisurely stroll.

Finishing our descent and then walk, passing the Temple of the Olympian Zeus, which was not completed until about 600 years from when it was started, we were soon back at the apartment and getting dinner at the amazing vegetarian restaurant Avocado.

Police don't mess around in Athens - fully tactical

Sleeping beauty

Church of Agios Eleftherios

Ruins

Singing in the rain! We danced in the rain too!!

Basically a river flowing down these steps

Most beautiful steps I've seen (outside)

Ancient Amphitheater

Pillars made of statues

The next day we found ourselves on a fun walk to the National Greek Archeological Museum, home to the biggest collection of statues, art, gold pieces, and other antiquities from Greek history. This museum was a maze and we ended up getting turned around more than any other museum we have been to in our travels. Regardless, it was definitely interesting and Nova crawled around a ton of the rooms, pointing out things that she liked. She particularly lingered at the Zeus statue and a statue of a dog (haha, of course). The highlight for me was a 6’1” statue of pure bronze that was found in the Mediterranean and lugged to the surface, eventually finding its way to the Museum. It depicts Poseidon about to throw a spear, with amazing form and lifelike craftsmanship.

We ended the day with a stop at the Electra Hotel, which I had seen the upper level of from atop our apartment, before the first day and the run I wrote about. At the time, when I saw it, I wondered what the building was, being that it looked awesome from atop my apartment. Turns out, as I dug into it, the place is a 5* Hotel with a rooftop pool, bar, and fine dining restaurant, with most of the interior of the building, and outer grounds made of white marble. The service was OK, the dinner was very good, and the view was breathtaking.

Strike the pose!

Mycaene's were wealthy and an important part of ancient BC culture

My Necklaces sometimes make the best toys

Epic dinner views

View From the table

Again, view from dinner table

In the morning I went off on another run to visit the Ancient Agora in the western part of Athens. As I arrived and entered, all of the history I had read about in the Rick Steves book unfolded as I trotted around ancient ruins and imagined myself in the cultural hub of Ancient Golden Age Greece. I imagined how amazing it would be if I could see more than a column here or a base of a ruined building there, or some trees where a building once stood. To actually be able see what it all looked like. To truly Walk the Agora. I imagined this of the Acropolis, atop its magnificent crest. What a site to see that could be. I understand that they are ruins, but are we just waiting for another 1000 years of erosion till we are seeing nothing but floorstones?? I believe that if the Greeks made the investment, the return would be great, and so many more people would come to see, learn, and be in Awe of the culturally rich heritage. Perhaps leave one ruined building to see. Anyways, 1 million people a year come to visit the most “visited” thing in Germany, and it isn’t a ruined castle, its a fully restored and functional castle that is amazing to behold (what inspired Walt Disney in creation of the castle logo). I feel like the Agora and the Acropolis would be a MUST see in everyone’s lifetime to come visit if they were simply fully restored to their original glory. The greeks haven’t been in a economic, cultural, or unified mindset to do this in the past or recently, but I think it could unify the country as a goal, and bring great pride, boost tourism, and be done in the next 100 years.

Now, off to the rental car and into the Greek Countryside for a totally different experience!!