Athens is a city that has been victimized by Graffiti artists – no – I take that back – there is no art in the graffiti. Graffiti is everywhere – even in the nicest of neighborhoods. It seems that they have given up on the battle and once a building is marked – it remains as part of the architecture of a building. I remember reading about the graffiti policy in Katy,  once tagged– it is painted over immediately – The concept is if you let them display it – then they have won. It seems in Athens the Graffiti vandalist’s have won and no one is fighting it.  Usually the presence of graffiti makes me feel less safe - because it is usally in less desirable areas - this is not so in Athens.  It is everywhere and we have felt safe everywhere we have been.  There are scores of people walking around - you never feel vunerable.  (just prevent your pockets from being picked) I really am visually tired of seeing the graffiti.  Even the nicer buildings have been affected by it.  You can stand one one street and from every angle you turn you can see something ruined by graffiti,  The first three pics posted below were taken from different angles in the same spot.

We went to Syntagma square today. This is across the street from the parliament building and is where both a demonstration against the government and a gay pride parade was scheduled for today. This part of the city was on our city walk today - so we decided not to let my worries get in the way as our kids wanted first hand pictures of the demonstrators.  As we got closer to the square we find policeman in large numbers positioned in the streets approaching the square.  We assumed they were in place in the event the demonstration turned ugly.   Once we arrived at the square -  It wasn’t too difficult to figure out which was which was the parade and which the demonstration. The hotel we were going to stay at was literally at the center of the demonstration. We would have had front row seats if we hadn't have changed hotels.  The demonstration was fairly benign - anyway the part we saw.  We left to continue our Athens walk after about a half an hour.  We haven't heard any news that it escalated from peaceful demonstration to violence.  We even walked over there early this evening after strolling though the National Gardens and it appeared as if all was calm.
 
 

 
 
 
We had a wonderful day walking all over Athens.  We discovered many Greek Orthodox churches.  They had a way of showing up in the darndest places as the pictures we post will attest.  It seems in some cases - the churches were in the way of 20th century sprawl and so they just built around the churches. 
 
 

 
We visited some more ancient sites today which included the Ancient Agora, Hadrian's wall and the Temple of Zeuss.  Agora was the "downtown" of ancient Greece where people shopped, visited, heard the news, listened to public speakers such as Aristotle and Socrates etc.  It is mostly ruins now - but really interesting.  My favorite site was the Temple of Hephaistos.  It was a minor temple - but I liked the scale of it - and loved the way the light shone through the outer courtyard. 
 
 
 
 

 
Our stay in Athens is up - tomorrow we leave for the Island of Hydra.

The City of Athena

There are almost 4 million people living in Athens. One in every three Greeks lives here. The city spreads out for miles. To quote Rick Steves “Most of the city is unappealing, cheaply built, poorly zoned 20th century sprawl.” The sprawl can be seen from Acropolis hill. Most of the architecture here is from the 20th century so much so that it is a treat to see a lovely building in amongst the contemporary ones. Athens has a lot of graffiti and weeds abound in the public planting areas. Dogs and cats are everywhere. There were half a dozen cats on a corner we passed yesterday. On one corner today we saw a lady feeding the cats. Dogs wander around without leashes (large dogs) – they aren’t aggressive and don’t sniff people. They sleep on the middle of a sidewalk.

Our hotel is in the Plaka district. Plaka means “paved area”. The streets are very narrow with no sidewalk or one wide enough only for one person. We have strolled through the area, dined and window shopped. Shops are on the first floor with residences above. There are tons of touristy shops selling souvenirs. It is quaint and feels very safe. The streets are filled with aggressive salesman trying to get you to buy their wares or eat in their restaurants.

Today we saw several children performing as street musicians. They were very young looking appearing to be in age from 6-12 years old. They were not poorly dressed or dirty. Perhaps the worst that could be said is they had unkempt hair. One wore a backpack depicting the Disney princesses. They were not in a group –but seemed to work an area by themselves – and we could see no sign of their parents anywhere. They played the accordion – but did not play it well. They played very mechanically with no musicality. You paid them not because they provided sweet music – but because you felt sorry for them. It was clear that they were sent out to work, with their instrument serving as a prop to disguise them as musicians (it really was more like begging). To the children, this was work – not play as was evident in their eyes. They seemed to rival each other for a territory and we even saw one girl pull the hair of another girl who invaded hers. I wondered aloud to Ron what the future holds for children in these circumstances?

Pick pockets abound in Athens. While at the gate of Propylaia we watched a couple of American teens discover a wallet tucked into a crevice in the wall. Faye, our guide had recently shown us a woman who was going all over the Acropolis collecting wallets abandoned by the pick pockets as quickly as they were picked. She worked for the Athens police department and turned them in there.

Faye Georgiou guided us through the museum and the monuments on Acropolis Hill. She is Greek and as she was telling us about herself she said she has the first two of the three bad habits all Greeks have. These bad habits she listed . . .1)Greeks smoke,2) Greeks don’t eat breakfast and 3)Greeks hate each other very bad. Faye had amazing credentials – she was educated all over the world. I should have taken notes when she was listing her degrees. She is an archaeologist with a Bachelor’s degree, two masters’ degrees and a PHD. She is also an expert in ceramics and stone. She had more to her credit than that . . .but I can only remember so much if I don’t write it down. We found her name from a Rick Steve’s guide book. She said she has been called “the voice of Athens” in his book and this has made her famous without her knowledge. She set the scene up for viewing the Acropolis by taking us to The New Acropolis Museum. The museum was completed last year and is built on top of an excavation site which dates back to the 7th century. You can look down to see the excavation work in process. At some point the plan is that you can tour through the excavation site also.

The Acropolis was a most impressive 7 acre hilltop. It houses several ancient buildings erected 2500 years ago. The scale of the Parthenon was impressive to us– imagine how it inspired Athenians centuries ago. There are many ancient structures on the Acropolis besides the Parthenon. Our favorite piece of architecture was the Porch of the Karyatids, one of three parts of the Erechtheion. There are six lovely maidens serving as columns that support the roof. According to Faye, this is one of the first combinations of architectural elements and sculpture. They evoke femininity and functionality. Faye pointed out how they expose just a hint of a leg. She commented how in ancient society – just a peek at a foot or a neck would make a man want to marry a woman. She further observed that now – women let it all hang out everywhere and they wonder why they don’t marry.

Greek Salad – it’s all about the olive oil and Feta cheese.

Our first meal in Athens had to start with Greek Salad. Ron has always been a fan of this salad and so I knew we would start with that. The salad was short on lettuce and cucumbers and long on tomatoes. The salad was dressed with straight olive oil and a little S&P. We’ve never had a greek salad dressed that plainly before. Before we indulged I commented to Ron that authentic Greek salad must be all about the feta cheese. I was right – the feta was perfect and when crumbled over the salad imparted that flavor to the vegetables. The crusty white bread served with the salad brought out the delicious flavor of the olive oil we dipped it in. The meal started so well – it was unlikely the next course could improved upon the 1st. We ordered a stuffed tomato and giant beans. In ordering the beans I was hoping for green beans and therefore serving as a vegetable serving in my typically balanced diet. The giant beans turned out to be enormous white beans. They were cooked in a nice tomato sauce. The roasted tomato was stuffed with rice and had an interesting flavor we could not place. We were doing well so far at choosing Greek food. We were let down with our main course selections; Veal with egglplant and Lamb with vegetables. For our taste they were too overcooked. That is how many Greek dishes I have tried in the U.S. have seemed. So far the hot entrees rang true to that experience. The lamb had too much dill seasoning in it. We ate only a few bites of the lamb dish and about half of the veal with eggplant. The main course reminded us of the food at Fadi’s in Houston. We love the fresh less processed food – but once you start with the hot plates our interest wanes. For dessert we shared a yogurt and berry gelato at a sidewalk stand. DELICIOUS! We're signing up for all the fresh yogurt items we can consume in the next two weeks.

Our Big Fat Greek Anniversary begins

Ron and I are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary with a trip to Greece.  Our 25th anniversary was actually last August . . but this is when our trip worked into our schedule.  We figure it still counts as our 25th year trip just so we take it before our 26th year.

We flew to Athens via Air France with a connection in Paris.  Air France paid attention to a few creature comforts . . .like providing us eyeshades and earplugs. We wish that were enough to help us sleep . . . but of course it wasn't.  We never can sleep on a plane. We landed in Paris after what seemed a short flight (we kept ourselves busy reading poetry, playing scrabble and watching movies) and had one hour to make our connecting Air France flight. This seemed to allow just enough time to get a pastry from a lovely little shop called Paul’s. Beautiful pastries in the display cases . . Lauren knows what I mean . . .  after our European adventure together last summer we have a shared bond in sharing french pastries. 

 Ron's choice of pastry dissapointed me as it was so similar to the pastry he would have chosen in the U.S. . . . but it didn't dissapoint Ron in anyway! 

We rushed to make our connecting flight at another terminal in Paris De Gaulle airport.  We had to go through security again here.  I had brought a 3lb dumbell weight in my carryon luggage.  (I brought it so I could continue physical therapy on my shoulder whilst traveling)  I never thought about it being a security issue.  It wasn't even scrutinized at the security checkpoint upon exiting the Houston airport.  In Paris - it was removed from my bag and evaluated - I was told it had to be checked.  The language barrier was crossed by a little pantomine demonstrating how it could be used as a weapon by hitting someone on the head.  Since that wasn't the reason we traveled with it across the Atlantic ocean and we were trying to catch our flight. . we elected to leave it at the checkout point . . .  I'm in search of a substitute for a 3lb weight now . . . . any ideas?

We caught a little bit of sleep on our flight from Paris to Athens as our row had an empty seat on it and this allowed us to stretch out a little.  Upon arrival in Athens we were met by our driver whilst here in Athens ..  "Panos".  He put our luggage in the trunk (we packed light enought that it actually all fit).  The trunk latch was broken - and so he used a bungee cord to strap the trunk shut.  As he drove us to the city of Athens I was amazed at how much the landscape looks like Southern CA and even Houston.  There were Oleanders all along the freeway in full bloom - very nice.  Formosa trees also dotted the highways . . .and as our car slowed down in traffic some of the way I even recognized the weeds on the side of the road.  I am always surprised at how familiar the landscape looks so far away.  When we were in Costa Rica at Christmas it felt so familiar as so much of the vegetation we have in Houston.  It was like having Houston plants in a western terrain with elevation.  Faye, our tour guide in Athens called Panos on the way and he told her that we were much younger and thinner than he expected.  Panos filled us in on the strike situation on the way.  The train workers are on strike today.  Some municipal and city boats and planes are docked or grounded due to strikes.  He said not to worry about cabs - because the cabs and the limos don't ever strike at the same time.  The cab companies have deals with the limo companies and the day the one strikes, the other takes over the business of the stricken transport.  Faye met us at the AVA Hotel.  She had recommended we change to this hotel about a month ago - as the Hotel Bretagne where we planned to stay is right next door to Parliament.  This is where most of the demonstrations take place.  We just learned on Greek television that demonstrations are scheduled for this weekend.  Both Lauren and Colby were hoping we'd get to witness the action - so it looks like their wish will come true.

Faye met us at our hotel which is in the Plaka district - arguably one of the nicest districts in Athens (according to our hotel info).  She greeted us at the hotel and then took us for a walk to acquaint us with our surroundings for the next few days.  She showed us a great place for dinner and advised us to be very wary of pick pockets.  The hotel is lovely and our suite is quite comfortable and nicely appointed.  The pictures posted here are of the suite and the views from our balcony are of the Acropolis, Hadrian's wall and The Temple of Zeuss.  There are no cars allowed on the street of our hotel - so it is nice and quiet for sleeping.  Before Faye left us she had us both kiss her and vice versa in the Greek way on both cheeks.  We arranged to meet her tomorrow morning at 9am to show us Athens. 

Tonight . . .we are headed out for some authentic greek food . ... an early dinner at 5:20pm .... but we are ready to go to bed early tonight so that we can recover our energy.