We’re in Athens! It is a pretty good city. I’m not too fond of cities, because they’re noisy, dirty, and tend to feel more dangerous. But, Athens doesn’t seem too dangerous, it’s not that noisy, and it’s not that dirty, for a city. And, it seems to be pretty well laid out. We don’t really get lost. We may get side tracked, but we haven’t been lost yet. I think this has to do with the Acropolis, which hovers well above the city, orienting us.
Something else about a bit city that rarely happens in smaller towns and villages, is that you can always find something new. We did a lot of walking and exploring when we were in Athens before, but since we’ve been here this time, we’ve found a number of other little gems that we hadn’t discovered before. For example, we found the trendy little shopping district with a pedestrian street. It kind of resembles a mix of the grove and 3rd street Promenade, but with an Athens vibe. Similarly, we found a street with numerous sweets and snack shops. Barrels and buckets of dried fruit and nut variations are crammed into tiny stores and storefronts. Similarly, our hotel seems to be situated in the Home Depot area of Athens. All the surrounding stores sell pipes, rope, power tools and the like. All new to us!
Then, last night we went for a walk to check out the moon, which was pretty big, and the Acropolis at night. The only thing more impressive than the Acropolis in broad daylight, is the Acropolis at night. The dark sky shrouds the surrounding landscape as the bright lights illuminate the centuries old ruin perched atop the mountain. The golden lights bathe the white marble creating a shimmering illusion. It’s really spectacular. That, paired with the nearly if not full moon, we had to find a good view. And good view we found! But, we weren’t the only ones. Apparently this chunk of rock is where young locals go to hang out in the evenings.
Also accomplished yesterday, we found the best gyro yet! A place called Sabbas (looks a little different in Greek) had an amazing chicken gyro with tomatoes, onions, paprika, and the creamy spread.
A note on bathrooms. They are different once you leave the US. Aside from the odd plumbing at times, the major difference concerns the shower. Many times the entire bathroom is the shower, with a drain in the middle of the room. I have a picture of one of our bathrooms in Athens. Note how the toilet is basically in the shower, there is no dividing line between the shower floor and the bathroom floor, there is no curtain or door to be had, and the shower head is hand held only. This is all quite common. (this picture makes the bathroom appear larger than is actually is BTW)
Today we might hang out in our AC for a bit and maybe hit up the Acropolis museum, which was closed during our last visit here. Then we catch our flight!
2 responses to “Hello again, Athens!”