We fly out of Athens at over 140 kilometers per hour. Mental note, convert to MPH later (FYI it's over 90 MPH). Here's another first. What it's like driving on the autobahn. In the passing lane. The whole time. Bucket list.... check. We quickly convert to country driving and desolate surroundings. Even in the dark you can sense abandonment. But what was most unnerving was how much Vasilios slowed down. The roads are very well maintained, and at that point we weren't on hairpin turns, so why so slow? I'll tell you why. Because Vasilios knows something we don't.
The darkness is concealing steep, bottomless dropoffs. Soon enough the hairpin turns get added to the mix, with Vasilios, who is an older gentleman, quietly murmuring to himself while running his hand upward over his forehead and over his head. What the hell have we gotten into? We are exhausted (well, the non-pina colada sipping ones are), have no clue where we are, and know nothing about this guy who is driving us and essentially has all our lives in his hands at the momemt. Literally. He swerves a bit, thankfully away from the drop off, but a swerve nonetheless, and I'm wondering if he is falling asleep or checking his phone for directions. Neither a good option. The guardrails, when there are some, are not something I want to test at the moment. I start making small talk. Like, "Are we almost there?" About 10 minutes. And, "Do you have to drive back to Athens tonight?" Yes he did. We FINALLY make it to the hotel well past 2am and a bit over 10 minutes as well.
The next morning we're up and out by 9am. We meet the tour guide, Lila, and the rest of the group, have breakfast, and head to Delphi. I confess my ignorance here that I know very little about Greece and its history (besides reading the book Eleni by Nicholas Gage). We toured the ruins at Delphi which is where the oracle was consulted about all important matters to the community. It was said the location where she was while being consulted sent her into a trance-like state, and it was recently discovered the exact location is where 2 fault lines converge and a combination of gasses, including chloroform, emit from underground. Kind of cool scientific fact supporting traditional history.
DELPHI, GREECE
View from hotel:
Temple of Athena
Temple of Apollo
Treasury:
Walls built with staggered pattern for strength to withstand earthquakes, etc.:
Aqueduct:
Mosaic:
Museum of artifacts found in Delphi
Rendition in museum showing what Temple of Apollo looked like:
Hercules:
The twins of Argos:
The first McKenzie-Childs print!
Socrates:
Socrates and Tony (sounds like a book):
The melancholy Roman:
Chariot driver:
After visiting a museum nearby that housed artifacts found at the site, we then traveled to a seaside town for lunch. On the way we pass by Thermopylae, the gorge between two peaks where the Spartans and surrounding townspeople held off an attack by Persians. The movie 300 was based on this.
WC = water closet = toilet = bathroom but nobody calls it bathroom:
Spartan King Leonidas statue:
Battle of Thermopylae site where movie 300 was based upon:
The seaside town was small and not very inhabited, but showed signs that it was more a fair weather tourist destination. After lunch we traveled a couple hours to the next hotel for the next day's destination of the monastaries at Metiora. We sit down to dinner at the hotel in a corner table and suddenly a young girl (I say girl but more like 20-something) sits at our table and asks to join us. She is touring on her own during college break and jumped into the tour midway through (her decision, not like us and compliments of JFK). She's pleasant and gregarious, and tells us all about her travels so far in Isreal, and her future touring plans before heading back to school. And she's obviously not stupid as she picks the table with 2 handsome guys (okay, I'm biased) her age.
After dinner we had drinks with Somer who told us more of her family and travels. She has a brother who teaches English in, hmmm.... I forget the country, and a sister who is applying for the Peace Corps right now. She's from a Midwest town and a bit of a new millennial Dead Head. I so admire these kids who fearlessly seek to explore the world and welcome all its offerings.
The next morning we are greeted with heavy fog which is not the best for viewing mountain top monasteries. The bus climbs steep, winding roads to the first monastery. We can take pictures outside, but not in the interior. Women must wear skirts and Somer and I each sport our sole pair which was not acceptable enough. Too much knee exposure. Or rather too much legging exposure. Thankfully each monastery provides wrap around skirts to modify the brazen knobby-kneed women.
The monasteries were beautiful and it's amazing to think they were built by hand, especially considering their location atop vertical mountain summits. They were a refuge during WWII and survived any bombing. By the time we finished the first monastery the fog lifted and we had some amazing views.
Foggy start to the day
With traveler Somer who joined us on bus tour:
Small town of Kalambaka at base of Meteora where we lunched:
After that we had lunch in a local village and hit the road for a 4 hour bus ride back to Athens. Once in Athens we were dropped off and thankfully Jamie, having traversed the city for several days, was able to guide us back to the hotel. Highly recommend the Plaka Hotel in Athens. A fantastic location, exceptional amenities, walking distance to many ruins and train station, and picturesque rooftop overlooking Acropolis with bar open in the evening. Even though it rained every night, we weren't going to let that opportunity pass.
Multiple views from rooftop of Plaka Hotel:
Then next 2 days we traversed Plaka and the ruins, buying a pass to see multiple sights. One of our favorite places to eat was Quick Pitta just a block from the hotel. Great Greek food at good price. Although one day they took our credit card and the next day they said they did not accept them. Talking with a local family vendor selling Byzantine art, we found out there is a new law that requires businesses to have 20% of their goods sold as credit purchases, which is not favored because of increased fees to vendors. My guess is Quick Pitta met the limit. Just as well as ATMs are all over.
We ate the first night at a restaurant with an octopus dish Somer highly recommended. The second night we had sushi. We also hit a local pub called James Joyce and had some Guinness and a local brew while sitting outside. For Athenians the temperature was cold, but for us it was a welcome respite and we were one of a handful enjoying the outdoors dining.
Acropolis
Check out the bird in flight between 2 columns:
Walking around the base of the Acropolis:
Rorschach Break.... doesn't this look like a profile looking to the left with eye, nose and puffy cheek? Am I the only one who sees this?
Temple of Hephaestus and Museum of Ancient Agora
An ancient potty chair! Check out the picture in the background where they actually put a kid in the chair for the photo.
A jury duty selection machine:
Drainage system:
Kerameikos and Museum of Artifacts from Site
This little guy guided us around for a bit.
Play a little "Where's Waldo" with him...
Joint between two blocks:
This cool sculpture was in a center atrium, and each room had an attendant. The attendant was chatting with someone on the backside of this sculpture for quite some time. I was being very patient waiting for them to clear the shot to no avail. There's more than one way to skin a cat, so I strategically shot the statue with just a hint of the red sweater peeking behind the front leg.
Lead figurine in a lead case inscribed with a curse. An ancient voodoo doll!
Sandal base with metal rivets still embedded.
Safety pins!
Roman Library
Marble steps bowed from countless footsteps over thousands of years:
Mosaic:
Temple of Zeus, Athens
View of Acropolis from Temple of Zeus:
Hey hon, can you get a picture with me and the boys?
Did I forget to mention to get the big blocks in the background too. lol!
Ruins surrounding the Temple of Zeus:
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and Changing of the Guard
Official changing of the guard occurs every Sunday at 11am. Guards wear different, more formal uniform for this.
Begins with procession in front of Hellenic Parliament:
We then walked through a local park with orange trees bursting with fruit, walked through the Monastiraki district and eventually made our way back to the hotel to wait for the cab to the airport. On our walk back Jamie had us pass the travel company where he hired Vasilios to drive us. I wanted to get a receipt for the balance we paid to Vasilios and thank them. He wasn't there but the lady who was said she told him to cancel our ride but he insisted on driving us. He truly saved the bus tour for us. Thanks Vasilios! May your kindness be returned many times over.
National Gardens
Pretending to take pic of statue but stealthily snuck in old guys on park bench.
Miscellaneous in Athens
Engraved on base of statue, "Archbishop Damaskinos to the German Occupation Authorities (1943) 'The members of the clergy of Greece may not be shot, they may only be hanged I beg you to respect this tradition...' Archbishop Damaskinos during the German occupation (1941-1944) assisted the people who suffered and defended their rights and freedom and opposed strongly to the persecution and holocaust of the Greek Jews."
The Monument of the Unknown Artist:
The Pied Piper of Moldova hits Greece:
Some guy saying, "Take my picture!"
Tony has is own bar:
Check out street with lamp shades strung above:
Hotel Plaka. Highly recommend it!
View down the stairwell of the hotel. We were on 6th floor, but really 8th floor because floor 1 started on floor 3 because lobby didn't count and floor above lobby was called "R" so you really climbed 8 floors to the room if you wanted to avoid the super claustrophobic elevator that fit 4 average sized adults with a weight limit in kilograms and converting it took too long so it was easier to hike the stairs.
The hotel came through like a champ offering free WiFi, restaurant area with coffee, tea and biscuits, and had a cab ready to go when needed. Soon we were off and the Greek week was done.
Guanciale selfie on the rooftop of Plaka Hotel the night before we leave:
Moldova here we come!
