This was the one day that we had dedicated to soaking in Athens and all of its history and culture. After a quick pb sandwich on our balcony, we were off on the B2 bus headed into ancient Greece. After leaving the marina area, we immediately understood why everyone is so down on Athens. The streets were small and dirty, lined with dingy looking shops covered in graffiti. It had the feel of New York in the mid-eighties, before Giuliani closed down all of the peep shows. Ultimately, this gross ambiance only served to make the contrast between downtown Athens and the area surrounding the Acropolis more distinct. Seemingly from nowhere, the grime of the city washed away into the lush greenery of the national garden, guarded by Herod's arch.
First stop: the Acropolis. No matter where you go in the city the Acropolis is visible from below; it is evident why this was the spot chosen by the ancient Greeks as their gateway to the heavens. We passed through the Propylaea into an open courtyard housing the Parthenon on the right and the Erechtheion on the left. Looking at some of the artists renderings of what it looked like in its heyday really helped us grasp how incredible it must have looked when fully built, with the detailed sculptures, grand columns and 40 foot statues hovering over the city.
The other part of the experience that caught my attention was the history behind the Parthenon. It started out as a Greek temple, which was then looted with the fall of the Roman empire. Then, in the fifth century, it was turned into a Christian church and all of the pagan images were destroyed. It was then converted to a mosque, a palace, and even a gunpowder storage facility before the Venetians blew it up trying to defeat the Turks. While listening to this history, I felt a twinge of Schadenfreude as the Chanukah story, where the Greeks spent a good amount of time desecrating all they could get there hands on, kept running through my head. But I digress. From the Parthenon the views were spectacular. You could see all of Athens, from the mountains to the sea.
From there we headed though the growing sea of people (if you ever plan on going make sure to go as early as possible as that place gets crazy once people start showing up) right to a pharmacy, as it has become Liz's tradition to get sick every time we get on a plane (the 35 hours of travel time to Costa Rica should be a breeze, he wrote sarcastically). For all of the European mocking I do, I need to give credit where credit is due - their drugs are amazing. Liz went from walking zombie to life of the party in under 5 minutes thanks to some sort of Greek miracle elixir.
Next on our tour was the new Acropolis museum. I must say that this place was a very pleasant surprise. If I have learned anything from my travels it is that museums attached to historical sites are always awful. They are usually huge and boring and indistinguishable, overwhelming and disappointing, always trying to shove in as many things as possible and about a million degrees celsius. This was nothing like the others. It was unique and interesting. The floors are all glass so you can see excavations as they are taking place. The rooms are open and inviting with all of the artifacts on display, no pomp and circumstance, just sitting in the middle of large open rooms lined with windows, so visitors can see the beautiful views of the the city. We went to the museum's cafe to get a coffee and were floored by the best views of the city. It was like a private balcony overlooking the acropolis, just magnificent. As would be expected, Liz and I both got yelled at in the museum, Liz for touching the sculptures, and me for taking pictures.
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| Like ants under my feet |
From there we decided to take a walking tour of the city to try to make the most of our one day in Athens. The first stop on the tour was the tomb of the unknown soldier. We happened to be very lucky and arrived just as the guard was about to change. Let me preface this next part by saying that I have nothing but the utmost respect for Greek soldiers. Any time you have someone putting their life on the line to protect others it is deserving of nothing but the utmost adoration in my eyes. So I truly mean no disrespect when I say that this was the silliest solemn moment I have ever witnessed. First of all, the costume that these elite solders were forced to wear could not have been borne of anything outside of a lost bet. I will attempt to describe them to you in as respectful a manner as I can, but I promise nothing. First of all, they are are outfitted with tap shoes with a huge black pompom on the toes. Above that they wore off-white stockings with black tassels hanging off the back of their knees. This was tucked into a beige skirt which, we were told contains 400 pleats, one for every year of Ottoman occupation. All of this was topped off by a red beret accented by a 3 foot nylon tassel hanging past their waste, like a teenage girl sporting a side pony. I do not think I am capable of making up a more ridiculous looking costume.
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| Not Pictured: Masculinity |
Unfortunately, the garb was not the extent of the ridiculousness of the ceremony. What followed looked like it came straight out of Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks. The best way for me to describe it would be a super slow motion goose-step combined with a Rockettes style leg kick that stopped for a couple seconds at each joint. Meaning, lift right leg up at the hip until thigh is parallel to the ground and knee is at a right angle, hold for two seconds. Straighten knee, hold for two seconds. Extend up and bend knee, hold for two seconds. Straighten knee, hold for two seconds. Bend knee, hold for two seconds. Put foot down. Repeat with left leg. It took them almost 10 minutes to walk 30 feet. Once the incoming team met the old crew in the middle, the officer went through a thorough inspection, my guess is to make sure they were well-prepared for the 30 minute prance they were about to endure. All of this ended with two soldiers meeting in the middle and finishing this maneuver while touching toes.
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| One of these is giving a solemn salute to a fallen soldier, while the other one is about to be slapped in the face with a fish. |
After the ceremony was over, Liz and I ran up to the guard to take a quick photo. We loved it, but not as much as the guard.
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| Loving it |
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| Less so |
From there the rest of the city walk was nice, but pretty uneventful. We decided to cap the day off with the obligatory tour of the Jewish museum. By this time we had gotten a little lost, so Liz asked a cabbie for directions. Unfortunately,(for them, fortunately for me) the cabbie got distracted while talking to Liz and forgot to stop driving and crashed into a parked motorcycle. As would be expected, Liz's eyes popped out of her head as she apologized profusely to the cabbie and the bike-owner, and while I tried to get a picture, hilarity ensued.
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| Hilarity ensuing |
After they stood the bike up and saw no damage, Liz and I headed back for the museum. The Jewish museum was pretty similar to every other one in existence: the Jews were immigrants, but were slowly building their way up in society, then the holocaust wiped out 87% of them. I know it is unrealistic, but just once I would like to go to a Jewish museum where the Jews had at least a 50% survival rate - is that really too much to ask? To be fair, this museum did have a very touching story of the island of Zakynthos where the Mayor, Lucas Karrer and the Metropolitan Bishop Chrysostomos did not allow the nazis to search out the Jews, saying that they themselves were the only two Jews on the island. This courageous act of defiance was the sole reason for the survival of every single Jew on the island. It's a small victory, but I'll take it.
