Athenian treasures

Ultimately, visitors come to this city to view the incredible, masterful architecture of the Acropolis. This is our day for it.

It is also the last day of splendid warmth -- temps are in the low 70sF (up to maybe 23, or 24C). Perfect weather for us! I'd say it's luck, but Athens in spring is frequently this pleasant. Fact is, when Ed and I were here last, it was January and a little cool, but still beautiful. So, weather in Greece rocks in three of the four seasons. (Summer is miserable. Never try to climb up the Acropolis hill in July or August!)

(good morning! --  from our balcony...)

(sunrise, reflected on the Acropolis...)

We eat breakfast again upstairs, and this time outside. 

Yes, the view is to die for, but honestly, even without it, the delicate breeze, the sparrows flitting in and out, the tulips on the tables -- it's all beautiful and reminds me that we are coming upon the season of farmette breakfasts on the porch. How good is that!

At 10 o'clock we have a meetup with my chosen helper for exploring the older sights and history of the city. I dont remember how I found these people (the group calls itself Alternative Athens), but they offer a mythology tour, with a guide for you and your family who will spend some time stoking your interest in Greek history and mythology. Could you imagine a more perfect match for Snowdrop, who loves these great myths that guided daily life here more than 2700 years ago?

Our guide, Maria, is perfect. She has been leading walking tours through ancient Athens for some half dozen years. Before that, she was an archeologist. Her knowledge of history is, unsurprisingly, incredible.

SAs we leave our hotel, she starts us off with an introduction to the twelve Gods of Greek mythology. Snowdrop isn't shy about answering questions -- she knows these stories inside out and after a few minutes of this Maria has to ask -- wait, how old are you anyway? 

I have to say, the four hour walk today, which focused on the Temple of Zeus, the Acropolis and the Agora, was stamina wise challenging. Lots of territory, many hills, lots of history. I thought, after the third hour,  that perhaps it was heading to be too much for Snowdrop, but in fact, she never complained and toward the end, when I proposed cutting it a little shorter, she insisted on doing the full run, all the way to the top of the last hill where the Temple of Hephaestus stands tall and beautiful.

Snowdrop also loves to be my pinpoint person for photos, which is grand for me, not only because she's my travel companion and granddaughter, but, too, because it adds perspective to all that I put up here, on Ocean. 

It's hard to describe this fantastic walk that we took through an Athens of (more or less) 600 B.C.E. Maria is like the good friend you want to have on an Athenian odyssey. She speaks with a passion and she knows her stuff. My head is swimming with thoughts and historical detail. I'm sure Snowdrop's is too. We are humbled, grateful, excited, tired, and so very full of Greece! 

Let me post some photos. I think they give the flavor to this magnificent day.

(In the garden of the Temple of Zeus)

(the Temple, with such an incredible history!)

From here, we make our way to the Acropolis. It's a bit of a hike (but a good one, in that we see a slice of Athenian life...)

...and certainly quite the climb.

(up the scraggy hill, where the poppies grow...)

(from higher elevations, the views are tremendous!)

(Up, to the Temple of Athena Nike...)

(Up past theaters and musical venues of Ancient Greece...)

(Until finally we come to the Acropolis proper... and here, she is enthralled! So close, so enormous, so beautiful!)

[Me, I'm on the phone with the credit card company... Weird charges are popping up despite the fact that I put a block on it. Time to just tear up that card number.]

Once on the Acropolis plateau, we take our time discovering the beauty of the place.

(the Erechtheion, dedicated to Athena...)

And of course, the most magnificent of them all -- the Parthenon, shot here by Snowdrop who wants to include me in the photo gallery.

(Snowdrop makes friends by the Parthenon with an Acropolis cat.)

And now we descend, passing wildflowers, feeling maybe a little hungry.

Maria hands us some sesame sticks to muck on. I was sure Snowdrop would turn them down. She does not.

One final sight: the ancient Agora: the place where everyone "hung out" and bought their goods and opined on all things important and generally moved this baby democracy forward.

At one end, we have the Temple of Hephaestus.

Maria asks if we are too tired to get up close and personal to it. Snowdrop wants to push on. And we do.

And where there's a hill, there's a view.

(Our joint photo of the day, taken by Maria...)

(And here's Maria, explaining something to Snowdrop, who was very dusty after this adventure!)

[Maria also explained how she named her son after the dad's father, as traditionally done in Greece, which started the ball rolling for Snowdrop: what would she, her brothers, and her cousins be named were we to follow the same rules?]

At the other end of the Agora is the Stoa of Atticus -- call it a shopping mall of Athens long ago.

(flowers -- always a welcome sign of the warm season ahead of us)

After reading a beautiful excerpt about all that Ancient Greece has taught us about democracy, about life, Maria leaves us here and we slowly make our way back in the direction of our hotel.

(Snowdrop pauses to study the map of mythology Maria had given her)

We stop for lunch at one of the many, many restaurants that line the Agora. Perhaps it wasn't the best choice: it stood out in that it looked modern and I thought perhaps it would have a novel twist on some of Greek favorites, but in the end Snowdrop ordered pancakes and I ordered shakshuka, which I suppose is geographically close to Greece, maybe. It's all fine, and the outdoor seating is lovely, and the view onto the Agora is fabulous, but if we were looking for something very Greek, this was not it.

And now we rest, right?

Wrong. Snowdrop wants another hour at the pool and so I reserved our time for late this afternoon. Of course, I must swim with her.

Back upstairs, she's with her tablet, I pack a little and work a tiny bit on photos. I need to get to bed before midnight today!  

And now we are off to dinner. Just seven minutes away, down one street, up another, twist over the stairs, and you are there, at Psaras.

It turns out to be one of my favorite meals in Athens. All along, I'd been worried about introducing Snowdrop to Greek food, but lately, I found a stress free way to do this, one that works well for both of us: if there is pasta on the menu, I order it for her. But for me, I pick two appetizers and one main that I think she might like. And the deal is that she tries them all. Tonight I picked grilled veggies and fried calamari for the first course. She ate my pepper with relish and loved, absolutely loved the ever so delicately fried calamari. 

Then came her pasta and my Greek lamb chops. They were exquisite and out of the five (they are thin here), she left me with only one and that's because I insisted.

It was a glorious finale to our Athens adventure.

We ended the evening at our usual ice cream place. Chocolate for the girl...

Fig for me. Because, you know, it's Greece, and there are figs here...

With so much love...

Athens all day

Some fuzzy parts of my brain connected disparate bits of gathered info and I eventually remembered that there was a reason for the gala atmosphere out on the streets late last night: it was Greek Independence Day. We arrived right smack in the thick of a holiday weekend.

Well, today is Sunday and a Sunday is always a no work day,  holiday trimmings or not, and so I have assumed, not incorrectly, that much of the city will stay closed and crowds will swell at famous Athenian sights. In France, markets do their biggest sales on Sunday morning (for that big Sunday meal that we're all supposed to serve this day), but this is southern Europe and the rules play out differently here.

So what do we do first? Snowdrop sleeps late and that's a good thing. And immediately after she wakes up, we go down to breakfast. Up on the roof.

And then begins our crazy spin through an incredible day full of sights, foods, a necessary police station visit (yes, we had to!), more food, music, laughter, swimming, calling, drawing. Not necessarily in that order. Let's see if I can straighten out the exhilarating chaos here for you!

We aim first for the Syntagma Square. It translates to "Constitution Square" and it is flanked by the 19th century Royal Palace that currently is home to the Greek Parliament. It's the hub of the city and it's only a block away from our hotel. And there are fountains. Do all kids love fountains or is it just her?

Notably, at 11 each Sunday, they have an elaborate changing of the guards. Worth catching, for the sheer pageantry of the event. And it allows for me to talk to Snowdrop about the more recent history of this country: about the change from a monarchy to a parliamentary governance, about a tomb of an unknown soldier. About a country's hymn's and traditions. 

Because it is a Greek National holiday weekend, there are many, many Greeks forming throngs of eager watchers. The sun is hot, the clock moves slowly toward the hour of "change." But we got lucky. Across the street we find front row spots where she can sit on the curb and draw her own rendition of a changing of the guards and I can stare at the parade of costumed men taking their rhythmic steps...

And right after comes the promised time at the hotel pool. The one that's open, inside, in the basement. So small that they limit the people to just a handful at a time. We had to reserve our spot and at 11:30, there aren't many people looking to swim.

(in Wisconsin, there was a snowstorm...)

And predictably, she loves it!

For the early afternoon I found a Greek "food walk" for us. You basically pay a guide to introduce you to some of the Greek culture through a samplings of iconic Greek foods. (The group that offers this is called Athens Food on Foot; I warned them that Snowdrop can be very, very cautious about trying new things. They seemed willing to take us on anyway!)

Anna (who founded the company just a handful of years before Covid hit hard) meets us at the Acropolis Metro station. The day is brilliant -- plenty of sunshine! Short sleeves all the way!

Anna is knowledgable, well organized and in addition to sharing with us favorite food spots, she has us walk through places I myself would find difficult to get to, just because Google maps doesn't readily tell you to take those few steps here, and squeeze down those over there, and pull away from the route leading elsewhere in order to land the best glimpses of Athenian life. After starting us off on Greek yogurt (not frozen!) with honey and nuts...

... she leads us through that most stunning old cluster of white-washed homes, clinging to the edge of the Acropolis hill - the Anafiotika.

We pass murals of Greek Gods and Anna questions Snowdrop and of course, Snowdrop delivers a perfect summary of what god did what to whom and for what reason. Anna is impressed. I'm impressed.

And down again, we plunge into the Plaka, where we sample exquisite feta, other cheeses, pastrami and spiced prosciutto meats (Snowdrop loved these meats best!), olives and breadsticks.

We are on our way to a next stop when we pass a postcard store. I pick out a few to send back home. And this is when I first notice that my wallet is missing. 

But how did it get snitched??? I had it last night after dinner, I didn't buy anything today thus far. I keep it zipped tight in my little purse that I wear across my chest. Someone would have to get real close to me, unzip my bag, take the damn thing out and zip the bag up again. Is that even possible?? Or, someone came to the room while we were swimming. [We had called maintenance because there was a leak in the bathroom. But of course, I have no proof, so I'll just say it's either a whiz of a pickpocket or... maintenance.]

I'll never find out. 

I have alerts set up and so I know when someone is using my cards. 

No one is using my cards. Chances are that the thief took the money and tossed the rest into a garbage can. 

So now it's a bit of a mess. Anna makes a few calls and takes us to the police station where I file a theft report. She is so extremely helpful in speeding this process up for me that I have to say, I could not have met up with her at a better time! (She tells me that in one year, she had her cell phone stolen three different times; me, I'm glad it was not my cell phone!) 

My next step is to call all credit card companies, but I save that for a bit. Again, no one is using my cards and I have a food tour to finish!

We go to a typical taverna with people, so many people, spilling out on all portions of the street at rickety tables, eating lunch (at 4!!). And we join this beautiful tumult of humanity and we eat meatballs and some double baked bread with tomatoes and feta and it is all so good, even if we are feeling stuffed already. (Anna says she has never seen people eat so little, but the fact is, Snowdrop is trying everything and I am too, there is just so much to try!)

(In the traditional taverna, there are no reservations. You wait a while, a table opens up...)

And still there is more -- an ice cream place where they make your ice cream on the spot, to order. Snowdrop is mesmerized!

(with Anna)

And now we cannot look at food, even though dinner is very very soon! Uff!

At the hotel, I take care the details surrounding the lost wallet, grateful that I always keep an extra card hidden in the depths of my belongings for just such emergencies. And then I put this whole matter out of my mind.

We eat dinner at Geros Tou Moria. That's a real plunge into a Greek Taverna setting with Greek menus and Greek music and a general Greek joie de vivre that is so very much a part of the culture here. Anna had affirmed this earlier: people never eat just to eat. They eat to share something with others.

(table outside)

(music inside)

In the end though, Snowdrop sees her fave on the manu -- spaghetti! -- and I allow her to go for it, so long as she tries both my dishes (shrimp in tomato/feta sauce and eggplant).

There are many street cats in Athens and I'm sure some people treat them well and others do not like them, but for us they are a tiny link to "back home" and so we sneak them some shellfish bits.

Someone is very very pleased tonight! 

(while the Greek women talk on...)

Dessert? Ice cream again! Across the street from the hotel. Chocolate for the girl, baklava for me.

(we take it up the elevator, back to our room)

Would you agree that it was the fullest of full days?

With love...