I arrived here in Athens with my friends Tom and Kirk last night after a long day of travel. We left Atlanta at 10:45 on Friday night, flying Turkish Airlines first to Istanbul on an 11 hour plane ride and then on another flight here to Athens last night. We enjoyed the brief time we had in the Istanbul airport sampling Turkish Delight, but were happy to finally arrive here safely late last night. Because of jet lag, we were not tired and so walked around a bit, got a bite to eat and some wine at a small cafe near our hotel, and finished it off with ice cream. We were out past 1am which would normally be very unusual for me, but we hadn't quite adjusted yet. During our stroll we saw several cars getting parking tickets, but not only did they get a fine, but their license plates were removed by the police; we assumed this was to make sure they paid. Ouch.
Today we took a walking tour of the city center of Athens and the Acropolis. The tour included sites of both modern and ancient Athens, such as Sintagma Square, the Temple of Zeus, the Plaka district, and of course the Parthenon. Our first stop was Sintagma Square where our guide gave us an overview of modern Greek history from the fall of Constantinople (about 500 years ago today, actually) to the fall of the monarchy in the 1970s. The guide basically told a tragic story of the Greeks being dominated by outsiders, such as the Turks, and then by the great powers of Europe since their independence in the 19th century. You could hear a little resentment in his voice, especially when he mentioned that while the Greeks are mourning the fall of Constantinople to the Turks, today in Turkey, it is a national holiday. Anyway, we watched the changing of the guards at the tomb of the unknown soldier and then made our way through the public gardens, designed by the first Queen of modern Greece, past the Zappeon hall, to the temple of Olympian Zeus. Not much of the temple is left, only 16 Corinthian columns, but it was still an impressive site. Our guide also spoke with us of some of the inventions of the ancient Greeks, including a machine that some consider to be the world's first computer. He was obviously very proud of his country's history and heritage.
After visiting the temple, we made our way to the Acropolis. Perhaps the most famous archeological site in the world, the Acropolis was the center of ancient Athens and contains several temple to the goddess Athena, for whom the city was named. Surrounding the hill are many other ancient sites, such as the Theatre of Dionysius, where the dramatic arts were born. This was where Thespis stepped forward from the chorus and spoke independently, becoming the first actor. It is from him that we get the word Thespian. The climb to the top of the Acropolis is a steep and somewhat treacherous walk. The rocks have been stepped on for 1000s of years and are therefore smooth and slippery. There are very few handrails and no handicap access. They must not have as many lawsuits as we do, because surely someone over the years has gotten seriously hurt. At the top are three temples dedicated to Athena: the temple of Athena Nike (victory), the Parthenon, and the Erechtheion, the Parthenon, or just "Parthenon" as our guide called it, being the most famous. Here too was another story of Greek tragedy. When the city was occupied by the Turks, the temples were actually in good shape, so much so that the Turks decided they would be a good place to store gunpowder. During a war with the the Venetians, there were several explosions which destroyed much of the monuments. After that, the temples were looted for several hundred years, most famously by a British Lord who wanted statuary for his villa in Scotland. Today, the British refuse to return the artifacts, a very sore point for the Greeks, and our guide.
Following the tour of the Acropolis, we stopped at a large rocky hill where Paul is said to have preached to the Athenians. Although it was neat to be able to stand where Paul once stood, this was another treacherous site and I slipped several times, but fortunately, did not get hurt. I figure that Paul couldn't have preached for too long, since he would have surely lost his balance at some point, wearing only sanders. We then made our way into the Plaka, the old district of Athens on the side of the Acropolis where we stopped for lunch. The Plaka is characterized by winding streets, tourists shops, and numerous outdoor cafes and restaurants. We had gyros for lunch and Greek Coffee, which appeared to be Turkish coffee, but obviously not called that here. It came with what looked like Turkish Delight, but they had a different name for that too, which I can't remember. We talked with a mother and daughter next to us who were traveling from Colorado. The daughter is about to begin law school and I told her to get out of it while there's still time left.
After lunch we wandered through the Plaka district back to our hotel where we are now resting. We plan to go back that way for drinks and dinner later. It is wonderful to be back in Europe again and so far, I like Athens. We had heard a lot of negative things about Athens, and although it is obvious that the Greeks have fallen on hard times, the city has its charms. I'm looking forward to spending another day here. Until then...
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