the 27thi arrived to athens. i went to a party straight from the airport! the music was so weird, but noticing the greek style, i felt like i fit in more in greece than in spain. everyone in greece is very laid back, stylish but more relaxed (compared to spain) and just interested in enjoying life. chara was our AMAZING host that had us in her house and took us all around the city. i dont know how we could have experienced athens the way we did without her.
the 28th
when in athens, you have to see the acropolis, and thats the first thing that we did. its free to enter on sundays, so we just walked right in to see it. even though it was crawling with tourists, the acropolis is absolutely amazing. its incredible how much history exists in one place and how it has survived throughout centuries, different rulers and different religions. the new acropolis museum was also opened across the street during the summer. it has a very complete collection of objects found at the acropolis including original statues, marble panels, vases and more. we walked down from the acropolis through thissio which is an area of athens with lots of street vendors selling jewelry and random things and lots of coffee shops and cafes as well.
in greece, the coffee culture is very strong. whatever you do, you always "take a coffee" during the day. you could be drinking a coffee with friends for hours! but it is an integral part of any greek day. what do you do in these cafes for hours? talk, read horoscopes in the free newspapers and play backgammon. they have something called a frappé. now its nothing like a frappuccino you would get at starbucks, but greek coffee with ice. the coffee itself isnt different, but the way its made is... im not sure how to describe it but! if you go to greece, try it!
that evening, we went to a typical greek tavern to try typical greek beverages including ouzo. the first drink we tried was called raki - its a very strong alcohol that is boiled and mixed with honey so the taste is smoother and its very warm when you drink it. we also tried ouzo. now, generally when i had tried ouzo in the past, it always involved a greek party or restaurant in canada with a shot glass and a bottle of ouzo. i found out this is not the best way to drink it. you mix the ouzo with ice and water and its actually quite delicious! on Eros
the 29th
we went to the cycladic art museum which had a temporary exhibit on eros - the god of love and eroticism. the exhibit was very interesting as it explored different aspects of the concept of love - from romanticism, homosexuality, bestiality, sex as well as the mythical life of eros himself. but some of the vases - it looked like porn painted on a vase! we also say the permanent exhibit which related to ancient greek life as well as pre historic artifacts from greece. from my understanding, ancient greek life, philosophy and myths are pretty well known but the prehistoric artifacts and findings are super interesting and not as well known. i was more interested in the pre historic cycladic exhibit than the greek life in antiquity exhibit!
after that, we walked around kolonaki which is the pricey shopping district and started our whorl wind eating tour of athens. we started with souvlaki, moved to another place for coffee (of course), to another place for typical greek sweets (which were AMAZING! i still feel the sugar in me from then) and then we went to a funk bar for a drink. food and beverage in greece is generally pretty cheap... except for the coffee (which is anywhere from 3-5 euros compared to spain where you can get a cup of coffee for 1.20)
the 30th
we hopped in nikos' car and drove for an hour to Sounio. our first stop was the temple of poseidon. it was beautiful - not necessarily from the temple itself but from where it is situated. the temple is on a hill which overlooks the sea. take a look at the pictures to see - the colours - the white of the marble, the green of the grass and the super blue water was amazing and created some great pictures too! we had a packed lunch on the beach and then of course had some coffee. we had it at this place called the house project. the concept of the place was that it was a house - with a library (with books), a living room (with a playstation and computers), a games room (with pool), and a patio that was on the beach but you could order coffee, food, drinks etc. it was really cool and it seemed like something out of the OC.
the 31st
Sylvia and i went off on our own towards the center and Monistraki square. we bought souvenirs and i was on a hunt for the ancient agora. i was disappointed when i saw that it was just some ruins on either side of a small road with grass growing all around it. but! there were ruins..in the middle of the city.. it was kind of exciting? we met up with konstantinos and nikos and went for shisha and to try another typical greek drink - inomelo. its red wine that is heated up and mixed with honey. you drink it like a shot and it is delicious!
the 1st
we took a ferry for an hour to the island of aegina. as soon as we got there, we went to the ticket booth to ask when the ferries were departing back to athens. the guy in the booth told us that we were in the village and needed to go the city of aegina, where the ferry departs. he said we could take a taxi or take "that" bus, pointing to a bus driving by at full speed. sylvia and i tried to wave it down, but it didnt stop. sylvia also saw a sign that said aegina town, 10 km. Syl then suggests we walk the 10 km because its not that far. so without thinking, we start walking thinking 10 km is like a 20 minute walk. as we are walking, i start calculating how long 10 km really takes to walk and am pretty sure it will take us well over an hour and a half. but when when we turned any curve, syl would optimistically say "i feel like the city is just around the corner!" we finally saw some very nice people (after 45 minutes of walking) that said that the town was another 5 kms away. at this point, we decided to look for a taxi. we quickly waved one down and drove the remaining 5 kms to aegina town. it was our very own "camino de santiago" but the "camino de carajo" in aegina - very fitting for easter. (the camino de santiago is a religious pilgrimage where you walk across spain during easter).
while on our wonderful walk, we saw some tourists on motorcycles. after this, sylvia was addicted with the thought of getting a motorcycle. so after finding out what time the ferry left, we found a place that rented motorcycles. the guy asked us if we could rive motorcycles, we said no so he gave us a quad to share. it was the best decision ever! syl and i took turns driving the quad and explored the entire island! we saw a giant church (the monastary of agios nektarios) and drove to the temple of aphaia. we then got lunch near the sea and drove around the rest of the island. it was a lot of fun.
the 2nd
we visited the national archaeological museum which has an amazing collection of greek statues and marble depictions in the world. it was in a huge building and the exhibits were fascinating. the only thing that tainted the experience was the hordes of american high school kids there for spring break and the other stereotypical american tourists there. they were loud, taking pictures with flash, hording all of the displays, walking in front of people looking at displays, calling over to friends and people - ah so aggravating!
overall the experience in greece was amazing! we relaxed, enjoyed the lifestyle, saw lots of things, had an amazing hostess and of course, ate SO MUCH FOOD! when you look at the pictures, you will see almost everything we ate. it was fantastic! tomorrow i am off to fés in morocco for a 2 day sight seeing tour!
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