Athens reminds me of Greektown in Detroit, except that the language barrier is a little less of a problem in Athens and I have about a 5% smaller chance of getting shot. In my travels of the past several months, this is the first time that I’ve returned to a place that I had visited previously. I went to Athens and some of the Greek Islands with some friends from law school in 1999. That was before the 2004 Athens Olympics and I was curious to see how much had changed since I was there before.
As it turns out, not much. In fact, I’m pretty sure that I bought a hat in the very same store in which I bought some t-shirts and a key chain eleven years ago. I guess that it’s fitting that Athens doesn’t change, though, seeing as the big draw to Athens are those things that have been there for over 2,500 years.
I arrived in Athens at night, and my hotel was in sort of a sketchy neighborhood, so I didn’t venture out too far, though I did find a grocery store, or at least of grocery store of sorts. It had alcohol and junk food. It wasn’t ideal, but it would serve its purpose.
The next day I went out for some immediate sightseeing. I had three full days in Athens and it was the weekend, so I expected the touristy places to be pretty crowded. Despite the sketchiness of my hotel’s neighborhood, the location was great because everything I wanted to see was within a 20-minute walk. Of course, the first place for which I headed was the Acropolis. On the Acropolis, again of course, is the Parthenon. There are the remains of a few other temples, as well, and some other structures, such as an amphitheater, but it’s the Parthenon that everybody knows about.
The Parthenon really shows its age. As I’m sure you’re aware, it was blown up several centuries ago when it was being used as an arsenal and gunpowder was ignited and boom. It looks like it was blown up centuries ago. In fact, between that event and the removal of columns and pieces by the British and the French, it’s surprising that there’s anything left holding it up except for the ever-present scaffolding. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an impressive structure, but I’ve seen much more impressive structures. This just happens to be the most famous remaining structure of one of the most famous ancient civilizations, so I think it gets much more credit as a “great wonder” than it’s worth.
The ticket for the Acropolis is twelve euros and it is good for several other sites in Athens as well. Among these were the Theatre of Dionysos, the Ancient Agora, the Roman Agora and the Temple of Zeus. I had some time as well as some interest, so I made my rounds to those as well. The Theatre of Dionysos is the amphitheater that I mentioned earlier and is located near the south entrance to the Acropolis. I’ve always been a fan of the ancient amphitheaters and this one was pretty cool, with seats that seemed to be in really good shape, though it was not entirely clear to me how much of the theater was original and how much had been restored.
The Ancient Agora was very interesting, looked upon by the Acropolis. All I had for a guide was the information boards that accompanied many of the ruins. There are some amazing ancient structures that still are in good shape, including a temple that was much better preserved (or put back together . . . I don’t know) than the Parthenon. As always, I took some pictures and walked around for a while.
I stopped by Syntagma Square, which is one of the places that I remember most about my first trip to Athens because it is in the center of the city and there were riot police controlling anti-American riots going on there in 1999. It’s bordered by Parliament at one end and McDonald’s at the other. For lunch, I had a ham and cheese pie. I had a few ham and cheese pies while in Athens. These, umm, delicacies are similar to spanikopita, made with buttery filo dough and feta cheese, but the ones I had obviously contain ham rather than spinach. It’s one of my favorite things about Greece. I hope they have them in Thessaloniki. At some point during my stay, I also ate at the Syntagma Square McDonald’s, partly out of nostalgia, and partly because they had an item – a Shrimp Burger – that I had never seen at any other McDonald’s. Unlike the McItaly burger that I tried in Milan, the Shrimp Burger was actually pretty good.
Okay, that’s enough for this entry. I may try to lump the rest of Athens into the next entry, but it may take two. Don’t worry, we’ve got time.
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