Our day in Athens started with a cold blustery wind that rivals that of March in the Yukon. Well, not quite that bad I guess but we were looking for any shelter from the wind we could find all day long. Add to that mist, sprinkles, and pouring rain and you have a pretty good idea what we were determined to endure for our day here.
Just before 10 am we left the Apollo Hotel, a modest six story building wedged between Karaiskaki Square and several blocks of businesses in what used to be a very nice part of the city. Now, however, it is the neighborhood that houses a great majority of the illegal immigrants that swarm Greece's borders, causing great concern for a country already lacking jobs for their own citizens and having one financial crisis after another. The area is safe enough, especially during the day. We have been cautioned not to wander off the main streets at night though. This hotel is very clean and a bit on the sparce side. We have paid around $160 for 2 nights in a triple room (three twin beds) including breakfast. If you are looking for something affordable and friendly this is the place for you.
One block up from the Apollo at Karaiskaki Square we catch the HOHO bus and start our adventure to show Dominick as much of Athens as one day will allow. Because the weather is very iffy today the young man who sold us the 24hr ticket deducted the cost for Dominick which was E8. Our tickets were E18 each. We feel that for the cost of these HOHO buses it is well worth the price to get a good overview of your location. We have also done this in Rome and when you save your ticket you are given a 10% discount for all the other cities. We will use this discount in Rome and Barcelona and maybe in Funchal.
We get off at the Acropolis and head for the beginning of what will be well over 100 steps by the time we get to the top. First we need tickets, so off we go to the admissions booth. Because we are not from the European Union (EU for short) we pay the full price of E18 per person, however, Dominick is free. Yeah! They really believe in encouraging their young to become knowledgeable about art, history, and culture in general. I wish that Dominick's teachers had been as enthusiastic as the teachers we have encountered here. And that we as a nation took as much interest in teaching our children about their history instead of the milktoast versions of "Social Studies" that are the norm these days. Enough of the soap box, I digress.
The way is paved in marble and can be treacherous when wet. Even on this wet blustery day the place is packed with tour buses and individual groups from everywhere imaginable. One group in particular catches our attention since none appear to be younger than in their mid seventies. Most have canes, some have walkers and all seem to be wandering behind a tour guide using head phone sets to give her narrative so everyone can hear. We are continually trying to avoid their movements since they have a hard time walking over the uneven ground. We have a hard time walking over the uneven terrain with the wind gusting and practically lifting us off the ground.
Although Athens is a bustling modern city, it still holds the Acropolis and all of its history high enough for everyone to remember where Democracy began.
The core of the city is built on a lofty hill with steep sides, providing excellent defenses. Protected by a ring of low hills and two rivers, Athens was far from isolated.
Very early in history, Athens gained attention for a strong sea trade and the wealth created by it. Commerce itself convinced the Athenians slavery was not profitable during the first centuries of its life. As a matter of fact escaped slaves found their way to Athens and were welcomed as a steady influx of labor.
Through Greek eyes, the unique traits of Athens created a special relationship with both Poseidon, god of the sea, and Athena, goddess of wisdom. Athena's owl was a frequently used symbol of Athenian coins and her olive tree, signifying peace and harmony, commonly appears on decorative works.
Technically dedicated to the goddess, Athens did not want to neglect the powerful god of the sea, which dominated their commerce. So they decided to perfectly combine tribute to the two by hedging their bets with the construction of the Erectheion on the Acropolis. Shrines to Poseidon and Athena share the same temple building.
The Acropolis is actually the mountain of marble where this temple and the Parthenon are constructed. We tend to refer to the Parthenon as the Acropolis. Greeks will be the first to correct you as they take their history very seriously and who can blame them. After all this monument can be directly related to our modern form of govenment.
We spend about an hour exploring this ruin. But the wind is chilling us to the bone and we must decend to try and find protection from it and the rain that started as fine mist and has turned into something a bit stronger but not yet actual rainfall.
Just as we finish our decent and we are making our way to the HOHO stop th bus comes. What timing! We are thankful not to have to wait, and gladly climb aboard for our short ride to the Plaka, which is the main shopping area for this part of the city. We spend a few hours walking thru and Dominick purchases a few mementos as gifts for those at home. He is very selective to find just the right thing for each person and spend his money wisely. We stop for a nice lunch which consist of meatballs, rice, salad, what we call french fries, tziki with fresh pita , and a glass of house red that totals E20. A short walk and a cold wait and back on the bus to warm up before our next stop.
We stop next at the National Archaeological Museum to specifically show Dominick the collection of bronze knives, swords, and spear heads. It is quite impressive and we are impressed with the attention and interest he shows in all the exhibits. Our entry here costs E7 per person and once again Dominick is free. He was very interested in the statues and pottery from 2800-2500 BC which surprized me. But it was nice to see I have a grandchild who seems to appreciate history as much as I do. After carefully going through the exhibits we discover the rain has increased a bit when we exit. This time we have to wait almost 30 minutes for the next bus and the wind is hard to evade.
We arrive back at the Apollo around 5pm, take a short nap and head out for dinner around 7pm. Our destination is just across the street and down a block to the "Alexander the Great" restaurant that has been recommended by more than one local today. Our meal including two entries that we share, bread, 1 litre of house red and baklava for dessert. Very good food and good friendly service. Our bill comes to E54 including tip. Not bad for a very enjoyable meal.
Back to the hotel and Dominick calls his mother for a good night and we turn out the lights about 11pm. We are tired but happy that we have seen everything we intended for this day. Tomorrow we leave for the ship and the beginning of our ocean voyage. I'm tired! Good night.
We love to travel. People tell me I should be a travel agent because of all the things we do,the places we go, and the money we save. Our grandaughter,Sophia,tells everyone that we are on a "field trip" while we are gone, thus the name. I hope you find helpful, interesting information about different locales, ideas on how to get the most for your money, and be entertained in the process. Welcome. Connie
Monday, November 14, 2011
The 2011 Adventure begins...
Athens, Greece November 14, 2011
Our day started early in Northern California on Saturday, November 12. We were at the airport by 8:30 am, thanks to Clint. He took us before he went to work so we didn't have to leave the truck for them to pick up later. Dominick was as antsy as a cat on a hot tin roof with his excitment over this trip. I have to admit that I know exactly how he feels. Even though this is our third year to do a similar journey I was anxious to get going all of the past week. This is the first big trip we have taken since last year. Dominick posted to his Facebook from San Francisco and will post again from Athens and hopefully many of our other ports. Some of his friends from school still don't believe he's going on this trip and I guess we can't blame them. For an 11 year old this is pretty unusual. Excuse me I have been corrected...he is 11 3/4. We lost a day somewhere at over 60,000 feet between Chicago and London. So we literally slipped from the 12th to the 14th with little conscience thought, except that we were TIRED!
We actually got a good nights sleep after a very long and bumpy flight from the states to London. Our plane was a little late and we had just enough time to make our connection to Athens. London has "improved" Heathow since the last time we flew thru there in 2009. They have completed Terminal 5 but you have to go by air train to the other section of Terminal 5, go back thru security and then over to your gate. So once again you can't get there from here. I haven't figured out why these airports make more congestion and work for security by making you go out and come back in just to change from one concourse to another when they could have secure transport between. We had to do the same in San Francisco because one the International Terminal only holds certain airlines and the rest are in the next concourse which is not connected. If they were smart they would have consulted me before doing this and I could have saved them millions of dollars because in each of just these two airports they are now adding on ways to accomplish this. Oh well, it is like I have said before they should always consult a woman for the most efficient way to set these things up.
We have just finished breakfast and the guys have gone to the roof to see if they can get a view of the Acropolis thru the clouds and mist with a little breeze blowing. We are waiting until 9 am to leave the hotel and find the HOHO bus as that is how we have decided to spend our day. We will visit the Parthenon and as many other sites as we have time for today. The Acropolis Museum is not open today but the archaelogical museum opens at 1:30 pm and we will try to go there as I think Dominick will enjoy the weapons display they have. It is very enlightening as to the materials and different ways people used in ancient times to kill each other. Like most 11 year old boys our grandson is infatuated with weapons, blood, guts and all things warmongerish. (Is that even a word?)
Dominick is in the room doing homework assignments he brought with him. He did some on the plane and we are encouraging him to do some each day in hopes he will not have to spend all his days at sea getting everything ready to turn in as soon as we get back home. He has lots of Math and he has been assigned the task of reporting on this trip. We bought him a notebook to use as a journal and are encouraging him to draw sketches and write down everything that he considers important. Tony has gone back to check on him and read for a bit before we get out and about.
We have also brought along a "Flat Meghan" for our great niece so she can share in our adventure. She had actually made one herself but it didn't arrive in time so I had to improvise with a picture of her that I printed from her mother's Facebook page. So it will work and I will save hers for our next trip and do it over again if she wants me to.
This has been a very long, wet, blustery cold day so I will give your history lesson tomorrow when my brain is functioning better. Good night for now.
Our day started early in Northern California on Saturday, November 12. We were at the airport by 8:30 am, thanks to Clint. He took us before he went to work so we didn't have to leave the truck for them to pick up later. Dominick was as antsy as a cat on a hot tin roof with his excitment over this trip. I have to admit that I know exactly how he feels. Even though this is our third year to do a similar journey I was anxious to get going all of the past week. This is the first big trip we have taken since last year. Dominick posted to his Facebook from San Francisco and will post again from Athens and hopefully many of our other ports. Some of his friends from school still don't believe he's going on this trip and I guess we can't blame them. For an 11 year old this is pretty unusual. Excuse me I have been corrected...he is 11 3/4. We lost a day somewhere at over 60,000 feet between Chicago and London. So we literally slipped from the 12th to the 14th with little conscience thought, except that we were TIRED!
We actually got a good nights sleep after a very long and bumpy flight from the states to London. Our plane was a little late and we had just enough time to make our connection to Athens. London has "improved" Heathow since the last time we flew thru there in 2009. They have completed Terminal 5 but you have to go by air train to the other section of Terminal 5, go back thru security and then over to your gate. So once again you can't get there from here. I haven't figured out why these airports make more congestion and work for security by making you go out and come back in just to change from one concourse to another when they could have secure transport between. We had to do the same in San Francisco because one the International Terminal only holds certain airlines and the rest are in the next concourse which is not connected. If they were smart they would have consulted me before doing this and I could have saved them millions of dollars because in each of just these two airports they are now adding on ways to accomplish this. Oh well, it is like I have said before they should always consult a woman for the most efficient way to set these things up.
We have just finished breakfast and the guys have gone to the roof to see if they can get a view of the Acropolis thru the clouds and mist with a little breeze blowing. We are waiting until 9 am to leave the hotel and find the HOHO bus as that is how we have decided to spend our day. We will visit the Parthenon and as many other sites as we have time for today. The Acropolis Museum is not open today but the archaelogical museum opens at 1:30 pm and we will try to go there as I think Dominick will enjoy the weapons display they have. It is very enlightening as to the materials and different ways people used in ancient times to kill each other. Like most 11 year old boys our grandson is infatuated with weapons, blood, guts and all things warmongerish. (Is that even a word?)
Dominick is in the room doing homework assignments he brought with him. He did some on the plane and we are encouraging him to do some each day in hopes he will not have to spend all his days at sea getting everything ready to turn in as soon as we get back home. He has lots of Math and he has been assigned the task of reporting on this trip. We bought him a notebook to use as a journal and are encouraging him to draw sketches and write down everything that he considers important. Tony has gone back to check on him and read for a bit before we get out and about.
We have also brought along a "Flat Meghan" for our great niece so she can share in our adventure. She had actually made one herself but it didn't arrive in time so I had to improvise with a picture of her that I printed from her mother's Facebook page. So it will work and I will save hers for our next trip and do it over again if she wants me to.
This has been a very long, wet, blustery cold day so I will give your history lesson tomorrow when my brain is functioning better. Good night for now.
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