Adventures in Greece - part 1

So this evening, I am supposed to be studying – again – my test is less than a week away, but instead, I have had coffee with a friend, eaten dinner whilst watching Smash and Home & Away, and have spent the last half hour crying with laughter at the thought of a musician called Cunty Joe. At that thought I realised that there was little hope of much more going in tonight, so I would write a blog about when I went to Greece, which seems like an inordinate amount of time ago.

I have always wanted to visit Greece. I studied a lot of Greek architecture and literature at high school and university, and have always been fascinated, at what has survived so many thousands of years. Nothing that we build today will ever last that long.  Plays and theories that we come up with today may not even last 100 years let along 1000 or more like the philosophers and mathematicians of ancient Greece.  So after waiting what felt like a lifetime, I finally got to plan a trip to Greece with some of my favourite people – Caroline, Alex and Tahnee. I was allowed three nights in Athens, after which we were heading to the Islands for some much needed rest and relaxation.

The first day of our trip was mainly a travel day – we left on a Sunday. I was still feeling rough from the Friday night, and Caz & Alex were feeling rough from the night before. I left home still needing a fringe trim and a trip to the phone shop to find out how to make my phone work abroad. I managed the fringe trim and decided to take my chances with the phone. After a hungover brunch, we all made it to Gatwick, having forgotten something, and we were making good time until we decided that we needed McD's and then ended up running for the gate. Happy times.

We arrived in Athens and were immediately hit by the heat. It was late at night and by the time we cleared customs, Tahnee was ready to meet us at the airport. We were all excited to see each other and happily jumped into a taxi and looked around to see where the ruins were. We made it to our hotel and walked up and down endless flights of stairs and we changed rooms a few times. It was a small room, but we did not intend on spending much time there. We had a balcony and if we leaned over it, we could just see the Parthenon lit up. We were starving, so on the advice of the hotel owner we headed down to a square, and sat outside at 11pm, in 25 degree humid heat, and ate the most delicious Greek meal. Saganaki cheese fast became a staple of every meal that we had. We were all excited about visiting the ruins the next day.

 

 

 

 

 

Me at the Parthenon (too hot for a fringe!)

At 10am when we left our hotel, the next day, it was already in the late 20's. It was a stunning day without a cloud in the sky, and I was really excited. I was finally going to see the Parthenon, Agora and Acropolis. And they did not disappoint – we walked up hills, saw the delightfully dusty ruins, checked out the sheer size and volume of these places. It still fascinates me as to how these were built. We explored until the ruins closed at about 3pm, then headed to Monstiraki for lunch. We chose a place with aircon, it was 30 degrees and we were getting a bit weary. After what was to become our fav meal of saganaki and gyros, we headed up to Mount Poulopolos – and had an amazing view of the city. It was a hard walk and I was drained by the heat, but it was worth it.

We headed back to the hotel for a sleep and to get ready for heading out that night.

View from 360

We headed to 360, a cocktail bar that had amazing views of the ruins lit up at night. It was perfect. The weather was balmy – in fact the entire time we were in Greece it did not get below 25 degrees even at night. The drinks were brilliant and the food was delicious and the setting was just beautiful. Afterwards we headed down to a smaller restaurant for more saganaki and gyros and wine that came in a plastic bottle. A bit of a come down after the stunning cocktails. We laughed on the way home when some teenage boys tried out their English on us by chatting us up – they were all of about 15, it was cringe worthy.

 

 

 

Hadrian's Arch

The next day we headed to the Temple of Olympic Zeus and Hadrian's Arch. It amazes me that this is on a main road and that the people Athens drive past these amazing ruins every day of their lives. The ruins were stunning, the size and scale has to be seen to be believed. We headed to one of the first Olympic stadiums afterwards, again, the sheer size is overwhelming. We walked in the tunnel where the athletes have walked for thousands of years and stood on the podiums. Everything in Athens reeks of history, its intoxicating. 

Greek Guards

I was keen to head to the Temple of the Unknown Soldier, where the Greek Army still patrols and puts on a ceremonial show. Its incredible, they often stand in a half crouch with one leg outstretched, in the heat that was an Athens Summer, they must have been dying, but they looked cool and calm.

The stand of massive willies

After that, it was time for a bit of relaxation and beers. We headed back to Monstiraki and were confronted by a stand of massive willy key rings. Awesome. We shopped for a bit – I got the happiest jandals and we wandered through the markets. Lunch was more cheese, gyros and beers – yep even me. It was so hot that I too drank 500ml Amstels. We headed back to the hotel for a sleep and laundry stop. 

Guess which one is mine!

That night we had dinner at a traditional Greek restaurant, the menu was completely in Greek, unlike many of the other places that we had been too that catered for tourists. Whilst we had been doing the laundry, we had started shots – tequila for the girls and baileys or vodka for me. I might have been drinking beer but tequila is still a no go, and as Caz and Alex were witness to the last time they agreed! When we were in the traditional restaurant, where the lovely owner took the time to read the menu too us, we continued with the shots, and huge beers. It was roasting and the food was delicious – courgette balls are amazing. The owner thought that we were hilarious and on the way out insisted that we do a shot of raki with her. It was strong and I nearly choked on it, at which point she laughed and said oh you are the baileys huh.

We headed home, happy that we had loved Athens, and repacked our backpacks, the next day we were heading out to Naxos, our ferry was at 7am and we had to be up at 4.30....