I’m not gonna lie: I didn’t hear a ton of good things about Athens. Greece, absolutely. But lots of people were like, uhhh, Athens is kind of boring and ugly and there’s not much to do…and I’m happy to say that I strongly disagree with this. I am falling in love with Greece just from being in Athens for a few days in the winter – and not even in the most beautiful city (so I hear) or the most beautiful time of year.
My first day I pretty much just wandered. The weather was insanely gorgeous – it was warm and sunny, SO much nicer than virtually anywhere I’ve been all winter. I didn’t do a whole lot because my friend was coming in that evening and it’s kind of a dick move to do stuff without someone and then be like, “I GUESS I’ll do it again…if you REALLY WANT…” Not that I would do that. But you get the idea. So I wandered around, ate some Greek food, met a ton of cats, and enjoyed the weather. That evening I went back to my hostel and met a bunch of cool people – we went on a beer run, had some drinks in the hostel, and went to a bar down the street, where it was coincidentally karaoke night. After joining a group’s beautiful rendition of Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the USA,” we decided it was time to look for another bar.
The problem when you are looking for another bar to go to is that it is sometimes pouring rain. Sometimes your sneakers and jacket and hair get entirely soaked and take a full day and a half to dry. Sometimes you walk around for an hour and don’t find anything that’s open. All of these things happened to us, until FINALLY we found a weird red bar that was open. There is no deeper meaning to this. Literally the whole bar was red – like lots of red lights and maybe the bar was painted red I DON’T ACTUALLY REMEMBER but I also don’t think you care what color the bar was so I’m not going to worry about it too much. I only stayed for a few minutes though, because finally my friend texted me to tell me that she had just gotten off her bus and I had to go meet her back at the hostel as fast as possible because I was so excited to meet her but also I was a bit drunk and it was still pouring and I needed my phone to get home and it was doing that thing that it does in the rain where it gets angry at you and decides not to respond to your touch…anyway. I made it there eventually and we reunited and talked for like an hour and all was good in the world.
Our first day was so good oh my gosh. We got up for breakfast, which is FREE at this hostel and actually one of the best hostel breakfasts I’ve ever had. Eggs. Two types of bread. And most importantly, CUCUMBERS, TOMATOES, AND FETA. Who has that for free? NOBODY. THE ANSWER IS NOBODY. Hostels are usually like uh, here’s some cornflakes, go nuts. Then we decided to do a walking tour that almost got cancelled because the two of us and one other guy were the only ones doing it, because it was still raining. But I’m SO GLAD IT HAPPENED. Not only did the rain clear up about five minutes after we started the tour, but we went to so many places I never would have seen or known about otherwise, learned some history, and met more cats. Our guide was a hilarious Aussie, and we hit pretty much all the landmarks and ruins. He also took us deep into the neighborhoods where the paths are almost impossibly narrow, everything is painted white, and there are steps everywhere. So beautiful.
One of my favorite things we saw was the changing of the guards, which happens every hour in front of parliament and the prime minister’s house. It is brilliant because they are big men that wear tights, super short skirts, and shoes with puffballs on them. Plus, they walk like they are stepping over a very large rock and it is SO FUNNY.
We learned that there are basically ruins underneath soooo much of Athens which are obviously illegal to just like, dynamite. The government will take your land away if they find them, so people just choose not to build houses over like ten stories high, because then you need a deeper foundation. If they don’t dig deep and find the ruins, they can’t prove they’re there.
After the (3+ hour) tour, my friend and I and the other guy on the tour- another American, go figure – went to lunch, and I had a cat on my lap for most of the time and it was great. My friend and I then decided to climb up Acropolis, the main ruins of Athens. We saw the Parthenon and some other buildings that all kind of look the same and I don’t remember the names of them. Also two theaters which made me emotional. We spent a lot of time up there, taking photos, exploring, and enjoying that we could just SEE ALL THIS OLD SHIT.
After it was time for shopping! We shopped. My friend got a necklace that she was way too excited about. Then hostel time! We drank some beers with our new friends, and ended up going out for some gyros. They were pretty good, but more importantly very cheap. Yay Greek food! We went to a bar afterwards, but we were so tired that we were about to fall over so we headed back home after a quick drink. I meant to watch a few Rick and Morty episodes but I fell asleep about six minutes into the first one.
Today was yet another amazing day in Athens. I can’t get over how nice people are here. Everyone is so friendly and helpful, and even when I’m a little rude to people trying to sell me things, they don’t take it personally and just smile at me. I haven’t yet met a person here I didn’t like.
Anyway, we started off with another stupidly delicious breakfast, and since it was a bit cold we went to a museum that was just across the street from us, the New Acropolis Museum. Creative name, I know. But fun fact about it: remember that whole not digging too deep of foundations because there are ruins there thing? Well, they found ruins in the place that they were going to put the museum. So instead of relocating the museum or choosing not to build it, they just redesigned it and built it on stilts. Which actually ended up being fascinating, because there’s a glass floor and you can see ruins right beneath you in some places.
Otherwise though, this museum was still pretty cool. It was all about the Acropolis, and had a lot of the originals of things that were replicated outside. The top floor was built to the dimensions of the Parthenon, and they arranged as much ornamentation as they have at the moment around it, so you can see how it would have actually looked. A favorite piece of mine was a sculptured face of a woman: the ink that colored her eyes had oxidized and run down her face, so it appeared as though she was crying. It looked like a woman who was stuck in stone, and even though it wasn’t the artist’s intention, I found it incredibly moving.
It’s so crazy to me that things from so long ago – like 4-500 BC, have lasted this long and still can be enjoyed and studied by the public. Granted, it helps that the Greeks were like OH OUR CITY GOT DESTROYED BY THE TURKS. Guess we will bury it and build a new one on top of it! So that preserved a lot of it. But still. You can see strokes made by the artists’ tools. And it reminds you that people that lived thousands of years ago were just that: people. Just like us.
After the museum, my friend and I had a very cheap lunch of wine and gyros, and then climbed Mount Lycabettus. This is the tallest point in the city and can be seen pretty much everywhere. I was reminded both how out of shape I am and also LIKE SERIOUSLY how out of shape I am. It was not that far a climb but it FELT LIKE IT. At the top we had some very expensive cappuccinos (don’t worry, I got whipped cream on mine for extra strength on the way down) and then hiked back down. Beers and cheese were our snack, and then we came back to the hostel for a bit of rest and planning our day tomorrow.
Today was yet another reminder that things just…work out, as long as you don’t overthink them. When we were trying to book our trip and figure out hostel stuff and if we wanted to go to an island, we got super stressed out, couldn’t decide after an hour on the phone, and eventually just decided to screw it and just book a few nights in Athens and figure it out later. Which I’m so glad we did. We almost booked another flight to go to Santorini for a couple days, but I’m loving Athens so much, and I don’t want to deal with any more flights than I’ve already been taking. Instead, we talked to the hostel people, who suggested that we go to Hydra, which is something we had talked about before anyway. It’s an island with no cars. Just donkeys and horses. THAT IS PERFECT FOR US. Anyway, we found a cheap place to stay with a super nice lady, booked a horseback ride (that was on sale and already cheap anyway!) and our to and from ferry. We accomplished a lot and I am so excited for tomorrow but I’m trying to live in the moment or whatever and enjoy my current status of writing this super exciting blog that is giving you a reason to live.
After this it was dinner time! We went to this place that for ten euros apiece we got so much food. Like, a giant Greek salad and tzaziki and pita and something yummy that I don’t know the name of and stuffed peppers and a carafe of wine. Ridiculous. We could only eat about half of everything because it was so much. We finished at a cool bar that’s super old and distills their own liquor, and I tried Ouzo for the first time which was way better than I expected and got a little drunk and received some flowers and then gave one to the waiter. Great. Fucking. Night.
I can’t wait until tomorrow- I just wish I could sleep in a bit longer. BUT I’LL SLEEP WHEN I’M DEAD, DAMMIT!