Athens, Greece: ancient history, tasty food, and helpful people

This weekend Kevin and I went on our last trip: Athens, Greece. 

One of the mains reasons that we wanted to visit, besides it being Greece, was because this term we are taking two classes on Greek history. One of them is Gods, Myths, and Heroes: Religion in Ancient Greece and the other one is Greek Art and Architecture. Our amazing professor, Efrosyni Boutsikas, told us which sites to see and gave us insider tips on Greece. Kevin and I learned alot in these classes and we are very very fortunate to have her as a professor. 

Day 1

We were pretty sleep deprived since Italy. I mean we did leave for Greece less than 2 days after returning plus school, planning and friends. So by the time we made it to Gatwick airport via the train, it was about midnight and we were pooped. We slept on the comfy plastic seats for about five hours which I think is pretty good for sleep in an airport. We then boarded our plane at 9am, flew to Greece in 3.5 hours and arrived in Athens at around 2pm (They're two hours ahead of England). So after walking to train to plane to bus to walking again, we were already quite tired. We were thinking it was going to be hot in Greece, it was 75 a day or two before but when we landed we saw things falling from the sky. We thought it was ash or something...nope, it was SNOW. SNOW IN ATHENS. I've never heard of such a thing. 


We found one of the restautants that I researched called Scholarhio in Plaka (Tripodon 14). You must find this place if you are ever in Athens. It's a traditional family style restaurant. They bring you 18 traditional dishes of the day ranging from moussaka to cheese pies (tiropita). You choose 5 and enjoy. 

We got the moussaka, bekri mezdes (stewed pork in wine), horta (boiled wild greens with lemon), tiropita, and keftedes (meatballs in tomato sauce). It was all so delicious. With this place, we were able to try 5 different Greek dishes. 

We were stuffed and very very sleepy. We relaxed and planned our day in the hostel.


Day 2


So a few things to mention about Athens. One, check the stike times. There were public transportation strikes every day that we were there so just plan accordingly. Two, during the winter, most of the archaeological sites and museums are free on Sundays.  We paid the low cost of nothing for all of them. Three, there is usually a student discount for transportation and museums. So ask away. 


We managed to pack everything ancient Greek into one day. We started with the National Archaeological museum in the morning which was free. We took the metro there and it was only 50 cents one way. 

We saw the Artemision Bronze which is either Zeus or Poseidon; it depends whether he is holding a lightning bolt or trident. 

Then we headed to the Acropolis. By this time the sun had come out and it was around 60 degrees, which is quite warm to us. We were SO EXCITED to see the acropolis after learning all about it in our classes. 

temple of athena nike

the parthenon

the erechthion with the sacred olive tree

Then walked to the Acropolis museum which was built last summer. Because we were English students, we got in for free! We were quite happy as we found out that basically the whole Parthenon is in the British Museum. The British museum says they have about half but in the acropolis museum there were only a few of the statues of the pediments that were original. So how did the 65 friezes, 19 pediment statues, 15 metopes, a column and one of the caryatid (women columns) end up in the British museum? It's quite an interesting story. The whole story is here but basically in the early 1800's, Lord Elgin had received permission to make drawings of the Parthenon from the Ottomans who ruled Athens at the time. But then Athens was going to be attacked so he was able to legally take the pieces from the Parthenon back with him to England for use in his own house. However, he was so broke that the British Museum bought them for only 34,000 pounds. He ended up penniless and broke. 


Of course, Greece wants the artifacts back but the British Museum has not complied. It's a big debate in art history. Should all of the art be kept in one place? What if something were to happen to the art? The UK is in a more stable economic environment than Greece so they have the capabilities to protect the art. It's a debate which keeps going back and forth.


After the museum, we headed to the Ancient agora and Roman agora. 

temple of zeus

The ancient agora was the central public space in ancient Greece. The temple of Hephaestus is the best preserved Greek temple. It was built in around 400BC and its still standing.

Then we hiked up Filipappous hill which boasts the best view of the acropolis and the Parthenon. 

Day 3


We started our day with a visit to the national gardens and parliament. We saw the changing of the guards who protect the tomb of the unknown soldier. 

We then walked around the Central Market which is a large, noisy, and crazy food market where you can buy all kinds of produce, grains, fish, meat, lamb, meat, and more lamb. We ate gyros for about 2 euro. They were quite tasty.

Kevin and I were sitting in Monastiraki square people watching. There are tons of pigeons in Greece and they aren't afraid of people. Maybe they should be. We saw this strange man grab a pigeon and hold it for a few minutes as if it were like a ball. Then he proceeded to stuff it in his backpack. Crazy man. We half laughed and half were confused.


We then took the train to the airport and started the final journey to Canterbury. On the plane, the steward was advertising newspapers and while in flight he read the headline "Suicide Bomber lives in England." I don't think the word "bomb" should ever be used on a plane let alone suicide bomber in England. 


After England, Greece was one of my favorite countries to visit. The people are so nice. We had people give us metro tickets, asked us if we needed directions and just say hi to us. My advice to anyone travelling to Athens would be check the strikes days, check for free museum days, check for student discounts, and stay in Plaka. It's centrally located between the temple of Zeus, the acropolis and syntagma square.

I can't believe this was our last trip in Europe. What's is more crazy is that I will be sleeping in my own bed in San Leandro, California is less than a week. I want to spend time with people here but at the same time, I  can't wait to see my family and friends. If only there was a way they could use a portkey to get to us. I'll have to think about that one.