Greece part 1

I know this post is late but you'll just have to deal with it. That said, Greece is AWESOME. It was warm and sunny and there was history everywhere and food and yeah. Lisa and I flew out of Paris on the 31st of December and arrived late afternoon. The approach is great, the area around Athens is very mountainous and the mountains and the city and the sea and clouds all look great together.

The first thing I did upon exiting the airport was run over to the nearest patch of sun and throw my arms up in jubilation! YAY for sun! We took a bus into the center of Athens and Lisa's parents were there to welcome us, which was nice. We dropped our stuff off at the hotel, cleaned up, and went to meet up with Casey (Lisa's brother) and his wife Anna, who had been out and about. The 6 of us decided it was time to get fat, so we found a little restaurant to eat at. Nothing special but it filled us up so we could explore some more.

One of the great things about Athens is that every other street has an amazing view of the Acropolis. It rises up out of the city so you can see it from almost anywhere. It's also wonderfully lit.



The square we'd first arrived at is in front of the Parliament building, and it being New Year's Eve, there were tons of people and lights and celebratory things happening. There are also guards in front of the building, and they wear these crazy pom poms on their shoes and walk like they received training at the Ministry of Silly Walks.



Bill and Lisa and I stayed out until midnight, when there was a nice fireworks show and lots of cheering and it was about the best New Year I've ever had. Since we'd all had long days, it was time to hit the sack so we walked back to the hotel and conked out.

The next day we all wandered around Athens, since there's always something new to see and explore and do. There are tons of little roads and side paths and open squares and we really just did that all morning. Around midday, we stopped in a little cafe abutting the Ancient Agora and had some cold drinks and snacks. Greek yogurt is almost always served with honey (along with everything else) and is great to eat any time. After our break, we walked up to the Philosopher's Rock (not from Harry Potter) which is situated above the Agora and next to the Acropolis. It offers great views and a nice place to think, and take photos.





We meandered around the Acopolis on our way to the metro station, so we could get across town to Mount Lycabettus. We had planned to take the funicular up to the top, but it turns out that we missed the base for it and by the time we found out, we were most of the way to the top so we just hiked it. Lycabettus overlooks all of Athens, and you can see all the way out to the Aegean Sea.



It's a popular spot for watching sunsets, and we weren't planning to miss it. It's absolutely beautiful.



Lisa and I walked back down while everyone else rode the funicular. We met them at the bottom after stopping for a few last pictures. You can also see the Acropolis, all lit up and pretty like, between the trees.



The next day was our trip to Delphi to see the oracle and find out whether we should make war on the Persians, so we rose early and took taxis to the bus station. It turns out that it's a popular destination so we couldn't catch the early bus. A little deliberation ended up with us purchasing tickets for the later bus and the kids (4 of us) wandering around in the neighborhood of the station. Being a little goofy, we thought we'd just make right turns to get where we wanted. Spiraling outward eventually led us to a small food place where we bought snacks and drinks and filled our little tummies. We then found a great bakery, and after selecting some tasty morsels, found that the woman would not accept any payment. Happily sated, we headed back to the bus station to inform Bill and Merit of our discovery. The whole group ended up buying lunch for the trip, and snacks and cookies at the bakery. Needless to say, the free samples brought in a lot more money for the woman at the bakery. Eventually, it was time to get back and catch our bus, so we did. It was a long ride to Delphi, and it was cool and raining once we got there. It's significantly up there in the mountains. The bottom of that valley is over 1000 feet closer to the sea.



The Oracle at Delphi, like many ruins in Greece, is not highly intact. There are remains of temples, a lot of walls and paths, and an amphitheater. Since we were there near closing time, we hurried to see all the important things before the yelling ladies came out. Apollo, the primary god worshipped at this site, has the grandest temple.



There was also a site dedicated to Athena, a little ways down the mountain slope, that we kids thought would be fun to check out. So we did.



There's a lot of stones, a few columns, and some olive trees. Probably some other cool stuff but there weren't any signs giving the history, so we enjoyed our little expedition and headed back up to the town to meet Bill and Merit and have a warm drink and dry off. We bought a pizza to share before the bus came, and Casey and I tried some Greek beers. Nothing fancy, but it was good.

The next day, Lisa and I split off from her family as they had seen the Acropolis and wanted to see the new Acropolis museum. We wandered off towards the Temple of Olympian Zeus and Hadrian's Gate, though it was closed. We also wandered over to the south side of the Acropolis, where we enjoyed a play in Dionysus' theater.



We met up with the rest of the family before splitting up yet again. Bill and I had decided to check out the Ancient Agora, which originally had many civic and law buildings, and some tributes to heroes and philosophers. It was also free, being the first Sunday of the month, so bonus there too. Supposedly this is where Socrates would engage any willing minds to discuss the issues of the day. There is a nice museum in a rebuilt building, and it has some artifacts from the civic life of ancient Greece. They discussed how voting happened, how juries were selected, and had coins and other artifacts. This machine is for selecting juries; citizens would put a little metal disc with their name on it in one of the rows, and somehow, the machine would select a row and the names in it would fall out and that was the jury.



The rest of the Agora had temples, statues, a water clock, a church, and lots of other things related to Greek life. Afterward, we met up for a late lunch at a restaurant recommended by some friends who had been there. Tasty, as always, and most of the desserts were covered with honey. The Greeks really like to use honey, and I for one have no complaint. Thus endeth the first bit of my Greek trip.