It's all Greek to Me!

07/09/08

Our trip to Athens thus far has been pretty damn adventurous. We realized how dire it really was that we didn't know a wit of Greek (our its fraternity-lovin' alphabet) as soon as we landed. Apparently the metro from the airport was down, at least we found out when we approached their closed ticket booths. We decided to wait in line at the suburban rail line and ask there, though the only word I had proved to remember was 'EXODUS' the Greek word for EXIT, picked up while leaving the terminal. Here's how my conversation went with the woman at the ticket counter:

Me: I need to go here (pointing on map to Syntagma)
Her: Uh...Where? (mind you this is in a Greek accent, put in English nonetheless)
Me: Syn TAHG MA?
Her: ...
Me: Syn DHAG ma? (I tried different pronunciations and stresses)
Her: Oh, Syndagma (I still don't know quite how to say it)
Me: Is the Metro closed.
Her: Yes.
Me: ....
Her: .......
Me: How do I get there?
Her: You'll take rail line to Plankentias. Next train leaves in fifteen minutes. I'll sell you ticket in five minutes (booth temporarily closes down).


Through our ingenuity and powers of deduction, we eventually made it to the heart of the city. (PS - our room in which I orginally wrote this post is right next to the WC and showers (public). Jane and I have both been quietly writing while seems to have nearly lost their insides to the bowl (and they can't flush paper, so it will be interesting). The city is rather startling; walking to our hotel we just stumbled upon the Temple of Olympian Ze-us coupled with Hadrians Gate, which happens to be across the street from where we're staying. Ain't no thang, just 50 feet Corinthian columns and what not. The hotel room is great, its on the second-and-a-half story with a little connected balcony running up the side of a building and connected to the garden/patio/breakfast area (all outside, all pleasant), by a spiral staircase. The balcony space outside our room acts as a nice location for laundry, and thus acts as a major thoroughfare for hotelees. In the near distance sits the Acropolis.

Throughout the evening, after taking a nap and sleeping through some Crazy Asians slamming the loud shower doors (accordion doors, no curtain, we floors, great fun (no sarcasm intended)), and an old Greek man attempting to install air conditioning on a building below, with windows open and shirts off, we walked the Plaka.

We continued to see juxtaposed elements of old and new throughout the evening. As the streets of the city are both non-linear (or gridded) and narrow, the random happening upon ancient ruins or Byzantine churches is rather jarring.

We continued through to Ministiraki and then on to Theolissi, and I spent much of this evening attempting to take shots of the lit up Acropolis without tripod. Squeezing through the touristy Plaka we ran across vendors selling everything. The streets of Athens are alive at night, with all restaurant and tavernas activity relegated to the sidewalk (realtively pedestrian friendly). Often we were approached to sit and pay top dollar for our meal, but instead we opted for a cheap hole-in-the-wall that served gyros and Fanta. Throughout these major tourist district, it is apparent that the tourism business thrives. Those visiting are made up of families and as Jane says American women taking 'the girls' out for a night on the town.

I have a bit more to say on my first night in Athens, but it seems that we are almost at the two hour mark on our internet time, and we need to post some photos. I'll finish tomorrow, and write a bit about today. After all, I did make Jane stay on the top of the Acropolis for a bit. Just a bit.