Posted by Kanga.
Christmas decorations have been somewhat reserved. This is due to the economic crisis. However, I have a few pictures to share.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
Archive for the ‘Athens’ Category
Athens, Greece: Day Eight
December 24, 2011Posted by Kanga.
Today is one of those days when we did nearly nothing, but it is still too much to fit into one blog post. We went down to the Archaeological Museum which was closed for the holidays.
We met up with these orange kitties during our espresso/hot chocolate break.
We then walked down to the central part of town.
At first when I saw Jesus was missing, I feared he had been stolen, but then I remembered it is Christmas Eve and he hasn’t arrived, yet.
Yet, here come the wise men (two years ahead of schedule) with their camels (who appear to have escaped from the planet of the apes).
Then we walked to the central market. (Brace yourself, Kris – meat market ahead.)
Where we purchased some very nice pork chops.
You can also get goat/lamb, rabbit, chicken, beef, and various organs.
We also bought half a lamb/goat (not sure which, they look the same on the inside) and the butcher chopped it up for us.
We met up with this very amiable stray dog who would have liked a little of what we had in our bag, but luckily was not insistent about it.
These pan flute musicians were playing in Monastiraki square. They seem to be seriously confused about their Native American tribes. They are playing South American instruments, but are dressed and kitted out like North American plains tribesmen. But, I’m being picky.
More Street Doggies
December 24, 2011Posted by Kanga.
More dogs sleeping in whatever dry space they can find. I like the fact that they seem to be tolerated even on hotel steps or in shops.
Athens, Greece: Day Seven
December 23, 2011Posted by Kanga.
Due to the continued rain, DaddyBird needed a hat. This was the one and only style of hat in the shop. I like it. (Notice I had to turn the camera sideways to get the beard in.)
We went to the downtown area which has been largely pedestrianized (no cars allowed). (It’s difficult to tell, but in the distance is the plateau of the Acropolis.)
This is the Church of the Metamorphosis.
When you see it from the back, you can see it has gone through a metamorphosis of its own.
We stopped for a late lunch at the Saita Taverna.
This is retsina wine. This a 1/2 kilo carafe. One can also get a full kilo carafe. It comes out of oak wine barrels stored in the restaurant.
We ordered appetizers. They did not have sausages, which we had ordered, so brought the fried cheese instead. The other plate contains grilled octopus, which was delicious.
The fried zucchini was very delicious and I ate most of it before DaddyBird had a chance. You snooze, you lose.
Our main dishes – lamb chops and bakalairo (salted cod).
The mashed potatoes were served cold with olive oil and a generous amount of garlic. I don’t need to keep repeating that this was delicious, do I?
We continued our walk through the shops. Many of these shops carry touristy items.
Before long we had entered a very different shopping area where you could get clerical vestments made or pick up a nice censer or candlestick for your Byzantine church.
We diverted a bit to look at this wonderful little church. Behind it is its 19th century replacement which is currently under renovation. A man working at a nearby restaurant came out to talk to us and tell us about the churches. He was pleased to hear that we come from Oregon, which he is convinced is a state known for cowboys.
Athens, Greece: Day Six
December 23, 2011Posted by Kanga.
Day six was a totally un-tourist day.
First, you will need a little background. DaddyBird has sleep apnea. This means that as soon as he falls asleep his throat muscles relax so much that his airway is cut off and he cannot breathe. This is easily dealt with by a little machine that blows air into his airway to provide enough pressure to keep it open. (a “Constant Positive Air Pressure” machine or CPAP.) This is great until you travel away from home and your little machine stops working. After several nights of trying to sleep unaided and getting less and less sleep (me too, because listening to my husband gasping for air and suffocating is decidedly unrestful) we decided that something must be done.
So, how does one find assistance in repairing or replacing medical equipment in a strange city? With some difficulty, as we can attest.
First, after using Google to obtain an address for a medical equipment business that was within walking distance of a metro train station, we set off to take the train. Arriving at the address, we discovered that it was an apartment building, no medical equipment retail shop. Dead end.
Next, we took a taxi back to our apartment neighborhood and walked to a small hospital (more of a clinic) in the neighborhood to ask there. The receptionist understood enough English to understand our dilemma, but could not recommend an equipment store, but did suggest that we go to the pharmacy down the street and ask there.
The pharmacist was very nice and suggested that we go to a specific store, but could only give the most general description of it’s location – across from Hospital Soteria. (We found out later that this is not a specific hospital building, but a large area where there are many hospital facilities.)
So, we got into another taxi and showed him the note written by the pharmacist. The driver tried to get more specifics from us, like the actual address, but we could not help him in that. He did get us to the street and asked us if he should turn left or right at the intersection. I looked to the right and, low and behold, there was a medical equipment store, so we got out there.
Maria Elaina, the clerk in this store, was very helpful and somewhat happy to practice her English. As we had expected, getting the machine repaired would take weeks, time that we did not have. So, we needed to buy a new one. She, very cutely, warned us that they are very expensive and we nodded and told her it didn’t matter, we must have one. So, luckily our credit card worked (not a given with our bank). Maria Elaina told us the machine would be delivered to our apartment in two hours. We went away very happy shoppers, although 1,100 Euros/$1,438 poorer. It is possible to get a CPAP machine for much less, but not when you are desperate in a strange town and need it yesterday.
Now, we were standing in a strange part of town, looking for a taxi, with the smallest bill in our pockets being a 50 Euro. So far, our taxi rides within town have not exceeded 7 Euro, so we needed smaller bills. The neighborhood was not conducive to this quest. We were walking through the medical equipment store section of town. No shops where we could buy a little something in order to break a bill.
Amusingly, after our big ordeal to find a CPAP machine were were now walking past store after store advertizing and display ing them.
So, after walking a ways, we saw a “light.”
Sometimes branding is a good thing. A Toys R Us store where we could buy a little something and break a bill. Two smurfs and a fake Christmas tree later, we were in a taxi headed home.
This taxi ride was interesting (for DaddyBird, at least). The driver was talkative and once he learned that DaddyBird is a computer geek, the computer speak began. They reminisced about the old computer and video game machines they had back in the day.
As promised, around 7:30 pm the man delivering our precious little machine arrived. As of this morning, DaddyBird has slept quietly around the clock. All is well. Now you know what we got each other for Christmas.
Athens Sweets
December 22, 2011Posted by Kanga.
Kris has asked about sweets, so here are some sweets from the little bakery across the square.
The large brown cookies are somewhat plain and not very sugary. Perfect for eating with a big mug of coffee. The white cookies are tea cakes. The small brown cookies are sugary, nutmeggy, cinnamony, nutty goodness. The loaf is delicious brown bread.
Athens, Greece: Day Five
December 21, 2011Posted by Kanga.
Day Five was actually spent indoors, resting. This involved sleeping late, Facebooking & Twittering, followed by napping. After my nap, I actually spent the rest of the day working (yes, working on my vacation) by selecting 213 books to order for my students and library.
So, for this entry, I am going to pull out some pictures from a previous day that I was saving because they deserve a post of their very own.
Several of the metro train stations also serve as museums due to the fact that one is hard pressed to dig a hole here and not hit antiquity. Monastiraki is one such station with the following preserved site.
Through the center flows a ancient waterway, the River Eridanos (not very big, what we call, back home, a creek). The structures here are a combination of building walls and water ducts connecting to this “river”. The natural waterway was covered over with a brick ceiling and the ducts shown here connect to it turning it into a sewer.
Good quality, bilingual signage explains the history of the area and shows some of the artifacts found.
The ceiling over the waterway is shown in the lower left of the above picture.
There is a plexi-glass walkway allowing one to get a very good, close view without causing any damage. Very nice.
Philosophical Question
December 21, 2011Posted by Kanga.
There was nothing artistic in the immediate vicinity, just tagging, so I think the answer might be “no.”
Athens, Greece: Day Four
December 20, 2011Posted by Kanga.
We began our day by stopping in at a little grill restaurant (psistaria) next door. They didn’t speak English, but we managed to order the above. Quite fantastic, I must say. (7.60 Euros/$9.97 – the Cokes were 3 Euros – ouch!) The sandwiches are flat bread with pork, tomatoes, potatoes, and yogurt/cucumber sauce.
We went to a shoe store so that I could buy a pair of shoes. The ones I wore yesterday will need days to fully dry out and my sandals won’t be sufficient on the next rainy day. I sat in the park for a few minutes enjoying the pigeons.
Then we walked to the nearest farmers market. It was very crowded and stretched over many blocks of the street. (DaddyBird estimates 1/2 kilometre.)
The wares were amazing. Beautiful eggs, tomatoes, potatoes, huge cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, onions, garlic, olives, olive oil, and more.
We bought more than we could carry, so DaddyBird had to go in search of shopping carts and bought two.
Here are our purchases: eggs, cauliflower, olive oil, mushrooms, garlic, cucumbers, celery, dried figs, purple broccoli, tomatoes, carrots, onions, potatoes, cherry tomatoes, and leeks. We did not keep a count of all the prices, but the big tomatoes were 1.50 Euro and 2 cucumbers were 1 Euro. All the prices were very reasonable. The eggs were 0.15 each = 4.50 Euro/$5.90, although DaddyBird thinks he got more change back, so there may have been a discount for taking the whole flat.
Just so you can see how big the cauliflower is…
This cauliflower weighed in at 4 kilo (8.82 pounds) and cost 2 Euros/$2.62.
Street Kitties and Doggies
December 20, 2011Posted by Kanga.
It was rainy, so the real street cats were out of sight in dry hideouts.
So, these were the only kitties we saw.
The dogs, however, were more conspicuous in their attempts to get out of the rain.
The Acropolis ticket office offered some dry shelter.
This one settled in near a store doorway.
Living the Travel Channel 