Posted 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.
Posts Tagged ‘Athens’
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 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.
Athens, Greece: Day Three
December 19, 2011Posted by Kanga.
Our outing began at the Victoria metro train station.
We were headed to the Temple of Hephaestus, but this turned out to be our real destination – the Acropolis and Parthenon.
On our way up the hill, we passed the Sanctuary of Zeus, thought to be the oldest site of Zeus worship. One of those buildings is the Chapel of St. Marina.
We were getting closer. It is quite a climb and we were going up the easy way (we came down the hard way). Any devout ancient Greek that made it up this hill to worship has my respect for their athleticism.
We came to the Odeum of Herodes Atticus, an amphitheater.
One bad aspect of being an off-season tourist is that some things are locked up tight.
This is the view looking back down at the other side of the Odeum.
This sign makes you want to reach out and touch the marble, doesn’t it?
Victory! We made it with only a little groaning, grunting and cussing from me. It was raining lightly which makes marble steps slick and dangerous. Not the best day to do this hike.
Proof that I was there. The building in the background is the Erechtheion – a temple to Athena and Poseidon/Erechtheus.
Proof that DaddyBird was there, too. The Erechtheion is to the right and the Parthenon in the background.
The Acropolis closed at 2:30 pm and it went from raining lightly to raining in earnest and we took a different route down off the hill. It was less than fun – steep, wet, slick – but we managed. Soaking wet, we stopped at a coffee shop for a snack and coffee. DaddyBird had Greek coffee (pictured above)
For the rest of the pictures of Day 3, click here.
Athens Street Art
December 19, 2011Posted by Kanga.
There is a large amount of graffiti tagging in Athens. It is not just in our neighborhood, but we saw it in the tourist area as well. Most of it is just ugly defacing of property, but occasionally there is a little art.
Even the trains are not immune.
So far, we have only seen the painting on modern buildings and structures. There appears to be a respect for ancient structures, leaving them graffiti free.
Athens, Greece: Day Two
December 18, 2011Posted by Kanga.
We wondered through the neighborhood…
…until we found a small souvlaki restaurant near this church.
Our intent was to have a small lunch, but the menu was all in Greek and we didn’t realize that the owner spoke English, so we pointed at the pictures in the menu and this is what we ended up with. Slightly more than a small lunch. Souvlaki is made very much like shwarma, but this happened to be pork.
We found the Victoria metro train station (nearest to our apartment) and took the train to the Monastiraki station.
This church seems to have been assembled out of parts of various other buildings.
I didn’t expect to hear street musicians singing in Spanish, but the day was full of unexpected delights.
When I turned around, there in the distance was the Acropolis. I was not prepared for this sight. It brought tears to my eyes. It brought the old Biblical Studies major and wannabe archaeologist in me to the surface.
We walked through the flea market. (Anyone need a stuffed aligator?)
We stopped for a drink and small snack…
…with the Temple of Hephaestus in sight.
We finally found out where the stray cats were hanging out. They have been conspicuously missing prior to this.
Now that we have found and tested the metro train transportation, we’ll be able to get an earlier start and get up close and personal with a few temples in the next few days.
I will be posting all pictures to this album
If you have difficulty accessing, let me know and I will find another option.
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