Greece .. from Taylorae DeWitt Γειά σου (Yia Sou) from Port #2 of Greece! Hello everyone and happy Wednesday! I am writing you after a whole four days in Greece so buckle your seat belts for this e-mail! A lot of history, a lot of fun, and an incredible country I sure do hope to return to…. SOON! The first day in Athens began with a “we are in Greece… where do we begin?” kind of thought. There is so much rich history here and so many “must-sees” you just can’t go wrong. So, the planning process began. As many of you know, it has always been my dream to go to the island of Santorini, though this proved a little bit more difficult to actually make happen. Whether you take a slow ferry or a fast ferry, it takes about 4-7 hours to get out to the island, and with so few port days that means you nearly lose an entire day traveling. Also, the more important reason… there is a strike going on in Greece that lasts from noon-noon the third and fourth day we were there. The second day we saw a strike going about with all police officers, but this longer strike I’m referring to dealt with public transportation primarily which is our main source of getting around Greece. Not great. And may have meant that we wouldn’t have been able to get back to the ship because the ferries were not running. So, as long as I get to travel back to Santorini with my sister (and of course whoever would like to join ) sometime in my life, and I know that I will, I was very content staying in Athens, as well as traveling to a closer island in my four days. The first thing we did was get on the metro (railroad system)… and yes, even this requires a story. In Greece, I’m telling you everything is drenched in history! Including the railway! At each and every stop, there is a little museum. So basically, when the greeks were putting in the railway, they were digging, and discovered so many amazing artifacts from ancient Greece. So at each stop you can see exactly what they dug up in that area- definitely the coolest metro I have ever ridden! The tough part was never figuring out the transportation or what lines to take, but more so the encounters with many upfront people on the metro always playing the accordion or trying to sell something for money while riding from stop to stop. So we took the metro to the Acropolis- yes, THE Acropolis. For those of you needing some refreshing on your history, as I definitely have throughout this trip, The Acropolis is an ancient citadel located on a high rocky outcrop above the city of Athens that contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historic significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. The Parthenon, dating back to 447BC, is the main temple at the Acropolis dedicated to the maiden goddess Athena- who the people of Athens considered their patron deity or goddess. We also saw the Propylaea (the gate to the city), the Temple of Athena Nike, The Old Temple of Athena, The Theatre of Dionysus Eleuthereus, and many other remains. After a lot of hiking to the very top of the city atop the hill, and the most incredible view of all of Athens, we hiked back down and headed to the Plaka, basically the old historic neighborhood of Athens, for… you guessed it…. Gyro #4! After lunch we headed to the magnificent Acropolis Museum located at the foot of the Acropolis. This is a museum that is focused on the findings of the archaeological site of the Acropolis and houses every artifact found on the rock. The floors are all see through inside the museum (semi-problematic for those wearing skirts/dresses…) which means you can see down to the archaeological site of Makrygianni and the ruins of a part of the Roman and early Byzantine Athens. So that was awesome (and air-conditioned )! After the museum we explored for a bit further through the streets of Athens and spent some time eating REAL Greek Yogurt in the Plaka. I’m not sure I will ever be able to return to store bought after that… it was phenomenal! You got to pick your yogurt (sheep, thick & creamy (the best), lite, etc.) and then you got to pick your topping (peaches, strawberry, black cherry (the best), honey and walnuts, etc.). My mouth is watering just thinking about how incredible it was! After regrettably reaching the bottom of the bowl, too quickly I might add, we made it back to the ship for dinner and spent the night with wonderful people watching the wonderful, and very appropriate movie Hercules. This was like a whole new definition of cultural preport Some nights, after such long days, and over a month of traveling thus far, you just need those nights in to relax and refuel a little bit. Boy were we energized the next day! In the morning we spoke with one of the staff on board who has spent much of her time living in Greece and developed a pretty stellar game plan! However, before that could begin, a quick (ish) stop to the store H&M Greece version was necessary. The streets here in Greece are among the slipperiest streets I have ever encountered! (especially the ones made of marble!) Luckily, I have some pretty incredible sandals that have come in handy to support all of us down these slippery streets, but the other girls were in serious need of some better sandals. So that happened. Then we finally headed to Marousi and my favorite part of the day- we visited the 2004 Athens Olympic Stadium! Though a little lost at first because this place was a ghost town, there was no denying the feeling you would have standing under that big white arch tunnel at the gates of the complex, looking over to the aquatic center, and seeing where the opening and closing ceremonies occurred. We had so much fun channeling our inner athlete and impersonating certain Olympic statues and pretending we were really great at certain events. I will say that the legacy of this complex was a bit disheartening. While most of the complex is still used today for various large sporting events for the Greek teams, concerts, and international sporting events, as well as domestic swimming meets/lessons and simply as a public swimming pool, the grounds of the complex (especially towards the back) has definitely ceased to remain as magnificent as once it was. The complex has fallen into varying states of dereliction and despair with many walls covered in graffiti, lots of trash and weeds, messy tiles all over the grounds, blacked out windows, etc. It really made me sad to know what magnitude this place held for so many athletes nearly nine years ago and is now covered in graffiti and neglected as a place of such historical importance. Makes me wonder what the other Olympic Stadiums look like today all around the world and as my momma and I were talking about… is it really just all commercial? Regardless of the current state of the complex, I absolutely loved being here and feeling the magic and seeing what I have grown up watching on TV in person. I think I may just have to start seriously training when I get home after the motivation this place gave me so I can be in the 2016 summer Olympics! (Okay, maybe that’s a bit unrealistic…) Once we left this magnificent ghost town of a place (granted we did enter the backwards way never actually making it to the front), we headed back to the city center of Athens at Syntagma Square, which included a nearly half hour wait at the metro where we found Waldo (literally)… and finally we ate lunch! But, not gyro #5 like I’m sure many of you guessed. Believe it or not, I went with a more traditional meal including pasta and potatoes to be sure I wouldn’t forget what great pasta and potatoes actually should taste like! This restaurant, O Tzitzikae Ki O Mepmhlkae, was so urban and funky, and oh so delicious! After lunch we ran into the first of the protests with police men and woman flooding the streets in full suit and many with shields. Yes, of course this appeared to us as scary, but the ex-officers assured us that is was perfectly safe. I’m still not entirely sure what this strike was about, I just know that it was occurring because many, many police officers were now out of work, but I’m not sure of the specifics. Perhaps something we can all google together After passing through this excitement, we headed to find the Temple of Zeus! And as my sister pointed out, it did look exactly like the movie Hercules! Nearing closing time, and with only about 15 minutes to see the temple I would say we took a sufficient amount of excellent lightning striking, jumping, Hercules-esque pictures for us all to view at a later time. It was a very cool place, and when you look up to the left you see the Acropolis, the Parthenon atop the hill, and the Greece flag waving in the distance! You know, the Greece flag is one of my favorites with the beautiful blue and white. There are many interpretations of the flag, but one of the representations we were told was that the nine stripes are said to represent the nine letters of Ελευθερία, meaning freedom. Adding to the flag, we continued on down the road past Zeus and ran into even more beautiful flags! When we saw the Olympic flags just above the trees, we knew we had reached the stadium of the very first Olympic games! Well, more so the site of where they happened. The very first Olympic games was back in 330BC so it makes sense that some renovations had to occur since then. The stadium we went to is now the panathenaic stadium where the smaller Greece athletic events occur, but still holds a strong Olympic presence. Pretty cool, though our day only got cooler! We headed back through the park, which looked exactly like the beautiful Oval at CSU, walking beside the Paramount building and ended up in the middle of the square at the foot of the Tomb of the Unmarked Soldier. This monument is in central Athens, guarded at all times by two present men in the military, and represents all of the fallen soldiers in the Greek military who for various reasons have gone unidentified at death. Each hour, they have what is called “Changing of the Guards” where they switch who stands at the tomb which was a pretty incredible ceremony to see. They are very serious (even when you take a picture next to them) and take what they are doing very seriously because of the importance that this cite holds and what it represents. I was happy we got there just before the hour so that we could see this happen! After the ceremony was finished, and we made it through the giant herds of hundreds of pigeons, we proceeded to find frozen greek yogurt at a place with a sign that read “Here you can be anything you want to be” … we figured that was right up our ally! Getting to talk to Tristina for a bit and see her new, beautiful home whilst eating frozen greek yogurt was sure the topping to a wonderful day! As we headed back to the Syntagma Square metro station we ran into a gate.. the station was already closed and the protest had started early! This protest, the one revolving around public transportation, was supposed to occur noon to noon, but they had already begun closing some of the most prevalent stations early so we continued walking to the next closest, finally made it on, walked the scenic 20 minute walk around the port and made it back to our beautiful home on water! I grew to love this walk (in the 8 times I did it) because I always had the best conversations with friends. The first few with a new friend named Chiara about fears in life- really just life in general. Later I walked with my professor Ernesto and learned of the 27 countries he has traveled to. He challenged me to do the same by the time I’m his age (which I will totally make happen!). In the port terminal, I had the opportunity to catch up with momma for a while (thank goodness for Facetime!) and then headed up to deck 7 with some lovely friends and some extremely necessary snacks. Quickly following the phenomenal food we had from the grill was bed….. for a whopping 10 hours of sleep! The morning of the third day we met for lunch at 11:30… which was awesome I might add. Those darn SAS chefs… they are always making the best meals when hardly any people are on the ship during port days, though this day we finally got to catch the BBQ and upside down pineapple cake. SCORE. After lunch, we headed to the other side of the port (why we didn’t just swim I will never know…) and purchased tickets for the ferry! With the protest happening in Athens, we figured why not just get off the island?! We took the ferry to King Achilles’ island of Aegina where the Battle of Troy began! During our preport meeting about what to do in Greece we expected Aegina to be this tiny little island with not much to offer. We were very wrong. It was huge! (Well in respect to the tiny island we were expecting…) It was beautiful and vibrant- the perfect place to spend our third day. Whilst walking through the city we discovered these bikes- these big 4-person bikes with tents over the top- a cycling contraption of sorts. I have no idea how to describe this thing, but like the spontaneous individuals we are, we decided to rent one for an hour! (Even though we laughed as we past them the first time saying “who would ride one of those?”) Easily the funniest, and most embarrassing hour of Greece. After the unexpected steep hills and narrow alleyways we encountered, and the unfortunate extreme workout this offered, it was time for the beach and a necessary dip in the water. We enjoyed most of the afternoon here, eating ice cream and playing with lots of little kids. They are only so cute until you start getting nailed with handfuls of sand…. Then came dinner. Am I glad dinner came? Well of course. Should I just have ordered gyro #5? Yes, in retrospect I really should have. But no. I decided to continue my adventurous eating journey and ordered grilled octopus. Slimy cusps and all. It tasted nothing like chicken. It tasted nothing like beef. Not even like camel…. This was something I could not even categorize. I think my stomach was a bit upset with me for this foreign object to be entering, but I was happy I tried it! We had met an Athens local on the beach who vacations in Aegina every year and he said that if I was going to try octopus then I had to try it at this particular restaurant. So that happened. Finally we made it back to the ferry… which deserves its own story! The first ferry was what you would expect as a typical ferry. Lots of hard seats in rows on various decks. Cars on the bottom level. That’s about it. This second ferry was phenomenal in comparison! When the first thing you do when boarding a ferry is ride an escalator up to the main deck, you’re bound to encounter exciting things. You step off the escalator and see all of these great 70’s couches, a bar, flat screen TV’s, funky wall décor.. it was pretty dang cool. OH. And yes, there was even wifi while sailing through the Grecian islands. Not to mention we watched the most beautiful sunset on our short little hour voyage. I was thrilled to get my Grecian sunset- it was more breath-taking than I ever could have imagined! Arriving back in the port of Piraeus, and after an unsuccessful hunt for frozen yogurt, we made our way back to the ship ending our third day in Greece. Hanging out in the port terminal was enjoyable because I was able to see all of my friends arrive back from their field programs and independent travels to some of the farther islands of Santorini and Mykonos. Exchanging stories and seeing the pictures of all the amazing places we all traveled made for a wonderful ending to day number three! Day number four, however, made for a wonderful ending to all of Greece! We got up, had breakfast, and headed for a day hiking in Greece. Who gets to go for a hike atop Athens on a Wednesday morning?! But first, we stopped at a quaint little café for frappe’s… because making it all the way up a mountain is more enjoyable when you’re not all painstakingly exhausted. This coffee was far from Starbucks coffee… this was true European coffee, and boy was it strong. Naturally, I put sprinkles on mine. Post frappe consumption we began our steep (stair-filled) trek up the mountain discovering amazing panoramic views all the way up. This hike was something like I have never done before. While it was no Colorado 14-er, it was awesome. Of course we were surrounded by nature, particularly cactus. But more importantly we were surrounded by Athens on all sides! And we were literally at the highest point in Athens-higher than the Parthenon! So amazing. Definitely a close second to the Olympic stadiums. What made it even greater? A large Greek man named Piros. He approached me rather quickly upon arriving at the church atop the hill and within five minutes was kissing me on the cheek (this was not the only time this happened to me in Greece I might add…). He told me of his travels to Italy and then proceeded to tell me about his kilo-loss program involving karate, yoga and hiking up to this church twice a week. He gave me a flower stone as we parted. He will go so far in life approaching ladies this way… right to the point! After our hike, we rewarded ourselves with gyro #5 (…#6? Who’s counting?) and fresh greek yogurt at the same place we went day 1- and believe me, I was honored to be a repeat customer at Fresko Yogurt Bar. So many things that happened on the last day was totally unplanned, yet incredible! We stumbled upon the Olympic stadium again when we had thought we would never see it again, we ended up walking down the street of the President’s house and saw a private showing of the changing of the guards, we even spoke with some of the men of the Greek army. I asked to take a picture with one of them and he said that he wasn’t allowed to… and then quickly followed that up to say “well okay, I’ll do it anyway real quick”…. And then smiled. So great! The other guard that must remain very still and emotion-less also giggled as we walked away from him. Finally, our day ended with a peaceful stroll through town, an unsuccessful stop at a supermarket, and an embarrassingly quick walk back to the ship- which upon arrival we realized on ship time was actually three hours later than we thought…. Now I am sitting on the ship starring out the windows at beautiful Greece with the most remorse of any port yet… I’m not ready to leave! However, with an itinerary that leads me to Italy in just three days saying goodbye doesn’t seem quite as hard. Hope you all are doing well and enjoying your summer days Thinking about you with each step I take, each gyro I eat, and each and every single experience I have! Sending you love from the port of Pireaus, Greece! Best, Taylorae DeWitt Semester at Sea Colorado State University ‘15 “We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.” P.S. Next time I’ll be writing to you we will have gained an hour… woop woop!
Posted on: Thu, 18 Jul 2013 13:04:19 +0000