Carnival in Greece: Nikki's trip report

Old Mar 22nd, 2005, 09:15 AM
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Carnival in Greece: Nikki's trip report

Jet lag is hitting me hard, as I have had to adjust twice in each direction within four weeks, and I guess I'm not cut out for that. But I am back from eight nights in Greece with my daughter, who will be 22 years old tomorrow and who just called me with the news of her first grad school acceptance letter. So maybe there will be more spring break adventures in our future. We'll see.

We flew to Amsterdam from Boston on Northwest. An uneventful flight in coach with on demand audio and video, which made the flight more interesting. We connected in Amsterdam for a flight to Athens on KLM. Bought some good Dutch cheese at the airport and were eating it for snacks for days afterward. On the plane I sat next to a Greek woman who works as a tour guide and had been vacationing in Seattle, and I learned that this was the weekend of Carnival in Greece, a fact which had somehow escaped me during the months of planning I had done. She gave me some restaurant recommendations and ideas for celebrating, and the flight went quickly.

Arrived in Athens to be met by a representative of Fantasy Travel, which had made our travel arrangements, including a taxi to the Attalos Hotel. Checked into our room and checked out the view of the Acropolis from the balcony, then crashed for several hours. First, however, I asked the guy at the hotel desk to call and make a reservation for the next night, Saturday, at a rembetika club called Stoa Athanaton. The woman on the plane had told me that it would be mobbed because of the Carnival, and that if I wanted to get there I should make reservations as soon as I arrived at the hotel on Friday.

Friday evening we woke up ready to experience the Athens night life. Since we weren't yet adjusted to the time difference, it was easier to stay up late than it would be later in the trip. So we went out to dinner at the very Greek hour of 10 PM. We walked to the Psiri neighborhood, which was quite close to our hotel, and found the restaurant I had been looking for: Plateia Iroon, on the plateia of the same name. Telephone 210 3211.915.

A guy was outside extolling the virtues of the restaurant, in Greek, to all passers-by, a phenomenon which would have put me off if I hadn't read recommendations of this restaurant as a place frequented by locals with live rembetika music played by the owner. The neighborhood was very lively with Greeks (mostly much younger than me) wandering around, going into restaurants and bars, and the restaurant was tiny, so we went in before it filled up. Turned out to be a good move, because it did fill up quickly, and the guy outside went from bringing people in to the restaurant to keeping them out. This is a phenomenon we noted all over Athens. Almost every restaurant had someone standing at the door, bringing the customers in or keeping them out as circumstances warranted. Sort of a traffic controller.

Dinner was good, I had lamb baked in paper and wonderful lemony roast potatoes. Started with artichokes stuffed with tomatoes and cheese. Everything came out of the kitchen as it was finished rather than in any kind of organized fashion, which made it awkward when one person was served way before the other. This happened in several of the restaurants we visited in Greece. At around 10:30 the music began, a fellow on bouzouki and one on guitar. No amplification or singing, so it was a little hard to hear in the noisy restaurant, but it contributed to the festive atmosphere. There were family groups all around us, including very young children. Everybody was Greek except us. Very warm atmosphere with musical instruments hanging on the walls. Really enjoyed this.

After dinner we wandered a bit in the neighborhood, which was becoming quite crowded. There were vendors selling funny hats for the Carnival, and I bought one for my husband that lights up. Or at least it lit up when the gypsy kid demonstrated it for me, we haven't succeeded in getting it to light up yet at home. Complicated electrical device. I had the feeling the crowd was just getting warmed up for the evening's activities, but we stumbled back to the hotel around midnight and went to bed.
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Old Mar 22nd, 2005, 09:27 AM
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Welcome back Nikki!

Honestly you're going to have to stop this back and forth thing. For heaven's sake next time just stay in Europe and wait for the next round of people to show up. You'll be completely acclimated to the time zone, fresh and ready to help the jetlagged people arriving. I'm sure you can find something to do in Europe for a week or two while waiting.


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Old Mar 22nd, 2005, 09:29 AM
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Nikki, great to hear about your trip, and come back, we want more!!

Indy, did I miss your trip report? I saw a post or two of yours from when you were "in route", but didn't think I'd seen an entire report. Did I skip something?

BC
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Old Mar 22nd, 2005, 09:50 AM
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Nikki,

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip, I have 2 trips to Greece planned this year and am always looking for new ideas. I will definatly make note of the Psiri restaurant as I usually spend a night or two at the Attalos.
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Old Mar 22nd, 2005, 10:28 AM
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David, you of course were an inspiration for this trip, and I thought of you often. I do like your idea of staying in Europe between trips, but it wasn't meant to be.

Bookchick, more to follow immediately.

Trish, two trips to Greece! Oh my. I'd be very interested to hear about your trips to Greece, past and future.
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Old Mar 22nd, 2005, 10:28 AM
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Saturday morning we take a taxi to the Acropolis. I want to make sure I get all the way up there, and that means avoiding as much walking as possible before the climbing begins. I feel as though I have waited my whole life to be in this place. The weather is gorgeous (and stays that way all week!) and there are wildflowers poking up on the hillside. As we climb at my very slow pace, stopping for photographs every minute and a half, I feel the weight of all who have climbed before us. It brings tears to my eyes. Even now. We spend a good amount of time at the top, just taking it in. Impossible to take it all in. Then we head back down.

Back down the hill, we wandered a bit in the Plaka, bought some souvenirs, and chatted with a woman who owns a jewelry store. She is English but married a Greek man and has lived in Greece for twenty years. I ask how people keep the late hours they do, and she says they come home from work and have a long siesta before going back out. But in twenty years she has been unable to adjust to this schedule. I think I'd have the same problem.

We stopped at a cafe called Melina, for Melina Mercouri, on a steep hillside. This had been recommended by my neighbor on the plane. Had a chocolate crepe with hazelnuts, quite lovely. All the tables outside this cafe were filled. Across the street there was another cafe at which all the tables were empty. Go figure.

We wandered through the streets and stumbled upon the Roman Agora with its Tower of the Winds. Quite interesting. Here we experienced the first of many whistle blowers. As we sat on a piece of rubble, a guard materialized and blew a whistle at us. There were people sitting on other pieces of rubble across the way, but evidently that was OK. This seemed to be the case at many sites. There were places you were allowed to sit and places you were not, and the only way to determine the difference was to sit down and see if anyone whistled. No signs or other indications of any sort.

After some more wandering, and some purchases of lovely blue pottery (oh no, not more lovely blue pottery!), we headed back to the hotel. It was going to be a late night, and we wanted to be able to stay up for it. My travel companion on the plane had said if we went to the Stoa Athanaton, we should stay until 6 AM. I protested that was impossible, and she relented. She said we had to at least stay until 3 AM; otherwise what would be the point? So 3 AM was our goal. Our reservations were for 10:30 PM, which was when they opened for the evening. There is apparently also an afternoon show. We walked to the club, which is located in a building in the Central meat market, not far from our hotel.

A man outside the door asked if we had reservations, then showed us inside to the elevator, which we took up to the club on the first floor. This was when the trouble began. They had no record of our reservation. They said the fellow at the hotel must have called the wrong place. No way, I say, I gave him the book with the number in it and he called in front of me. He didn't call, they insist. I said I was very disappointed, wasn't there anything they could do. No, they are completely full. Bummed out, we left, sheepishly walked past the man outside the door, returned to the hotel.

The desk clerk was just getting ready to leave, as it was 11 PM, and the night man had arrived. We told him what happened and he became incensed. He called the club and yelled at them in Greek. After a heated conversation, he hung up the phone, wrote a name on our paper, and said there would be a table for us. He said he told them they had made him look bad in front of his American guests and that he wouldn't stand for it. That seemed to do the trick.

Back we go to the club, past the man outside the door, up in the elevator, and we are told to wait. We wait for a while in the entrance way, and then we are showed to a table for two in the corner. There are very few tables for two. Most people are in large groups. The place is set up with long tables, like a function hall. People of all ages are there, from twenties to eighties. There is a stage with a band playing music. A guitar, a bouzouki, a violin, a drum, and a singer with a tambourine. People are singing along, dancing on the small stage. A young woman is walking around selling baskets of flowers for people to throw at the dancers. An old man dances alone. A group of apparent strangers dance a circle dance. Several young couples get up and dance very sexy dances.

It feels like a Greek bar mitzvah.

The band never takes a break. The singers do change every half hour or more, and as the evening progresses, the singers become older. I especially liked the older gentleman with the very deep voice and the formidable moustache. We order dinner and are told we have to order a bottle of wine because the place is licensed as a club, not a restaurant, so it can't sell meals without drinks. The wine is expensive but I figure it's the cost of the entertainment, as the food was priced reasonably enough. I have baked stuffed lamb and taramosalata, which is one of my favorite things. We pour only a glass or two of the wine and then offer it to the people at the next table, but to my astonishment they refuse and then order another bottle themselves. I wonder if we have committed some social gaffe. We try our best to stay until 3 AM, but at 2:00 I find I am having trouble enjoying the music any more, and we are among the first to leave.
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Old Mar 22nd, 2005, 10:43 AM
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What a great time unfolding, we all await more.

David, welcome back.
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Old Mar 22nd, 2005, 01:35 PM
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Sunday is the main celebration of Carnival. We get up when we are able and head to the Monastiraki flea market. Lots and lots of people in the streets. Children are dressed in costumes. The princess is the most popular for girls, the pirate for boys. People are selling anything and everything. We emerge from the flea market at Adrianou, which borders the ancient agora on one side and is lined with cafes on the other. The cafes are all filled. Families are out walking and enjoying the sunshine. People are selling balloons.

We walk along the pedestrianized streets, following the ancient agora on our left, and head up hill on Apostolou Pavlou. At the top of the hill, there is a large cafe with a bandstand, and a band is setting up. Dancers are getting ready to perform. While it looks tempting to linger here, we have a mission to accomplish, so we persevere and head into the ancient agora.

Our mission is to locate Socrates' jail cell. I have been inspired by the postings of Walter, Paradise Lost, on the Fodor's message board, to follow his footsteps to the jail cell and see if the directions are still useful. This is a mission close to my heart, as I read the Phaedo (describing the last days of Socrates and his thoughts on drinking the hemlock) when I was a teenager, and that began a lifetime of philosophical musings. I read it again last month, along with much else that had been gathering dust since college.

As we walk through the agora, we hear the music from the band up above us, and it acts as a soundtrack for our adventures. We feel like we are on a treasure hunt.

Walking through the Ancient Agora I keep picturing Socrates surrounded by his students, poking holes in arguments and antagonizing the authorities. We follow the drainage ditch past the Temple of Hephaestos and the tholos and out into the fringes of the agora. And there, just where Walter said it would be (I think) is the jail. In fact, there is now a sign identifying it as such. The sign is placed on the pile of rocks that would be the washroom attached to Socrates' cell, if I understand Walter's directions, although the sign does not mention Socrates. This area of the agora is not very heavily traveled. There is a gentleman with his head in a book, and I believe he is on the same mission.

We walk back to Monastiraki, and we get gyros to go at one of the insanely crowded sidewalk restaurants. Fighting our way through the crowds, we carry our gyros back to the hotel and have lunch. The rest of the afternoon is spent relaxing and we manage to catch up with our e-mail at an internet cafe before heading out for supper.

We went back to Psiri for dinner, to a restaurant we had passed the first night that was filled with people and had music. This was Mandras, located at Ag. Anargyron 8, tel. 210 321 3765. We were early this evening, so the guy out front was escorting people in to the restaurant. Later we figured he'd be keeping them out. We had a spicy eggplant appetizer and saganaki (fried cheese), and I had grilled squid while my daughter had rice with seafood. All very good. Two musicians were playing guitar and keyboard and singing very nicely.

When we left the restaurant, the streets were starting to fill with people. We saw some adults in costume. People were carrying plastic bats. A ten year old boy walked by and smacked my daughter on the bottom with one of them. She was totally shocked. But I guess that's the idea; this is the one night of the year when you can act out those aggressions. The woman I talked to on the plane had told me to be careful to stay away from fights; apparently some people smack back harder when they're bopped with the bats, and fights do break out. I believe the action moved from ten year olds to adults as the night went on, but we didn't stay out late enough to find out. We had to wake up at 7 AM the next morning to begin our tour of classical sites in the countryside, so we headed back to the hotel.
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Old Mar 23rd, 2005, 03:54 AM
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One thing that I found quite refreshing: the music you hear on the streets, in the taxis, in the shops, is mostly Greek. In other European trips to France, Italy, Denmark, and the U.K., I have heard mostly American pop music, which is not unknown in Greece, but it is not the dominant musical idiom. And the amount of live music in restaurants and on the streets is remarkable. A couple of evenings
we watched television and caught "Fame Story", a Greek version of American Idol. While some of the songs being used were American, many were Greek. Music seems to be alive and well there.

Monday morning we woke up early to leave for our tour. I had not been on an organized tour since I was a teenager, and I had some concerns about booking this one. But it was the only practical way for us to get to the sites that we'd visit, and it was only for three nights, so I took a chance and arranged for it with Fantasy Travel in Athens. The tour was operated by G.O. Tours, which had brochures in our hotel lobby and which operates both day tours from Athens and multi-day tours and cruises.

We ended up enjoying the tour very much. There were pluses and minuses, of course, but the minuses were neither as numerous nor as negative as I had feared. Dinners, which were included in the price, were eaten at the hotels where we stayed in each town. Nothing to write home about (although that's what I am doing here, isn't it?). There was no choice of meals, and a picky eater might have had problems. One of the hotels was not within easy walking distance of any town, but on the other two nights there were towns nearby where people could find meals on their own if they wanted to.

Lunches were at restaurants clearly set up for tour buses. Lunch was not included, so there was a choice of menu, and I actually found these places to be pretty good. Much better than similar places in the U.S. Rest stops were pretty frequent and photo stops were pretty infrequent. Many times I would have liked to pull over and photograph the scenery while we sped by, but I actually feel that way when my husband is driving too.

I had wondered about the people who would be on the tour with us, and whether we would want to talk to them (or they to us). I needn't have worried. Several families were traveling with teenaged children on school vacations. There were people from all over the world, and the ones with whom I spoke were well informed, interesting people. Eight million stories in the naked city (or was it seven?), and we heard a few fascinating ones. We spoke to a retired politician from Singapore, a Japanese woman who works in London as a BBC translator, a woman who was among the first female graduates of West Point, and a woman who had produced an Oscar-nominated documentary.

When I mentioned to a woman who teaches literature in high school that I had been re-reading Thucydides to prepare for the trip, she pulled out a year-old clipping from the Philadelphia Inquirer analyzing contemporary American foreign policy through the principles of power described by Thucydides. A woman from New Zealand who grew up on a sheep farm was describing how fascinated she was passing the sheep along the roads and seeing the differences in the way they were raised in Greece. I had never heard a New Zealand accent before and I thought I had trouble understanding her until her husband started speaking. I couldn't understand him at all, and had to ask a couple of times if he was saying the words I thought he was. Extremely educational.

The tour guide gave all commentary in both English and French, as there were several Francophones. She also spoke Spanish to a Mexican couple who understood English to some extent and followed the English commentary. At each stop she would tell us how long we would be there, so we could follow her or take our own pace. At only one stop did I feel rushed, and that was because we left unexpectedly early. It is possible that the site was closing early that day because it was a national holiday, however.

There were two stops for souvenir shopping during the four days of the tour. While I am opposed to these in principle, they actually gave us some time to pick up some souvenirs that we didn't feel we would have time for when we returned to Athens, so I can't complain too loudly.

I appreciated having a tour guide to answer the questions that arose about things I would see along the way. When we drive independently, we have the questions but seldom get the answers.
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Old Mar 23rd, 2005, 05:50 AM
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Monday was a holiday in Greece, Clean Monday. This is the day after carnival ends and if I understand correctly the beginning of Lent. Everything is closed. There was virtually no traffic on the streets of Athens. People were sleeping in after their long night out bopping each other with bats on the street. Then people went out to the countryside to fly kites. This is apparently the traditional way to spend Clean Monday. We passed people selling kites on the road leading out of Athens, and saw people flying kites all day, especially in fields and parking lots where there were no overhead wires.

We stopped at the Corinth Canal, then went on to Epidaurus to see the ancient theater there, incredibly well preserved. We then went to Mycenae, which gave me chills. I had been reading the Iliad to gear up for this trip, and it was amazing to stand within the walls which housed Agamemnon's city. I tried to picture Agamemnon returning from the war at Troy, to be greeted (and murdered) by his wife. The city was lost to all knowledge shortly after that, and it was thought to be a mythical place until it was excavated in the 19th century. With myth and history mingling in my mind, I contemplated the old stones and the kites flying down below. Could have spent a long time there, but the drawback of being with a tour was the inability to do that.

While driving along the road near Mycenae, we made a fairly sharp turn in the road, which looked as if we might miss the turn and end up in a driveway. In the driveway a little old lady in black was sweeping the dirt with a broom made of twigs. She didn't seem to notice the big tour bus.

The drive through the mountains of the Peloponnese was stunning. There was a rest stop in Megalopolis, where we sat at a cafe for a while. Not much going on in Megalopolis on Clean Monday, but there were streamers hanging from the lamp posts and confetti on the street from the Carnival celebrations the night before. We ended the day at Olympia, where we had a nice view from the balcony of the Hotel Europa.
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Old Mar 23rd, 2005, 06:21 AM
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Tuesday morning we visited Olympia. It is hard to imagine a more beautiful setting for the ancient Olympics. There is a fantastic museum at the site as well. Wildflowers poking up among the stones. A perfect time of year for a visit. We had plenty of time to enjoy the area. Really really glad we made it here, and I can't really imagine we would have been able to get there easily on our own.

The tour was set up to do the site visits in the morning and the driving in the afternoon, so we were touring before the crowds arrived at most places. The only drawback was that I would become drowsy on the bus in the afternoon, and I had to force myself to keep my eyes open, because I didn't want to miss a thing. The drive from Olympia was fantastic. We spent much of the time in sight of the water. We crossed the beautiful new bridge at Patras and followed the coast toward Delphi. We did make an unscheduled stop in Patras to see the church there and to go to a very nice cafe in a park outside the church which served some lovely local pastry. The weather was gorgeous, the water was sparkling in the background, life is good.

As we neared Delphi, we stopped for a photo of a scenic waterside town with Mount Parnassus rising in the background. My eye was caught however by some stunningly backlit sheep on the hillside across the road, led by a shepherd leaning on his staff. The tour guide (and the shepherd) was (were) amused that I chose that scene to photograph. I told the guide I didn't want the same photos as everyone else. The tour guide went across the street to talk to the shepherd. Then the bus driver joined them. Is Greece just one big family? Does everyone know each other? People just feel comfortable walking up to anyone they meet?

Meanwhile, there were some goats gathering on the far side of the road, further down. I went to get some photos there as well. There was a man standing among the goats, all seemed very calm, until suddenly they all started running across the road. So now I have the photo of the goats running across the highway with the scenic town and Mount Parnassus rising in the background. If you wait long enough, you get the shot. Sadly, there's a prominent green recycling bin in the foreground.

The trip up to Delphi was spectacular, and I kept imagining the many pilgrims who had traveled this route over the millennia to get advice from the oracle. First there are the bauxite mines down at the base of the mountain, by the sea. Then you drive across the "olive ocean", a long, wide valley planted with olive trees. Then the road zigzags up the mountain, crossing the aqueduct which brings water from the still-snowcapped summit of Mount Parnassus to Athens, crossing the slopes covered in flowering almond and cherry trees, to the village of Delphi. We arrived at sunset. The view from the Hotel Xenia took in the entire route down to the water and across to snow capped peaks on the other side of the valley.

I can see why the ancients thought this was a holy site. It felt like hallowed ground.

Delphi is a small village. Our hotel was owned by the mayor of Delphi, who served us dinner. My daughter and I wandered into a small antique shop where I bought a sheep bell , a goat bell (oh no, not more lovely old copper things!), and an old pottery wine pitcher. My daughter had to drag me out of there because there was no more room in my carry-on luggage to bring things home. I took pictures of the things I wanted to buy but didn't, as well as of the owner in his shop. Now I wish I had bought more stuff. Not much chance of getting back there.

In the morning we toured the archeological site and museum at Delphi. This was the highlight of the trip for me. I spent three blissful hours taking my time on the many steps, photographing every misty mountain view and dusty column surrounded by flowering trees, remembering every prophecy gone wrong (or right) that I could access in my memory.
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Old Mar 23rd, 2005, 06:54 AM
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Nikki, I'm glad your tour worked out and that you loved Delphi. It really is a special place.

I never saw a taxi drop off at the Acropolis in Athens. Where did the taxi let you out? Was it by the entrance where they take tickets? Or further down the hill?

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Old Mar 23rd, 2005, 07:06 AM
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David, the taxi let us off at Dionysiou Areopagitou, where the tour buses were dropping people off. We still had to walk up to the ticket office.

Glad you're still reading. This is becoming awfully long, and it isn't getting the responses that my Paris report generated. However it is doing me good to write it all down to crystallize the memories.
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Old Mar 23rd, 2005, 07:22 AM
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Thanks Nikki, that's what I wanted to know.

I can't wait to see the beautiful photo albums I know you'll create.

If a trip report isn't London, Paris, Rome or Venice it just doesn't get much play. A reflection of travel destination popularity I guess.
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Old Mar 23rd, 2005, 07:34 AM
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As usual, Nikki, your report is wonderful and congratulations to your daughter.
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Old Mar 23rd, 2005, 07:35 AM
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Absolutely GREAT report and so glad you decided to take the so-called "classical tour" which is such a nice change from the hustle and bustle (and exhaust fumes???) of Athens..your recount brought back many good memories.
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Old Mar 23rd, 2005, 10:26 AM
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Nikki, I'm so glad you wrote your report, I'll make a note of Stoa Athanaton too, I'm surprised there wasn't a hefty cover charge, often in Grrece you pay a heavy cover 100 euros or more and they give you a table and a bottle of scotch or vodka.

I usually travel to Greece in August/September and by that time the landscape is quite parched I can only imagine how beautiful it is when it's green. I too thought Olympia was stunning I did not expect the natural sceanery to be so breathtaking. I also enjoyed Epidavros it was so much larger than I expected but the site that you liked so much that underwhelmed me was Mycenae I thought the view was really pretty but the ruins didn't grab me I probably just don't know the history of the site enough to make it come alive.

This year on my first trip I'll stop quickly in Spetses to see family, Patras for family the I'm planning on Delphi because in four trips to Greece I have yet to make it there yet then off to Meteora before going to Athens for a wedding. Second trip is the end of August and I'm taking two friends and my Dad with me and my husband and we'll spend most of our time in the islands. Planning on seeing Sifnos, Samos and haven't decided on the rest yet we'll probably just decide once we're in Greece.
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Old Mar 23rd, 2005, 10:56 AM
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Hi Nikki!

Great trip report, loving every minute of it

What was the name of the hotel in Delphi? Also, do you remember the name of the antiques shop there?

Thanks!
Jill
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Old Mar 23rd, 2005, 12:11 PM
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Nikki, I am really enjoying your report, too. Olympia was so peaceful, but Delphi was my favorite ancient site and you have brought back the memories. I also had that goosebumpy feeling of how many, many seekers had walked up those steps.
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Old Mar 23rd, 2005, 12:32 PM
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David, Mimi, and Intrepid, thanks for the encouragement. I'll keep plodding along to the finish.

Jill, the hotel was the Xenia Delphi, tel. 22650-82701. I can't find the card from the antique dealer, but it is easy to find on the higher of the two streets in Delphi. If you are at the Xenia hotel, head down the hill toward the town and it is on the left after a block or two. Can't miss it, there are all sorts of old things hanging up, lots of sheep bells, not the tourist beads and pottery of the other shops.

Trish, you want Mycenae to come alive? Think about Helen of Troy, who was married to Agamemnon's brother. Her half sister, Clytemnestra, was married to Agamemnon. For ten years Agamemnon was off leading the battles of the Trojan War and Helen was in Troy where he was fighting to get her back. Clytemnestra stayed home in the palace at Mycenae for the same ten years, biding her time for Agamemnon to return so she could murder him. Check out the stories of the House of Atreus in Edith Hamilton's Mythology.

Helen's conception (by Zeus in the form of a swan) is described vividly in Leda and the Swan, by Yeats, which I have been carrying around in my purse:

A sudden blow: the great wings beating still
Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed
By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill,
He holds her helpless breast upon his breast.

How can those terrified vague fingers push
The feathered glory from her loosening thighs?
And how can body, laid in that white rush,
But feel the strange heart beating where it lies?

A shudder in the loins engenders there
The broken wall, the burning roof and tower
And Agamemnon dead.
Being so caught up,
So mastered by the brute blood of the air,
Did she put on his knowledge with his power
Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?


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