TexasAggie’s Trip Report: 2 Enchanting Weeks on Mainland Greece
May 22nd, 2006, 10:59 AM
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TexasAggie’s Trip Report: 2 Enchanting Weeks on Mainland Greece
<b>Introduction</b>
Hello Everyone
Thanks in advance for reading my sure to be long trip report! Here is a bit of background on our travel style that may be helpful in utilizing this trip report for your own planning purposes. I am 26 and my DH is 33 and we try to take at least one two-week trip to Europe per year, along with a shorter trip (long weekend) if we can find an airfare sale. We are not "foodies", nor are we particularly adventurous eaters so my restaurant recommendations might be considered a little weak by many (and they are certainly on the inexpensive side of the spectrum!). We do like a nice centrally-located hotel however, and we found an absolute treasure in Nauplion that I look forward to sharing with y’all.
<u>Planning Resources</u>
<i>Guidebooks: </i>
1. <b>Greece, Athens, & the Mainland (Eyewitness Travel Guides)</b> by Michele Crawford and Esther Labi
**This book is heavier than I’d like since we ended up hauling it around in a daypack, but it turned out to be an invaluable source of information as we drove throughout the mainland. The book is organized into geographic regions and includes dozens of lesser-known sights in each area that the major guidebooks leave out. The admission prices and open/closed hours were not always up to date but as a source of knowledge for many small but worthy attractions we didn’t even know existed, it was priceless.
2. <b>Top 10 Athens (DK Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guides)</b> by DK Publishing
**Small and compact, well organized, and extremely useful if you plan to spend more than a day or two in Athens. I believe it was published right before the Olympics so it is becoming outdated for the metro, but the info on all of the archaeological highlights, museums, and various areas of the city for shopping, dining, etc. is great.
3. <b>Fodor's Greece, 7th Edition (Fodor's Gold Guides)</b> by Amy B. Wang
(Editor)
**I used this book often in planning the trip, as the write-ups on the top archaeological sites, museums, and churches are extensive and well written. I didn’t even pull it out of the suitcase once our trip actually commenced. In retrospect it was semi-useful as a planning tool but not worth hauling along.
4. <b>Michelin the Green Guide Greece: With Hotels and Restaurants</b> (Michelin Green Guide: Greece English Edition) by Michelin Staff
**The least used guidebook of the four I bought. I enjoyed reading a few of the write-ups as additional research but would probably have been happier investing my $20 in baklava!
<i>Map: </i>
<b>Michelin Greece Map</b> (red cover). The front says "737 National" at the top left and the ratio is 1cm : 7km.
**The road signs in Greece were by and large so good that we didn’t even pull out the map but on the few occasions that we needed additional guidance, this map was accurate and easy to decipher. It’s less than $10 and well worth every penny.
<i>Travel Agency: </i>
We have never used the services of a travel agent before, always preferring to instead conduct our own research and make the reservations with the hotels ourselves. In Greece however, we were able to obtain significant discounts on accommodations by using a local travel agency. We conducted all of our research as usual and decided which hotels we wanted, then let the agency book them for us. It worked beautifully in every instance save for one (more on that in the Delphi section).
Travel Agency Contact Information:
Dolphin-Hellas
http://www.dolphin-hellas.gr/
Agent: Uli Perschau: [email protected]
Notes: Our agent, Uli, was quick to respond and extremely professional as well as friendly and happy to answer the plethora of questions I sent her way. I’d use her again in a heartbeat and highly recommend her services.
Hello Everyone
Thanks in advance for reading my sure to be long trip report! Here is a bit of background on our travel style that may be helpful in utilizing this trip report for your own planning purposes. I am 26 and my DH is 33 and we try to take at least one two-week trip to Europe per year, along with a shorter trip (long weekend) if we can find an airfare sale. We are not "foodies", nor are we particularly adventurous eaters so my restaurant recommendations might be considered a little weak by many (and they are certainly on the inexpensive side of the spectrum!). We do like a nice centrally-located hotel however, and we found an absolute treasure in Nauplion that I look forward to sharing with y’all.<u>Planning Resources</u>
<i>Guidebooks: </i>
1. <b>Greece, Athens, & the Mainland (Eyewitness Travel Guides)</b> by Michele Crawford and Esther Labi
**This book is heavier than I’d like since we ended up hauling it around in a daypack, but it turned out to be an invaluable source of information as we drove throughout the mainland. The book is organized into geographic regions and includes dozens of lesser-known sights in each area that the major guidebooks leave out. The admission prices and open/closed hours were not always up to date but as a source of knowledge for many small but worthy attractions we didn’t even know existed, it was priceless.
2. <b>Top 10 Athens (DK Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guides)</b> by DK Publishing
**Small and compact, well organized, and extremely useful if you plan to spend more than a day or two in Athens. I believe it was published right before the Olympics so it is becoming outdated for the metro, but the info on all of the archaeological highlights, museums, and various areas of the city for shopping, dining, etc. is great.
3. <b>Fodor's Greece, 7th Edition (Fodor's Gold Guides)</b> by Amy B. Wang
(Editor)
**I used this book often in planning the trip, as the write-ups on the top archaeological sites, museums, and churches are extensive and well written. I didn’t even pull it out of the suitcase once our trip actually commenced. In retrospect it was semi-useful as a planning tool but not worth hauling along.
4. <b>Michelin the Green Guide Greece: With Hotels and Restaurants</b> (Michelin Green Guide: Greece English Edition) by Michelin Staff
**The least used guidebook of the four I bought. I enjoyed reading a few of the write-ups as additional research but would probably have been happier investing my $20 in baklava!
<i>Map: </i>
<b>Michelin Greece Map</b> (red cover). The front says "737 National" at the top left and the ratio is 1cm : 7km.
**The road signs in Greece were by and large so good that we didn’t even pull out the map but on the few occasions that we needed additional guidance, this map was accurate and easy to decipher. It’s less than $10 and well worth every penny.
<i>Travel Agency: </i>
We have never used the services of a travel agent before, always preferring to instead conduct our own research and make the reservations with the hotels ourselves. In Greece however, we were able to obtain significant discounts on accommodations by using a local travel agency. We conducted all of our research as usual and decided which hotels we wanted, then let the agency book them for us. It worked beautifully in every instance save for one (more on that in the Delphi section).
Travel Agency Contact Information:
Dolphin-Hellas
http://www.dolphin-hellas.gr/
Agent: Uli Perschau: [email protected]
Notes: Our agent, Uli, was quick to respond and extremely professional as well as friendly and happy to answer the plethora of questions I sent her way. I’d use her again in a heartbeat and highly recommend her services.
May 22nd, 2006, 11:01 AM
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<b>Day 1 AND Day 2: The LONG trek from Denver to Athens begins with a surprise phone call and a last minute change of plans! </b>
(Saturday, April 29th – Sunday, April 30th)
The alarm clock begins its insolent shrieking at 3am and DH and I painfully haul our tired bodies out of bed. Our much needed two week vacation (we’re tax accountants… does April 15th ring a bell for anyone??) wasn’t supposed to start this way. After an exhausting week at the office we were looking forward to sleeping in a bit on Saturday before heading to the airport to begin the 17+ hour trek to Athens.
We were in the midst of our packing, already much delayed due to working late all week, when the phone rang about 9pm on Friday night. It was American Airlines and they had some potentially very bad news. Due to anticipated bad weather at DFW (our domestic connecting airport), AA had canceled our entire 11:10am flight. The representative, sounding as if he is reading off a prompt cue, cheerfully tells me he is happy to rebook us on a flight departing later that afternoon and putting us in Dallas early evening. My stress level rises and I can feel the blood start to pound in my ears. Any flight later than our scheduled flight would put us in Dallas too late to catch our 2:30pm flight to Zurich… and if we arrived in Zurich late, we’d miss our Swiss Air flight to Athens.
It’s after 11pm by the time we work out a tentative plan with AA. We will arrive at the Denver airport by 4:45am and hope to be the first two people on standby for a 7am flight that is already overbooked. Since we’re both Gold members, we should have priority despite flying on an Advantage Reward. If we make the flight, we’ll have a five hour layover in Dallas. If we do not make the flight, AA will fly us Denver-Chicago-London-Zurich-Athens. Either way, our trip door-to-door will now stretch beyond a 24-hour timeframe and I know we’ll arrive in Athens bone weary. We finally get to bed sometime between midnight and 1am.
As we drive to the airport in the darkness and fog we see movement off to the side of the road. A gigantic fox and an ankle-biter dog are skirmishing. The fox has the dog cornered. I’m surprised at the loudness of the fox’s bark; it permeates the thick black of night and echoes through the sleeping neighborhood. I honestly wonder if I’m dreaming but DH hears it too and we stop and roll down the window to watch the battle. Both are startled when the car stops but the fox maintains his ground and the dog eventually slinks off into the bushes.
We arrive at the gate at 4:45am and we are the first ones there. We wait for almost two hours watching the sky change from inky black to midnight blue to brilliant orangey-pink as the sun rises. Not really hungry, we eat the sparse breakfast I packed the night before. We finally hear our names called out over the loudspeaker and it registers that we have seats! And not just any seats, but first class seats! My spirits lift and I start feeling like the trip might start out just fine after all. Maybe I was just tired and crabby, or maybe it was the time of day, but domestic first class was a bit of a let down. The seats don’t recline that much more than coach seats and the “gourmet meal” consisted of frozen fruit chunks drowning in sugar syrup. The service was nice, I guess I just don’t feel that I’d want to pay several hundred dollars more for first class on a domestic flight lasting only a couple hours.
We land at DFW around 9:30am local time. As our luggage was checked through to Athens from Denver, we don’t have anything to do but make our way to our departure terminal, the new Terminal D. I grew up in Dallas and have flown through DFW over a hundred times, so I was really thankful to have something new to explore instead of the same-old, same-old that is Terminals A, B, and C. We spent an hour walking the terminal end to end to see all the shops and restaurants. The terminal is sparkling new, airy and light, and overall a very pleasant place to stroll and window shop. I picked up a salad at Au Bon Pain and DH opted for barbecue. Various bars and restaurants had live coverage of the NFL Draft so we were well entertained, especially DH (UT Alum) when Vince Young went third to the Tennessee Titans!
The flight from Dallas to Zurich was uneventful save for the first hour when the two “Texas Ladies” (big bleached blond hair, orange-tinted fake tans, drawling accents, and Neiman Marcus shopping bags dripping from diamond encrusted wrists) seated behind us proceeded to get tipsy within 45 minutes of take-off and engaged in a couple boisterous rounds of Yahtzee. We arrived in Zurich right on time at around 8am local time after receiving tempting glimpses of cute Swiss villages and the imposing Alps from the plane. Unfortunately there was thick fog on the ground for the duration of our layover in Zurich so those brief flashes from several thousand feet in the air were all we saw of Switzerland.
The Zurich airport is very easy to transfer through. In my opinion, it’s probably the most well organized airport for connections excepting only FRA (Frankfurt) and AMS (Amsterdam). We arrived in Terminal E and hopped a quick train to Terminal A. We did a little bit of exploring but were pretty tired so my notes are meager. We did come across two caviar bars, several chocolate and pastry shops, and the normal gauntlet of designer retail stores and duty-free shops. The 2.5 hour Swiss Air flight to Athens was nice for the thirty minutes or so that I remained awake, although the 3 – 3 seating configuration left you feeling rather like a sardine in a tin can. Lunch was a pizza calzone and finest Swiss chocolate (of course!) for dessert.
Baggage at the Athens airport came out surprisingly fast and we were relieved to find both our bags on the carousel after so many hours in transit. We followed the signs to the metro (we ended up going outside briefly) and used the automatic ticket machines to procure a 2-party ticket to Monastiraki. A 2-person ticket (one way) is 10€, whereas a single rider’s fare is 7€. The machines have English prompts. There are yellow ticket validation machines right before the escalators taking you downstairs to the train tracks. The metro is on one side of the tracks and the “suburban railroad” is on the other side. Look at the overhead signs to make sure the train you get on is headed toward Monastiraki (this is the final metro destination for the blue line that goes to/from the airport). The train will make several stops along the 45-minute journey (including one at Syntagma). Trains leave the airport about every 30 minutes. We never saw anyone checking for tickets and we did see several people cheat and not pay for their rides, but stern warning signs above the exits indicate that persons without properly validated tickets are subject to a fine 40x the fare… this equates to 400€ if you are a party of two, so do yourself a favor and buy the ticket. 10€ for a safe and smoke-free ride to the city center for two persons plus luggage is an amazing bargain. As a last note, there are color-coded maps of the metro line and stops above each exit and electronic signs in each car flash the upcoming stop while a voice reads it aloud over the intercom.
We found our hotel, Hotel Adrian, within about 10 minutes. It’s located at the border of the Plaka and Monastiraki areas and is very close (3 minutes) from the Roman Forum where the Tower of the Winds resides. I’ll post a detailed review of the hotel at the end of our stay in Athens but we were very satisfied with this hotel and loved the location. We dropped our luggage and both took showers after the long flight(s) and then set out to explore the Plaka and other areas surrounding the Acropolis. It had rained earlier in the day and was overcast and cool (probably low 60sF). I was comfortable in pants, a long-sleeve shirt, and a lightweight cropped jacket. It cooled off even more once the sun set and I ended up wishing I had brought a slightly heavier jacket.
We walked for several hours, stopping once at the famous O Thanasis in Monastiraki Square for souvlaki sandwiches. Two of them to go came to about 3,50€. Later that night, too tired and disoriented to try a “real restaurant”, we returned to O Thanasis for dinner. Between the two of us we had a bottle of house white wine, 1 tomato salad, 1 order of fries, 2 pita breads with tsatziki sauce, and 1 souvlaki sandwich. The bill was around 16€. We tipped about 10% at most restaurants on the advice of guidebooks and other travelers and this seemed to be about the norm that we saw other people leaving. We were back in the hotel and in bed by 9:30pm.
(Saturday, April 29th – Sunday, April 30th)
The alarm clock begins its insolent shrieking at 3am and DH and I painfully haul our tired bodies out of bed. Our much needed two week vacation (we’re tax accountants… does April 15th ring a bell for anyone??) wasn’t supposed to start this way. After an exhausting week at the office we were looking forward to sleeping in a bit on Saturday before heading to the airport to begin the 17+ hour trek to Athens.
We were in the midst of our packing, already much delayed due to working late all week, when the phone rang about 9pm on Friday night. It was American Airlines and they had some potentially very bad news. Due to anticipated bad weather at DFW (our domestic connecting airport), AA had canceled our entire 11:10am flight. The representative, sounding as if he is reading off a prompt cue, cheerfully tells me he is happy to rebook us on a flight departing later that afternoon and putting us in Dallas early evening. My stress level rises and I can feel the blood start to pound in my ears. Any flight later than our scheduled flight would put us in Dallas too late to catch our 2:30pm flight to Zurich… and if we arrived in Zurich late, we’d miss our Swiss Air flight to Athens.
It’s after 11pm by the time we work out a tentative plan with AA. We will arrive at the Denver airport by 4:45am and hope to be the first two people on standby for a 7am flight that is already overbooked. Since we’re both Gold members, we should have priority despite flying on an Advantage Reward. If we make the flight, we’ll have a five hour layover in Dallas. If we do not make the flight, AA will fly us Denver-Chicago-London-Zurich-Athens. Either way, our trip door-to-door will now stretch beyond a 24-hour timeframe and I know we’ll arrive in Athens bone weary. We finally get to bed sometime between midnight and 1am.
As we drive to the airport in the darkness and fog we see movement off to the side of the road. A gigantic fox and an ankle-biter dog are skirmishing. The fox has the dog cornered. I’m surprised at the loudness of the fox’s bark; it permeates the thick black of night and echoes through the sleeping neighborhood. I honestly wonder if I’m dreaming but DH hears it too and we stop and roll down the window to watch the battle. Both are startled when the car stops but the fox maintains his ground and the dog eventually slinks off into the bushes.
We arrive at the gate at 4:45am and we are the first ones there. We wait for almost two hours watching the sky change from inky black to midnight blue to brilliant orangey-pink as the sun rises. Not really hungry, we eat the sparse breakfast I packed the night before. We finally hear our names called out over the loudspeaker and it registers that we have seats! And not just any seats, but first class seats! My spirits lift and I start feeling like the trip might start out just fine after all. Maybe I was just tired and crabby, or maybe it was the time of day, but domestic first class was a bit of a let down. The seats don’t recline that much more than coach seats and the “gourmet meal” consisted of frozen fruit chunks drowning in sugar syrup. The service was nice, I guess I just don’t feel that I’d want to pay several hundred dollars more for first class on a domestic flight lasting only a couple hours.
We land at DFW around 9:30am local time. As our luggage was checked through to Athens from Denver, we don’t have anything to do but make our way to our departure terminal, the new Terminal D. I grew up in Dallas and have flown through DFW over a hundred times, so I was really thankful to have something new to explore instead of the same-old, same-old that is Terminals A, B, and C. We spent an hour walking the terminal end to end to see all the shops and restaurants. The terminal is sparkling new, airy and light, and overall a very pleasant place to stroll and window shop. I picked up a salad at Au Bon Pain and DH opted for barbecue. Various bars and restaurants had live coverage of the NFL Draft so we were well entertained, especially DH (UT Alum) when Vince Young went third to the Tennessee Titans!
The flight from Dallas to Zurich was uneventful save for the first hour when the two “Texas Ladies” (big bleached blond hair, orange-tinted fake tans, drawling accents, and Neiman Marcus shopping bags dripping from diamond encrusted wrists) seated behind us proceeded to get tipsy within 45 minutes of take-off and engaged in a couple boisterous rounds of Yahtzee. We arrived in Zurich right on time at around 8am local time after receiving tempting glimpses of cute Swiss villages and the imposing Alps from the plane. Unfortunately there was thick fog on the ground for the duration of our layover in Zurich so those brief flashes from several thousand feet in the air were all we saw of Switzerland.
The Zurich airport is very easy to transfer through. In my opinion, it’s probably the most well organized airport for connections excepting only FRA (Frankfurt) and AMS (Amsterdam). We arrived in Terminal E and hopped a quick train to Terminal A. We did a little bit of exploring but were pretty tired so my notes are meager. We did come across two caviar bars, several chocolate and pastry shops, and the normal gauntlet of designer retail stores and duty-free shops. The 2.5 hour Swiss Air flight to Athens was nice for the thirty minutes or so that I remained awake, although the 3 – 3 seating configuration left you feeling rather like a sardine in a tin can. Lunch was a pizza calzone and finest Swiss chocolate (of course!) for dessert.
Baggage at the Athens airport came out surprisingly fast and we were relieved to find both our bags on the carousel after so many hours in transit. We followed the signs to the metro (we ended up going outside briefly) and used the automatic ticket machines to procure a 2-party ticket to Monastiraki. A 2-person ticket (one way) is 10€, whereas a single rider’s fare is 7€. The machines have English prompts. There are yellow ticket validation machines right before the escalators taking you downstairs to the train tracks. The metro is on one side of the tracks and the “suburban railroad” is on the other side. Look at the overhead signs to make sure the train you get on is headed toward Monastiraki (this is the final metro destination for the blue line that goes to/from the airport). The train will make several stops along the 45-minute journey (including one at Syntagma). Trains leave the airport about every 30 minutes. We never saw anyone checking for tickets and we did see several people cheat and not pay for their rides, but stern warning signs above the exits indicate that persons without properly validated tickets are subject to a fine 40x the fare… this equates to 400€ if you are a party of two, so do yourself a favor and buy the ticket. 10€ for a safe and smoke-free ride to the city center for two persons plus luggage is an amazing bargain. As a last note, there are color-coded maps of the metro line and stops above each exit and electronic signs in each car flash the upcoming stop while a voice reads it aloud over the intercom.
We found our hotel, Hotel Adrian, within about 10 minutes. It’s located at the border of the Plaka and Monastiraki areas and is very close (3 minutes) from the Roman Forum where the Tower of the Winds resides. I’ll post a detailed review of the hotel at the end of our stay in Athens but we were very satisfied with this hotel and loved the location. We dropped our luggage and both took showers after the long flight(s) and then set out to explore the Plaka and other areas surrounding the Acropolis. It had rained earlier in the day and was overcast and cool (probably low 60sF). I was comfortable in pants, a long-sleeve shirt, and a lightweight cropped jacket. It cooled off even more once the sun set and I ended up wishing I had brought a slightly heavier jacket.
We walked for several hours, stopping once at the famous O Thanasis in Monastiraki Square for souvlaki sandwiches. Two of them to go came to about 3,50€. Later that night, too tired and disoriented to try a “real restaurant”, we returned to O Thanasis for dinner. Between the two of us we had a bottle of house white wine, 1 tomato salad, 1 order of fries, 2 pita breads with tsatziki sauce, and 1 souvlaki sandwich. The bill was around 16€. We tipped about 10% at most restaurants on the advice of guidebooks and other travelers and this seemed to be about the norm that we saw other people leaving. We were back in the hotel and in bed by 9:30pm.
May 22nd, 2006, 11:18 AM
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I am so glad you're doing your trip report - I leave on my trip (with Greece being the first leg) this Friday and was hoping you'd have time to post it before I left.
Great report so far - looking forward to the rest!
Great report so far - looking forward to the rest!
May 22nd, 2006, 11:34 AM
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>The flight from Dallas to Zurich was uneventful save for the first hour when the two “Texas Ladies” (big bleached blond hair, orange-tinted fake tans, drawling accents, and Neiman Marcus shopping bags dripping from diamond encrusted wrists) seated behind us proceeded to get tipsy within 45 minutes of take-off and engaged in a couple boisterous rounds of Yahtzee.<
Sounds like my kind of ladies!!!!!!!!
**************************************
Did you go to the Plaka?
"Hey, lady, where you from?"
Apple Annie
Sounds like my kind of ladies!!!!!!!!
**************************************
Did you go to the Plaka?
"Hey, lady, where you from?"
Apple Annie
May 22nd, 2006, 12:52 PM
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Thank you all for the sweet comments! We returned over a week ago, but I spent 5 days in Dallas for a conference so it has taken me a while to put my notes into report format.
I'm happy to answer any questions by the way, so ask away!
I'm happy to answer any questions by the way, so ask away!
May 22nd, 2006, 01:54 PM
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<b>Day 3: Labor Day in Athens and my “Bootylicious” Cappuccino </b>
(Monday, May 1st)
We wake up to a light-filled hotel room feeling remarkably refreshed and assume we have woken up early since the alarm has not yet gone off. In fact, despite <i>setting</i> the alarm clock the night before in our sleep-deprived haze, we neglected to <i>turn it on</i>. It’s close to 11am so no hotel breakfast in the rooftop garden for us. We don’t panic because it is a major holiday in Greece and none of the main sights are open so we have a low-key day planned anyway. We get ready quickly and opt for brunch at a funky little place across the street from our hotel, Nea Hydria. We’d seen the menu the night before and it turns out to be our favorite restaurant in Athens. I should relate that it is not a Greek taverna in atmosphere or menu, rather a trendy place serving café and bistro fare.
We order cappuccinos (3,80€ each) while perusing the menu and I’m delighted when they come out with a plate of sugar encrusted vanilla-flavored cookies. I settle on the tomato-egg-cheese-ham crepe (7&euro
and add green peppers for 0,40€ (vegetable extras were 0,40€ and meat extras were 0,80&euro. DH opts for the waffle (7,50&euro. His eyes light up when it comes out topped with mounds of vanilla ice cream and a generous drizzle of strawberry syrup. Fashion TV is the channel of choice on the flat screen television and it feels almost like Paris or Milan as we eat on polished wooden benches with bright throw cushions scattered about, ethereal music playing softly in the background while we’re (ok, mainly me) mesmerized by the noble houses of Coco Chanel, Balenciaga and Giorgio Armani. The servings are large and neither of us can finish our meal. The waiter seems concerned we didn’t like the food we try to assure him in our limited Greek that everything was just perfect. The bill is 22,50€ and we’re out on the streets ready to explore by 1:15pm.
We had canvassed the Roman Forum and Hadrian’s Library (both within a five minute walk from our hotel) the night before so we headed straight to Filopappou Hill. En route, we see families strolling hand-in-hand, the women carrying bright bouquets and wreaths of the boisterous riot of wildflowers blanketing every green space in Greece at this time of year. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that Filopappou Hill is littered with interesting historical sights as we had only found reading material on the well known Monument of Filopappus, the grandiose marble Roman-era monument capping the summit. I was charmed by the engraved marble "historical marker" signs and couldn’t help but draw an unflattering comparison to the ugly brown metal signs we use to mark places of historical interest in our country.
The weather was cool and overcast like the day before but since we were trotting up- and downhill, we didn’t get cold except for when the wind whipped up. The scent of spring was intoxicating and I (deathly afraid of bugs) was happy to see that the hundreds of bumblebees seemed too intent on gorging themselves on pollen to notice me wandering through their fields. There must have been ten multi-generational families out walking for every one fellow tourist we came across and <u>everyone</u> had one of the lovely wildflower wreaths of bouquets. Little girls had simple wreaths in their hair and families lacking a little girl (supposedly Greece is also suffering from a very low birthrate) adorned their dogs in the most interesting ways. Wanting to join in the ritual, I pinned some blousy pink and yellow flowers to my purse… was later a bit dismayed to see how many bees I attracted! Why doesn’t that happen to the locals I wondered…? Perhaps I just picked the wrong flowers, the favorites of the bees, whereas they knew better.
In the midst of our ramble, we came across a section of ancient hollowed out graves labeled “Socrates’ Jail”. I was surprised at the given name since I knew from other Fodors posters (Walter – aka, ParadiseLost and Nikki of the great trip report “Carnival in Greece”) that the real prison site where Socrates drank his court-ordered hemlock poison is in the Ancient Forum. I suppose it has been misidentified for so long that no one wants to update the signage for accuracy at this point.
We wandered all over the hill for several hours, stopping for a break only once when we happened upon a German theater group reading aloud Greek plays from the ancient bema seat (speaker’s platform). Many guidebooks say the best view of the Parthenon and Acropolis Hill is from Filopappou Hill and although I didn’t make it to every vantage point in Athens, I have to agree that the view and photo op from the summit is spectacular. My pictures turned out best when taken from mid-way up the hill between the area marked “Socrates’ Jail” and the Monument of Filopappus. My other valued tip for the visitor… there are 0,50€ clean bathrooms at the intersection where one would turn off left for the Acropolis or turn right for Filopappou Hill. Exact change is needed.
A few drops of rain and the threat of a real shower brought us down off the hill about 4:30pm and despite our intention of heading back to the Plaka and our hotel, we got a bit turned around and ended up circling around the back of the Acropolis. As the rain never materialized, this wasn’t a problem. The area around the Acropolis on the exact opposite side of the Plaka is modern and rather industrial. Having only seen the older areas of Monastiraki, Anafiotika, and the Plaka on the day before, this was a different side of Athens. A veritable sea of reinforced concrete and 1960s-style buildings and very few of the cafes and shops that seem to line every plateia (square) in the old sections of the city.
We did stumble across one café where I had a cappuccino freddo and a large slice of citrus-flavored cake with ice cream and chocolate sauce (Ravani cake I believe?), while DH had a Coke and souvlaki sandwich. The owner spoke a bit of English and was happy to give us lessons in Greek grammar throughout the ordering process. He seemed genuinely shocked when I ordered my cappuccino sans sugar, exclaiming that Americans <u>always</u> take their coffee with sugar. He then uttered the funniest phrase I’ve heard in my travels to date and certainly one that reminds me of the prevalence of American pop music in the non-English speaking world: “I guess you can handle it like Destiny’s Child, eh? Bootylicious can handle it.” DH howled with laughter, turning red and then purple in his attempt not to spew Coke all over me and the rest of the patrons seated within a 3-foot radius. The owner guffawed loudly at his joke and even I, albeit a bit mortified, had to giggle at the translation that had somehow gone oh-so-wrong when this poor man heard that song. The people around us gave up their sidelong glances from behind newspapers and stared with unabashed curiosity. After everyone stopped laughing he asked us where we were planning to go during our vacation and approved every stop. Greeks really know the history of their country and appear to have endless patience in explaining the minute particulars to foreigners. It was inspiring to see such pride in one’s national history. The bill for the refreshment was 11€, the advice and delightful conversation was free. The sugarless cappuccino was strong but delicious and I can only guess I proved myself “bootylicious” enough in handling it!
Having found sustenance, we continued our leisurely Athens stroll around the Acropolis and ended up dumping out very close to Hadrian’s Arch and the Temple of Olympian Zeus. The Temple was closed to the public because of the holiday, but Hadrian’s Arch is only a couple feet from the curb of a very busy road and you can walk all around it. The triumphal arch is in remarkably good condition considering its proximity to the road and consequently the terrible Athens pollution. We tried to make out the famous inscriptions (the side facing the Acropolis says “This is Athens, the ancient city of Theseus” while the other side reads “This is the city of Hadrian and not of Theseus”). Although most of the letters are still clear enough to read from the ground, ancient Greek is a very different language than the conversational Greek in which we had taken lessons so I’ll just have to take the guidebook’s word for it that the translation is correct.
Just up the street from Hadrian’s Arch (toward Syntagma Square) there is a covered area on the sidewalk, underneath which is a partially excavated Roman-era bathhouse. Apparently it was discovered just a few years ago when they tried to sink a ventilation shaft for the metro. Fortunately the powers in charge decided to preserve the site and the ventilation shaft is now about 20 feet away. We turned right into the National Gardens at this point and spent about twenty minutes admiring the fauna, fountains, and NeoClassical buildings (especially the Congress and Exhibition Hall). As if on cue, we saw small groups of elderly men hovering around the backgammon board.
Another five to ten minutes and we arrived at Plateia Syntagma (Constitution Square), home of the Parliament building at the equally famous Grand Bretagne Hotel. I felt a wave of pity for the poor uniformed Parliament guards when tourist after tourist bounded up the steps to pose next to each one for the camera. Most were respectful but a few made obscene gestures or struck profane poses. A more innocent spectacle was that of a young girl, perhaps five-years-old, luring pigeons with birdseed and then attempting to catch one with wildly flailing alligator arms. Since we were there, we decided to stop in the Syntagma metro station to see the mini-museum described in a few of my guidebooks. Wow! The metro station is absolutely beautiful with a fascinating stratigraphy exhibit highlighting the many layers of history unearthed in the building of the metro.
We stopped in McDonalds (I know, I know!) to buy me a 0,50€ cone of ice cream and made our way back to the Plaka via Ermou street (the shopping street of Athens). Not yet tired, we re-canvased the Plaka shops and bought a few olive oil soaps and a couple bottles of wine. I notice that the beautiful wildflower wreaths are now hanging on doors and windows and wrought-iron balconies in the Plaka. The enticing scents wafting out of a bakery brought on a hunger attack, quickly and easily satisfied for under 2€ with a walnut-honey baklava for me and a pistachio-honey baklava for DH. Revived, we did a bit of jewelry shopping at Midas Jewelry (at the end of Adrianou street, close to Hadrian’s Arch). We came back to the hotel around 10:45pm to drop off our purchases and debate the dinner issue – to eat or not to eat? We had filled ourselves on junk food all day long after all ;-) We ended up walking over to O Thanasis around 11:15pm (prime Athenian dinner hour – the place was hopping!). DH got 2 souvlaki sandwiches to go and I got 2 pita breads and a tsatziki sauce. The bill was almost laughable at only 5,20€. We had a lovely picnic in our room looking out the window at the lit-up Acropolis hill.
Reflections on the Day
Spending several hours walking all over a sight considered “lesser” by most guidebooks and then taking a prolonged ramble through the city was a GREAT way to spend a first day in a country we have never visited before. It let us get a real feel for the layout and the locals, and having that one extra day to take it slow before hitting it hard on the main sights was immeasurably helpful in beating jet lag from our long trip and the 9-hour time difference.
So far, I am loving early May. The weather isn’t ideal (yet), but the sights are not overrun by fellow tourists and it’s refreshing to see the local folks enjoying their ancient monuments, churches, and cafés.
(Monday, May 1st)
We wake up to a light-filled hotel room feeling remarkably refreshed and assume we have woken up early since the alarm has not yet gone off. In fact, despite <i>setting</i> the alarm clock the night before in our sleep-deprived haze, we neglected to <i>turn it on</i>. It’s close to 11am so no hotel breakfast in the rooftop garden for us. We don’t panic because it is a major holiday in Greece and none of the main sights are open so we have a low-key day planned anyway. We get ready quickly and opt for brunch at a funky little place across the street from our hotel, Nea Hydria. We’d seen the menu the night before and it turns out to be our favorite restaurant in Athens. I should relate that it is not a Greek taverna in atmosphere or menu, rather a trendy place serving café and bistro fare.
We order cappuccinos (3,80€ each) while perusing the menu and I’m delighted when they come out with a plate of sugar encrusted vanilla-flavored cookies. I settle on the tomato-egg-cheese-ham crepe (7&euro
and add green peppers for 0,40€ (vegetable extras were 0,40€ and meat extras were 0,80&euro. DH opts for the waffle (7,50&euro. His eyes light up when it comes out topped with mounds of vanilla ice cream and a generous drizzle of strawberry syrup. Fashion TV is the channel of choice on the flat screen television and it feels almost like Paris or Milan as we eat on polished wooden benches with bright throw cushions scattered about, ethereal music playing softly in the background while we’re (ok, mainly me) mesmerized by the noble houses of Coco Chanel, Balenciaga and Giorgio Armani. The servings are large and neither of us can finish our meal. The waiter seems concerned we didn’t like the food we try to assure him in our limited Greek that everything was just perfect. The bill is 22,50€ and we’re out on the streets ready to explore by 1:15pm. We had canvassed the Roman Forum and Hadrian’s Library (both within a five minute walk from our hotel) the night before so we headed straight to Filopappou Hill. En route, we see families strolling hand-in-hand, the women carrying bright bouquets and wreaths of the boisterous riot of wildflowers blanketing every green space in Greece at this time of year. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that Filopappou Hill is littered with interesting historical sights as we had only found reading material on the well known Monument of Filopappus, the grandiose marble Roman-era monument capping the summit. I was charmed by the engraved marble "historical marker" signs and couldn’t help but draw an unflattering comparison to the ugly brown metal signs we use to mark places of historical interest in our country.
The weather was cool and overcast like the day before but since we were trotting up- and downhill, we didn’t get cold except for when the wind whipped up. The scent of spring was intoxicating and I (deathly afraid of bugs) was happy to see that the hundreds of bumblebees seemed too intent on gorging themselves on pollen to notice me wandering through their fields. There must have been ten multi-generational families out walking for every one fellow tourist we came across and <u>everyone</u> had one of the lovely wildflower wreaths of bouquets. Little girls had simple wreaths in their hair and families lacking a little girl (supposedly Greece is also suffering from a very low birthrate) adorned their dogs in the most interesting ways. Wanting to join in the ritual, I pinned some blousy pink and yellow flowers to my purse… was later a bit dismayed to see how many bees I attracted! Why doesn’t that happen to the locals I wondered…? Perhaps I just picked the wrong flowers, the favorites of the bees, whereas they knew better.
In the midst of our ramble, we came across a section of ancient hollowed out graves labeled “Socrates’ Jail”. I was surprised at the given name since I knew from other Fodors posters (Walter – aka, ParadiseLost and Nikki of the great trip report “Carnival in Greece”) that the real prison site where Socrates drank his court-ordered hemlock poison is in the Ancient Forum. I suppose it has been misidentified for so long that no one wants to update the signage for accuracy at this point.
We wandered all over the hill for several hours, stopping for a break only once when we happened upon a German theater group reading aloud Greek plays from the ancient bema seat (speaker’s platform). Many guidebooks say the best view of the Parthenon and Acropolis Hill is from Filopappou Hill and although I didn’t make it to every vantage point in Athens, I have to agree that the view and photo op from the summit is spectacular. My pictures turned out best when taken from mid-way up the hill between the area marked “Socrates’ Jail” and the Monument of Filopappus. My other valued tip for the visitor… there are 0,50€ clean bathrooms at the intersection where one would turn off left for the Acropolis or turn right for Filopappou Hill. Exact change is needed.
A few drops of rain and the threat of a real shower brought us down off the hill about 4:30pm and despite our intention of heading back to the Plaka and our hotel, we got a bit turned around and ended up circling around the back of the Acropolis. As the rain never materialized, this wasn’t a problem. The area around the Acropolis on the exact opposite side of the Plaka is modern and rather industrial. Having only seen the older areas of Monastiraki, Anafiotika, and the Plaka on the day before, this was a different side of Athens. A veritable sea of reinforced concrete and 1960s-style buildings and very few of the cafes and shops that seem to line every plateia (square) in the old sections of the city.
We did stumble across one café where I had a cappuccino freddo and a large slice of citrus-flavored cake with ice cream and chocolate sauce (Ravani cake I believe?), while DH had a Coke and souvlaki sandwich. The owner spoke a bit of English and was happy to give us lessons in Greek grammar throughout the ordering process. He seemed genuinely shocked when I ordered my cappuccino sans sugar, exclaiming that Americans <u>always</u> take their coffee with sugar. He then uttered the funniest phrase I’ve heard in my travels to date and certainly one that reminds me of the prevalence of American pop music in the non-English speaking world: “I guess you can handle it like Destiny’s Child, eh? Bootylicious can handle it.” DH howled with laughter, turning red and then purple in his attempt not to spew Coke all over me and the rest of the patrons seated within a 3-foot radius. The owner guffawed loudly at his joke and even I, albeit a bit mortified, had to giggle at the translation that had somehow gone oh-so-wrong when this poor man heard that song. The people around us gave up their sidelong glances from behind newspapers and stared with unabashed curiosity. After everyone stopped laughing he asked us where we were planning to go during our vacation and approved every stop. Greeks really know the history of their country and appear to have endless patience in explaining the minute particulars to foreigners. It was inspiring to see such pride in one’s national history. The bill for the refreshment was 11€, the advice and delightful conversation was free. The sugarless cappuccino was strong but delicious and I can only guess I proved myself “bootylicious” enough in handling it!
Having found sustenance, we continued our leisurely Athens stroll around the Acropolis and ended up dumping out very close to Hadrian’s Arch and the Temple of Olympian Zeus. The Temple was closed to the public because of the holiday, but Hadrian’s Arch is only a couple feet from the curb of a very busy road and you can walk all around it. The triumphal arch is in remarkably good condition considering its proximity to the road and consequently the terrible Athens pollution. We tried to make out the famous inscriptions (the side facing the Acropolis says “This is Athens, the ancient city of Theseus” while the other side reads “This is the city of Hadrian and not of Theseus”). Although most of the letters are still clear enough to read from the ground, ancient Greek is a very different language than the conversational Greek in which we had taken lessons so I’ll just have to take the guidebook’s word for it that the translation is correct.
Just up the street from Hadrian’s Arch (toward Syntagma Square) there is a covered area on the sidewalk, underneath which is a partially excavated Roman-era bathhouse. Apparently it was discovered just a few years ago when they tried to sink a ventilation shaft for the metro. Fortunately the powers in charge decided to preserve the site and the ventilation shaft is now about 20 feet away. We turned right into the National Gardens at this point and spent about twenty minutes admiring the fauna, fountains, and NeoClassical buildings (especially the Congress and Exhibition Hall). As if on cue, we saw small groups of elderly men hovering around the backgammon board.
Another five to ten minutes and we arrived at Plateia Syntagma (Constitution Square), home of the Parliament building at the equally famous Grand Bretagne Hotel. I felt a wave of pity for the poor uniformed Parliament guards when tourist after tourist bounded up the steps to pose next to each one for the camera. Most were respectful but a few made obscene gestures or struck profane poses. A more innocent spectacle was that of a young girl, perhaps five-years-old, luring pigeons with birdseed and then attempting to catch one with wildly flailing alligator arms. Since we were there, we decided to stop in the Syntagma metro station to see the mini-museum described in a few of my guidebooks. Wow! The metro station is absolutely beautiful with a fascinating stratigraphy exhibit highlighting the many layers of history unearthed in the building of the metro.
We stopped in McDonalds (I know, I know!) to buy me a 0,50€ cone of ice cream and made our way back to the Plaka via Ermou street (the shopping street of Athens). Not yet tired, we re-canvased the Plaka shops and bought a few olive oil soaps and a couple bottles of wine. I notice that the beautiful wildflower wreaths are now hanging on doors and windows and wrought-iron balconies in the Plaka. The enticing scents wafting out of a bakery brought on a hunger attack, quickly and easily satisfied for under 2€ with a walnut-honey baklava for me and a pistachio-honey baklava for DH. Revived, we did a bit of jewelry shopping at Midas Jewelry (at the end of Adrianou street, close to Hadrian’s Arch). We came back to the hotel around 10:45pm to drop off our purchases and debate the dinner issue – to eat or not to eat? We had filled ourselves on junk food all day long after all ;-) We ended up walking over to O Thanasis around 11:15pm (prime Athenian dinner hour – the place was hopping!). DH got 2 souvlaki sandwiches to go and I got 2 pita breads and a tsatziki sauce. The bill was almost laughable at only 5,20€. We had a lovely picnic in our room looking out the window at the lit-up Acropolis hill.
Reflections on the Day
Spending several hours walking all over a sight considered “lesser” by most guidebooks and then taking a prolonged ramble through the city was a GREAT way to spend a first day in a country we have never visited before. It let us get a real feel for the layout and the locals, and having that one extra day to take it slow before hitting it hard on the main sights was immeasurably helpful in beating jet lag from our long trip and the 9-hour time difference.
So far, I am loving early May. The weather isn’t ideal (yet), but the sights are not overrun by fellow tourists and it’s refreshing to see the local folks enjoying their ancient monuments, churches, and cafés.
May 22nd, 2006, 02:35 PM
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Hi socaltraveler,
Yes the Texas Ladies were great. Once tipsy, they discussed the torrid affairs and impending divorces of several of their mutual friends at the top of their lungs. It was a real hoot. Obviously very well moneyed (and married to men at least 15 years older), I couldn't figure out how they ended up in Economy until one of them mentioned how they'd have to get the travel agent to book their trips earlier next year so they got their normal first class seats.
Yes the Texas Ladies were great. Once tipsy, they discussed the torrid affairs and impending divorces of several of their mutual friends at the top of their lungs. It was a real hoot. Obviously very well moneyed (and married to men at least 15 years older), I couldn't figure out how they ended up in Economy until one of them mentioned how they'd have to get the travel agent to book their trips earlier next year so they got their normal first class seats.
May 22nd, 2006, 02:52 PM
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TexasAggie-
I'm loving your report, especially after reading the "Bootylicious" comment.
As I mentioned, I'm leaving Friday for Greece. I'm sure I'll be peppering you with a ton of questions, but I noted that you mentioned you had taken lessons in conversational Greek. To be honest, I'm having the darndest time getting myself wrapped around even the most basic and common Greek phrases/words.
I had read that I shouldn't have much of a problem (at least in the tourist popular spots in Athens). Did you find this to be true?
I'm loving your report, especially after reading the "Bootylicious" comment.
As I mentioned, I'm leaving Friday for Greece. I'm sure I'll be peppering you with a ton of questions, but I noted that you mentioned you had taken lessons in conversational Greek. To be honest, I'm having the darndest time getting myself wrapped around even the most basic and common Greek phrases/words.
I had read that I shouldn't have much of a problem (at least in the tourist popular spots in Athens). Did you find this to be true?
May 22nd, 2006, 03:08 PM
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Hi chepar,
I hope you have a GREAT trip! I really lost my heart to Greece, it's a wonderful country.
Just about everyone in Athens (especially anyone remotely connected to the tourist trade so that encompasses museum/site workers, hotel staff, restaurant staff, retail shop staff, metro staff, etc.) speaks at least some English, definitely enough to have a basic conversation and make sure you are served efficiently and in a polite manner.
Once we left Athens and ventured out into the mainland it really varied. The hotel workers and restaurant owners usually spoke a little English but almost no one else did. You'll be amazed at how useful sign language and a smile become
There will be more on this later but when we were there, German-speaking tourists outnumbered English-speaking tourists three-to-one easily. We watched the shopkeepers interact and they would speak a few German pleasantries and then switch to English. As most Germans also speak some English they got their points across with no problems. I guess English has become kind of the universal tourist language?
I hope you have a GREAT trip! I really lost my heart to Greece, it's a wonderful country.
Just about everyone in Athens (especially anyone remotely connected to the tourist trade so that encompasses museum/site workers, hotel staff, restaurant staff, retail shop staff, metro staff, etc.) speaks at least some English, definitely enough to have a basic conversation and make sure you are served efficiently and in a polite manner.
Once we left Athens and ventured out into the mainland it really varied. The hotel workers and restaurant owners usually spoke a little English but almost no one else did. You'll be amazed at how useful sign language and a smile become
There will be more on this later but when we were there, German-speaking tourists outnumbered English-speaking tourists three-to-one easily. We watched the shopkeepers interact and they would speak a few German pleasantries and then switch to English. As most Germans also speak some English they got their points across with no problems. I guess English has become kind of the universal tourist language?
May 22nd, 2006, 07:31 PM
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I love hearing about Greece - out of curiousity (and I hope you don't mind me asking), was the Swiss Air portion part of the AAdvantage award ticket? had you booked it so long ago that the Swiss Air portion was part of the award ticket but if you tried to book now it wouldn't be? (It's my understanding that Swiss Air is no longer an AAdvantage partner, or is that incorrect?) Thanks and keep up the great writing...
May 23rd, 2006, 08:11 AM
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Hi dorkforcemom,
I'm also really enjoying your fabulous trip report!
The Swiss Air portion of our flight was booked using AA Advantage miles. Since we were off-season, we flew from Denver-Athens roundtrip for only 40,000 miles each. We booked last August. From what I've been hearing from AA, the partnership ends October of this year so I guess we'll have to work out something else for future Awards flights.
I'm also really enjoying your fabulous trip report!
The Swiss Air portion of our flight was booked using AA Advantage miles. Since we were off-season, we flew from Denver-Athens roundtrip for only 40,000 miles each. We booked last August. From what I've been hearing from AA, the partnership ends October of this year so I guess we'll have to work out something else for future Awards flights.
May 23rd, 2006, 01:58 PM
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TexasAggie, I am loving your trip report! Athens sounds fabulous. There seems to be lots of mixed reactions on the city itself, so I'm curious as to what you thought of it?
DH and I just settled on our vacation plans for next year, and are planning on using our miles to go to Southeast Asia for our larger vacation next year (like you, we usually take two a year, and the first one will be Ireland in February) but we were torn between SE Asia and Greece before we made that decision. Reading your report makes me think that maybe we should bring Greece back into the picture!
I can't wait for the rest!
Tracy
DH and I just settled on our vacation plans for next year, and are planning on using our miles to go to Southeast Asia for our larger vacation next year (like you, we usually take two a year, and the first one will be Ireland in February) but we were torn between SE Asia and Greece before we made that decision. Reading your report makes me think that maybe we should bring Greece back into the picture!
I can't wait for the rest!
Tracy
Jun 3rd, 2006, 05:09 AM
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Greetings TexasAggie,
I love reading your trip reports! and hope to put to use later this year some of the information you provide from your Italy trip. You managed to take this reader along for the ride so this morning while drinking my coffee I feel as though I visited Italy and Greece! Any idea where you'll go in 2007??
I love reading your trip reports! and hope to put to use later this year some of the information you provide from your Italy trip. You managed to take this reader along for the ride so this morning while drinking my coffee I feel as though I visited Italy and Greece! Any idea where you'll go in 2007??
