Monday, January 07, 2008

Greece

Greece! Todd and I agree that this New Year was probably the best that we have had in a long time. Todd and I spent our first New Year together 4 years ago in his home town. We met friends of his in nearby Pittsburgh but ended up in the car when the clock hit midnight. On another occasion we went to a small night club with one of my Japanese friends where Todd got propositioned by a pimp to dance with some Japanese girls. We just don't seem to be the people who have crazy fun New Year celebrations. So we tried something different this year, travel.

We left Moscow on the 30th of December and after only a 3 hour flight found ourselves in Athens, Greece. The temperature was much warmer (at about 10 degrees Celsius) than Moscow and as we sat on the station platform waiting to be taken to the city, we marveled at how great the sunny skies and breeze felt. We were excited.


Our first stop was Larissa Station where we would find our hotel, Neos Olympos. The funny thing about Greece, at least in Athens, is that everyone speaks English! So unlike Moscow, where you usually get greeted with a frown if you must resort to English, Greek people smile and speak to you in English. I must say it was a welcomed change. I am so lucky that my language became the international one! At our hotel it was funny to hear everyone, from Chinese people to German people all speaking English. One of our hotel managers complimented my English and asked if I were German. I laughed and said I was American and he said, "well that explains it."

Our hotel room at Neo Olypmpos.


Next we set out to see the sights. We, of course, headed straight for the metro. Since the Olympic games were held in Athens in 2004, everything was shiny and efficient. The metro is quite small compared with what we are used to. We had to wait quite a bit, only to find out that Athens was much smaller than we expected. We could have walked many places! The best stuff to see in the city is centrally located, so we had no problems wandering around on the first day without a travel book or guide and bumping into ruins at every turn. The atmosphere was really relaxed and because it was off season, we didn't feel rushed or harassed as usual in touristy areas.


So for the next four days we went around seeing the sights and eating as many gyros as was humanly possible (so delicious! hmmmm!). It seems that they were prepared for us because we bought a ticket for five of the most famous things in Athens and then easily went on our way. We saw the acropolis, which is a huge rock in the middle of the city, where the ancient Greeks built temples to the gods. The most impressive structure is the Parthenon, built for the goddess Athena. The view from the top was really impressive, you could see the whole city. Then we wondered through the ruins and down the hill to the Temples of Hephaestus, the god of metal working. We also went to the National Archaeological Museum and saw some cool stuff. The best part of the museum was actually before we entered it. I was eating a muffin and when I threw the scraps to the pigeons I got chased and almost mauled by them. So hilarious, I did it twice! Then we visited the ancient cemetery called Keramikos and the temple of Zeus.

Todd indulging in yet another delicious gyro!


A view of Athens as we climb to the acropolis


The temple of Hephaestus in the background.

The temple of Zeus in the middle of Athens.
One of the things Todd wanted to see the most was the temple to Poseidon built at Cape Sounion. So we took a two hour bus to the temple. It was totally worth it. We got to wonder down the coast and see the Aegean Sea. It was really beautiful.

The temple of Poseidon.


Then for one night we went to the town of Delphi. It was in the mountains, quite a change from the city. Delphi was where the oracle of Apollo sat and told politicians or generals prophecies. It is believed that she gave her predictions while drugged by the natural gases in the mountain. When the Romans took over managing Athens, the city fell into disrepair because no one needed to ask the oracle anything. The Romans took a lot of things back to Rome but when it was excavated in the 1800s, there was still a lot of stuff left. The view from the mountains was breath taking and the small town was super cute. The only complaint we had was our hotel. we paid twice as much as in Athens but it wasn't as nice. Also, a word of warning. There are some goats and sheep that you will want to get a closer look at, just use caution. The cactus grass is deadly. Todd and I were playing on the side of this mountain and I fell, something the oracle probably would have predicted, and I got cactus spikes stuff all over me! Ouch!


The mountains at Delphi.


Goats on the mountains of Delphi.


Todd at Delphi.






Finally Todd and returned to Athens and spent and a day and half just chilling. I made a trip to H&M which was lovely and we bought the necessary souvenirs.

It was a nice break from work, Moscow, and routine.