The Parthenon, Athens, Greece

The big news in Greece this summer has been the arrest of November 17 members. November 17 is the terrorist organization that has periodically bombed buildings and assassinated prominent people in Greece since the 1970’s. But walking through the National Gardens the next day, the big discussion was soccer or podosfero as they call it.  I bought Andrea and Mike shirts with the names of two soccer players on them. The name on Mike’s shirt, Nicolaides, always elicits comments from people. Supposedly, he is one of their best players.

We also saw the Temple of Zeus in daylight. It is just as imposing in the sun as it is under the moon. Walking back, I saw an elderly woman riding a motorcycle (which are very popular here) and she lay on her horn because the traffic cop didn’t change the lights soon enough.

We passed the evzones again. This time they put on a show. Four people posed for pictures with one of them and he banged his rifle butt into the ground. His supervisor came out of his “hut” and glared at the public. Then, he told the people in Greek that only two people could pose with an evzone at a time. I translated for them.  Another woman sat on the steps and the other soldier banged his rifle butt and brought out the supervisor.  The poor woman jumped out of her skin when the evzone did that.  The supervisor informed her that no one could sit on the steps, either. Then Andrea posed in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and he gestured to her to leave.

“Is it forbidden?” Ι asked.

“Forbidden!”  He answered.

This time we were in time for the full changing of the guard ceremony. They walk like marionettes and the ceremony is short. They do, however, stop in front of the Tomb and pay respects.  The soldiers were the fustanella, or short skirt, of the soldiers from the War of Independence. They wear tights, shoes that curl up at the toe and are decorated with a pompom, and long caps with tassels. Their supervisor wears pants, a shirt, and a beret.

Once in a while, he would come out of his hut and wipe the sweat off of their faces or look them right in the face and speak in low tones. I’d love to know what he told them. Something like, “Get ready to change positions.”

Later, we went to Cape Sounion and the Temple of Posideion.   We drove in a different direction than we did yesterday. We passed the suburbs of Athens, like Glyfada and Voula, etc. lots of boats, and beautiful beaches (very few topless, etc., but I did see one guy’s butt) and new homes.  Many of them are left incomplete because the owners ran out of money, or were built illegally or something like that.

The view from Cape Sounion is breathtaking and worth the trip with or without the Temple. Lord Byron wrote his name somewhere on the temple but I couldn’t find it. The bay and the boats and the village across the bay are very picturesque. I can appreciate Byron going there to write poetry (and graffiti), reflect and get away from it all.

In the evening we decided to walk up Mount Lycabettus which is above the neighborhood of Kolonaki. Kolonaki is not far from our hotel room. I didn’t know that it is a hilly neighborhood. There are steps that serve for sidewalks just like in Pittsburgh. Well, we climbed those steps looking for a trolley or lift of some kind that would take us up part of the way. Well, we never found it. So we kept on climbing until we reached the first of two cafes.

“Is there a vehicular that will take us up?” Mike asked.

“No,” the waitress answered.

So we kept climbing and climbing and climbing until, two thousand feet later, we reached the top. We didn’t see too many people on the way but when we arrived, we saw lots of people. They were all waiting for the sun to set. We went into the little church and lit candles, etc. and then waited with everyone else. The sun was an intense red orange and it produced rays that radiated toward the sky. As time went by, it grew larger and larger and redder and redder. It finally set behind a horizon of clouds. He took several shots of the view. Hope they come out.

We also ate dinner in the outdoor restaurant half way down the hill. I’ve never had bad food to eat in Greece but this time we had slow service. We also had visitors. Every stray cat in Kolonaki was there begging for scraps.

On our way up, we passed a woman who was sitting on her porch, talking on her phone.  On the way back, she was still there, chatting away.

PS I forgot to say that the view from Mount Lycabettus was awesome like so many of the other views. You see all of Athens and probably part of Piraeus (if I knew what to look for when I looked towards that port city). The Acropolis is spectacular lit up at night and so is the Temple of Zeus.

The Parthenon is spectacular in 96 degree heat as well as in the evening. Of course, it involves another climb up another hill, the famous Acropolis, but by now, we were used to it. Experts are currently working on the ruins and there is scaffolding everywhere including the Parthenon. I understand that this work is being done because pollution is eroding the marble not because the monuments are falling. (Someone else might know more than I.)

It is one of the Seven Wonders of the World (depending on the list and the year the list was published). That fact alone gave me more chills but I am always astounded that I am walking where Pericles, Plato, and others once walked. One can see far and wide. I enjoyed the museum of artifacts there, too. Mike and Andrea left the museum before I did and in the interim, Andrea ran into two of her camp counselors from Camp Nazareth (a camp run by the Archdiocese here in the Pittsburgh area)!  They took pictures to mark the occasion.

On our way down we ran into our friends and koumbari who are here for a wedding (to which we were also invited).  I had called another friend that morning and she told me I would run into them. I didn’t think so because the Acropolis was so crowded.  It was fun to see them even though I was going to see them that evening anyway.

On our way out, we stopped at an outdoor restaurant in Monastiraki and walked over to the Agora and archeological museum.  I pointed out an olive tree to Mike. The olives are green and not yet ripe for picking.  I barely touched them when a guard shouted to me not to handle the olives. Ooops. These trees are probably harvested in the fall like all the other olive trees in Greece.

Museum guards and others are very strict about the rules and regulations. In Rhodes I stepped on a footing so I could see through a bay window and the guard there also yelled at me. (The breeze was worth it.)

We walked around Monastiraki and looked at the flea market there. The objects for sale are much like the stuff I would find in a flea market in the US with

a few exceptions here and there.  I did see two large Karagiozi (shadow puppets) but I decided not to even think about buying them. Where would I put them back home?  I guess I would find a place.

Well, we lost our way back to the Plaka.  We took the Metro as far as the foot of the Acropolis just to see what it was like to ride it.  We had another long walk (and I mean long) but we finally found the Metro station. The Metro is very new and very clean and there are absolutely no vendors in any of the ones I saw. There are police who patrol them and are very helpful if you have questions.

On the way to the Metro, we saw new townhouses that had recently been constructed. They were gorgeous and looked like they were made of marble. I don’t know what they were really made of.  They were right next to the Acropolis.  What a sight, especially in the evening.

We found our friends in the taverna in Vouliagmeni that night. The family of the groom hosted the event and there was plenty to eat including kokoretsi. The kids enjoyed looking at the pig and lamb that were turning on the spit. Andrea and the other kids had a lot of fun together and practiced speaking Greek. I don’t know how many times I had to confirm the meaning of some very simple Greek words and terms to them but I hope they still remember them.  It was a late night but fun to be with friends.