I took a ferry to the nearest of the Greek islands on a whim. From what I’ve heard, it’s much more important to buy tickets in advance during the summer, but I was able to walk up and board a ferry within half an hour.
There was more of the island that I didn’t see, but since I didn’t rent transportation, I mostly stuck to the little port town. Unlike Athens, which typically labelled street signs with both Greek and English, all the signage was completely in Greek, and I didn’t have a map. It worked out – I was only there for the afternoon, and I spent most of it at the archaeological site/park, happily sun burning my nose.
People live on Aegina year-round – 13,000 of them, according to the internet – and I find it baffling. What do they do? The island isn’t even twelve miles at its longest point. I don’t even know if there’s a bookstore….
Maybe, like me two weeks ago, you have no idea of what Athens actually looks like. Sure, there’s the Acropolis, but what’s it like to be walking around on the ground? Does everyone where chitons and sandals? Or do they burst into ABBA songs to narrate their lives?
Neither, actually. Athens is very much a big European city, with plenty of modern conveniences. The Acropolis even had free wifi. The area to the north of the Acropolis is notably older (Monastiraki and Plaka neighborhoods), and many of the streets there are foot-traffic only. There are orange trees all over the city, and everywhere smelled of olive trees.
Most of the interactions I had with Greek-speakers started with the Greek-speaker addressing me in Greek, and me hopefully asking, “English?” Unlike when I traveled in France and Spain, I actually enjoyed not knowing any of the language or culture because I was paradoxically less worried about getting it wrong, and was obviously a helpless tourist who couldn’t even read the signage. A few days in, I identified “hello” (“yassas”), and started to greet people with “Yassas, hello,” just to identify myself as someone who doesn’t speak any Greek at all but wants to be polite. I also learned to read a bit of Greek (although I still didn’t know what it meant) from studying names on the metro.
I stayed in an Airbnb right next to a 24-hour bakery/café, and by the end of my first twenty-four hours in Athens, the staff recognized me and started to say “See you tomorrow.” No regrets.
Monastiraki SquareA restaurant with 3-euro gyrosThe metroI ate a lot of gyros and souvlaki.Greek salad at this particular restaurant included neither lettuce nor olives.
Lycabettus Hill
North and east of the Acropolis. The paper map I got of Athens at the airport did not adequately communicate the enormity of this hill. It shows up in the background of almost any picture of the Acropolis taken facing northeast, such as in the first two pictures.
View from Philopapou HillView from the AcropolisHoly Church of Saint George
Philopapou Hill/Filopappou Hill
South and west of the Acropolis. Although less tall than Lycabettus Hill, Philopapou is essentially an enormous park. I visited on four separate days for at least five separate encounters, and I saw new territory every time. Don’t go in without a map and extra food and water in case you end up spending the night. Socrates’ prison is here, although I must have walked around it every time I was in the park because I don’t think I saw it.
Cimon’s TombPhilopapous monument at the south east point
Clean Monday
Kites on Clean Monday. Analogous to Ash Wednesday, Greeks take their families to the park with kites and a picnic. The kites represent the soul reaching for the divine. https://www.athensinsider.com/best-clean-monday-kite-flying/
National Gardens
Located east and south of the Parliament building.
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
This was the second time I went by the tomb. The first time, there was a protest around Syntagma Square and onto the tomb grounds (since it’s in front of the Parliament building), complete with police and riot shields, and taking pictures seemed like a bad idea.
Souvenirs and such
Athens is a city that’s geared for tourism. According to worlddata.info, Athens received over six million visitors in 2019.
During the afternoon, shop owners in less busy areas often relaxed outside, drinking coffee or chatting with locals until someone walked up. Some shops closed for the afternoon siesta, and were often open late into the evening.
Many of the shops sell the same souvenirs, as though everyone buys in bulk from the same distributor. Jewelry, keychains, hats, t-shirts, figurines, magnets, patches, cups, shot glasses, everything you would expect to see in a city with tourism at its (literal) center. A few of the Greece-specific themes were replicas of ancient statues, owls (a symbol of Athena), and wards against the evil eye.
A parting gift from Aegean Airlines, which I am not wearing. Bring on that spring sunlight.
Possibly the very best thing about traveling to Athens at the end of February is that it was warm enough to be outside every day in jeans and a t-shirt. Coming from New Hampshire, the sunshine was especially welcome, but I can’t imagine being there when it’s any warmer. Most of the interesting things are on hills, and I worked up a sweat even at 65 degrees.
The other great part about going to Athens in February is that the crowds are comparatively negligible. There are still plenty of people to go around, particularly on the weekends and in the touristy neighborhoods like Monastiraki, but there are almost no lines to enter historic sites, and it’s possible to find some peace and quiet. A lot of the ancient sites, for example, are essentially large parks with ruins. Even though they’re active archaeological sites, tourists can wander in and around and over much of the ancient stone architecture and monuments. I don’t know how individual Greek citizens feel about tourists, but it’s nice of the country to share their history with all of us.
I wonder whether there’s an understanding among Greek people that there’s probably centuries of history lying undiscovered, but there’s the small problem of a living city sitting on top of it.
I bought a multi-site pass at the Acropolis for 30 euros, which allowed entry to seven historical sites during five days. Definitely reasonable; the only catch was that during the off season, many of the ticketed sites close at 3pm. I didn’t make it to all of the sites in the five days (I missed Aristotle’s Lyceum and the Temple of Zeus), but the pass was well worth it. This post includes the five sites that I saw: The Acropolis, the ancient Agora, the Roman Agora, Hadrian’s Library, and Keramikos.
I have to confess to being a terrible reader of signage. I’m sure there was a lot of interesting information about the hows and the whys and the whens of these places, but I glazed over tryin to read it. That’s why the internet exists, isn’t it?
Acropolis and the Parthenon
One of the strangest juxtapositions at the Acropolis was watching tourists prop their phones on thousands-of-years-old architecture to take selfies.
Fun fact about the Parthenon: the lines aren’t straight and the surfaces aren’t flat. The architects wanted to create the appearance of perfection rather than technical perfection (a philosophically interesting idea), so they used curves and tilts to counter what the eye actually sees (per this site here).
Replica caryatids on the ErechtheionView of Lycabettus HIllFrom Philopapou HillFrom Philopapou Hill
Ancient Agora
This might have been my favorite of the ancient sites. The Agora contained a large park with plenty of interesting artifacts, and also cats. I spent plenty of time casually strolling among the olive trees and soaking up the sunshine. After winter in New England, spring is such a hopeful season.
This site comes with a museum included in the entry fee, but I missed it because I showed up right as they were closing.
Temple of Hephaestus
Church of the Apostles
Roman Agora
Tower of the Winds, possibly a clocktower and/or ancient meteorological station
Hadrian’s Library
Keramikos
Both the potters’ quarter and a cemetery. I’m not sure if those were simultaneously or not. At one point, a mass grave was discovered, which might have been due to plague.
But now I want to know: Where do the dead people found during excavations go?
Have you ever noticed that there aren’t very many chairs in museums? Certainly not in useful places; benches tend to be stuck way off in the corner, so as not to impede the view, but that means that if you want to really study a piece, you have to stand for a long time.
I had thought I would do a lot more drawing while in Greece than I actually did, which I blame on the lack of opportune chairs in museums. In my head, I was going to do drawing studies of sculptures. If I were less self-conscious, I would bring a folding chair with me to museums and pop it open every time I saw something I wanted to really look at.
While wandering around the museums full of shards of sculptures and ceramics meticulously stuck back together, it occurred to me that people have found a lot of stuff from ancient history, and somehow, they know a lot about it. Several museums had displays such as pediments with only a few surviving pieces, like a hand, a leg, half a horse, and a torso – but they were arranged where they were originally placed on the pediment, sometimes with an accompanying illustration of the finished piece. And I wondered, how do they know? For that matter, when someone digs up a bronze sculpture of a man poised to throw something which is no longer there, how do we narrow down that it’s definitely either Zeus or Poseidon, and not a random dude throwing a spear?
I’m sure there’s a method. Maybe there’s even a documentary.
Acropolis Museum
The museum entrance is structured so that guests can view the archaeological sites below.Owls are a symbol of Athena.Herakles wrestling a triton.KoraiNike, although I couldn’t tell you why.The original caryatids from the Erechtheion, housed indoors for preservation. The sixth is at the British Museum.
Raiment of the Soul
This was a temporary exhibit at the Acropolis Museum by the artists Vangelis Kyris and Anatoli Georgiev. The two created large-scale portraits of contemporary Greeks wearing actual costumes from Greek history. Kyris photographed the models, the images were printed on cotton, and Georgiev then embroidered details onto the fabric print. (Interesting links after the gallery)
THIS WAS THE COOLEST THING EVER. I love the mixed media and mixed genre of the gallery. It wasn’t just a mashup of photography, textiles, and fashion, but also of art, history, culture, and contemporary times. It combined ideas and genres, broke a few, and created an exhibition which is a both familiar and foreign.
Major props to the models, by the way, for appearing serene, mysterious, and regal while probably feeling ridiculous. I can’t imagine it would be easy to appear composed while wearing a lace doily on your head, or swishing tassels around your face.
More info and better pictures:
https://gallerykourd.gr/artists/vangelis-kyris-anatoli-georgiev/ (this has very good pictures please go look at them)
Sadly, I wasn’t here very long because I wasn’t feeling great that day. I wanted to spend more time looking at the human sculptures, but alas, my mortal body failed my immortal soul. I spent some time browsing their digital collection here instead. They have a sarcophagus.
Archaeological site of Aegina
Keramikos
Historically, the potters’ quarter and also a cemetery. I’m not quite sure why those two things overlapped. The museum was square with a center courtyard, so the evolution of Greek ceramic styles progressed around the building. I kept the pictures in chronological order, but I neglected to write down the names of the time periods. Journalistic reporter I am not.
This was also where I decided that I want a pottery class/history class hybrid which teaches not only what and why, but how to make pottery in ancient Greek style.
Grave stele of two sistersNote the warm light on the yellow-toned statue, placed against a purple background. Well played, museum people. (Also this is called a kouros. The female versions, korai, were more common.)Sphinx!Sphinx again!
Fun fact about Greece: there are cats everywhere. I wouldn’t say that’s why I decided to go to Athens, but it certainly was a factor. Disappointingly, most of the cats weren’t interested in being best friends. I only got scratched once.
Most often, the cats hung out in the older spaces of the city, lounging around the ruins of the Agora and plonking down on bits of Hadrian’s library which had been set aside for renovation.
When I ask the shop owner if this was her cat, she said no, it’s a neighborhood cat.
