Santorini: Drivin' Fool

Self-discovery:  having a private room, with a private balcony overlooking they sea, may be very awesome in terms of awesomeness, but is not very awesome in terms on getting one's ass out of bed at a reasonable hour.  Especially when one has a slight cold.

Once again on Santorini, I slept late.  I puttered, I uploaded photos onto Facebook, I had breakfast at noonish.  In the early afternoon I decided to get the bus to Oia, a town/village up at the north end of the island that is supposed to be one of the most beautiful places on Santorini.

I went up to the main road, sat at the bus stop and waited.  And waited.  Eventually I decided I must have missed it; that it must have come earlier than expected.  I went back to my room, then sat outside again waiting for the bus, giving myself a giant time window should it be early.  I waited.  And waited.  And waited.

And then I went back into Villa Manos and had Poppy order me a car, because this shit was ridiculous.

So that's how I got my rental car on Santorini for 25 hours, and it ranks up there with parasailing in worthwhile extravagances.  All in all, my late start, the bus stupidity, and waiting for my car to arrive on Greek Time cut into a very significant portion of my day.  But what the hell.  I had a car.

I drove north to Oia.  I was a little nervous about pealing off into the wild blue Greek yonder with what has to be the World's Least Useful Map, but Poppy assured me it was impossible to get lost on Santorini.  And true, I did make it to the northern tip in plenty of time to see the sunset which was what I had come for.  I drove all the way down to the teeny-tiny port settlement of Ammoudi, which seemed to be about three houses, two closed restaurants, and one boat.  And a souvenir shop, also closed.  Santorinians must freaking hate winter.

Ammoudi

 

I got a few good sunset shots, then drove back up into Oia to look around, buy more gifts, and hopefully find somewhere to both eat and pee.  Oia made Fira look crowded, but it still was not quite as desolate as Kamari.  I walked around for a while; the entire tourist population of this gorgeously beautiful town seemed to consist of me and a group of about five Chinese couples.  I found a couple shops that were open, but the one or two open restaurants were either too expensive or just didn't look right.  Oia is unquestionably the prettiest town on Santorini though.  When I come back, I will get stay here I think.

As I continued exploring it passed on into full dark.  I began to worry about dogs, and also about my bladder.  I have a feeling that dogs would not even be a tiny problem during high season, when the streets of every Santorini town and village are filled to bursting.  Unfortunately I was visiting a very different, deserted Santorini, where I wouldn't see another human even on the streets of town for long minutes at a stretch.  My heels were hurting, I was hungry, it was dark, and I was about to have a gigantic embarrassing accident if I didn't find a toilet soon.

The tiny cafe I did find, eventually, did most gloriously have a toilet, but it was nothing special.  I decided to just get a small kebab here and go out for my real dinner later in the evening.  I headed back to Villa Manos, where once again I engaged in the indefatigable vacation pastime of The Nap.

After I woke up, I decided to take advantage of the one night I actually had a car, and take it into downtown Fira for dinner.  I found a pretty amazing wine bar there, and had one of my best meals in Greece -- chicken breast stuffed with spinach and feta.  There were grilled veggies on the side, including the famous Santorini white eggplant which I had been told I had to try but hadn't yet.

The next day, I made myself get up early because I was determined to make the most of my rental car before I had to give it back at 5:30 that evening.  I wanted to go to Akrotiri, the excavated remains of a Minoan city buried under ash when Nea Kameni blew all the fuck up 3,000 years ago.  So I set off, only to almost instantly prove that yes, you can indeed get lost on Santorini.  I ended up at the airport, which was rather not where I'd intended, then found myself back at Kamari.

Well, since I was there and all, I decided to try to find Ancient Thera again.  I soon found signs, and confirmed that yeah -- Ancient Thera is way the hell up on top of those aforementioned significant cliffs.  Major props (not really) to my waitress from the other day for failing to mention this somewhat significant fact.

I drove up and around what felt like fifty hairpin turns, and finally found myself on top of the world and at the site of Ancient Thera.  How did those guys ever get up here without the horseless carriage???

I was mostly all alone for my exploring, and that of course was fabulous.  The wind up here was intense and the views were incredible.  But it seemed like (maybe for the off-season), a lot of the site was roped off that should have been open usually.  That was kind of a bummer but I loved that I got to see the things I did.

Back again in the mighty rental, I proceeded to make many U-Turns with accompanying cursing, and eventually found my way over to Akrotiri.

As you can see, the entire site is enclosed within a warehouse-like structure, which no doubt is superb for protecting the priceless ancient ruins but rather made me feel as though I was visiting an archaeological site housed inside a Wal-Mart.

I still had the car for a few more hours, so I followed a sign nearby for a "red beach".  Greeks have apparently kind of a liberal idea as to what constitutes a "beach", but at least it was pretty.

The Red Beach had a sign with an arrow to "Dolphin's Restaurant -- Open Year Round!".  I checked it out, and down some stairs and around a corner was the most amazing little fish restaurant!  It was warm enough to sit outside, so that's what I did.  I ordered a Greek Sampler of hummus, eggplant, feta, olives, tomatoes, and cucumbers -- and decided to try the grilled octopus!  Octopus is a Greek specialty and I knew I had to have it at least once while on Santorini.

My incredible view

Check out this suckers on this guy!!

 The octopus was all right but honestly didn't really have much flavor, and those sucker thingies were very chewy and hard!  I'm happy I got to have octopus in Greece but I don't think it made me into an octopus convert for life.

I drove back to Villa Manos and turned in my car.  I felt like I had gotten my money's worth for sure out of that little extravagance!  Back home, Poppy came to my door with a delicious plate of pasta, but I was so full from my octopus I had to secretly store the place in my room's mini-fridge until later that night.  It was pretty good cold. :)

The next morning, I woke up with a sinking heart.  The time had come to finally say goodbye to this beautiful island.  The ferry wasn't until 3:30, so I checked out at noon, got a late breakfast at reception, and hung out next to the pool with my journal and kindle until it was time for Poppy's husband to drive me to the port.

The ferry ride itself was uneventful and problem free; I arrived back in Athens just in time to take the last metro of the night!  Literally, I was the very last person out of the station; they swung the gate down after me.  Back in Athens for two nights, one day.  My grand European Tour was drawing finally to a close!

Santorini: island-sized ghost town

I had a little bit of a cold throughout my entire stay in Greece.  It didn't bother me much, but it was my excuse every day in Santorini for the obscene amount of sleeping I did.  Naps, late mornings... it was shameful! :)  I was just so damn jazzed that I could sleep whenever I wanted to.  Because, you know, single room and all.  The joy!

First day on Santorini, I slept late, puttered, and eventually made my way over to reception.  Poppy and her husband offered breakfast until the wonderful Greek time of noon.  And they had eggs!  I'd gotten so freaking tired of Europe's idea that sugar and carbs make a proper breakfast.  Back in the room, I sat on my balcony and read through my guidebooks and wikitravel to figure out what to do with the rest of my day.

Eventually I decided to visit Kamari Beach, which required taking a bus.  Said bus arrived right on time and took me exactly where I needed to go, which I would later learn had given me unrealistic expectations of the Santorini off-season bus system.

Walking through Kamari was... eerie.

I felt like I had stumbled into a zombie apocalypse.  Restaurants, bars, and hotels as far as the eye could see, and every one of them shut tight and deserted.  I walked along the beach, finding it even hard to imagine the town as it must have been only two months before, where a beach stroll would become an activity resembling frogger.

Behind me as I took this shot were some very dramatic sheer rocky cliffs.  I poked around these for a while, nosing into a settlement where I possibly did not belong.

I walked back along the strip and finally did find a bar kind of halfway open.  It was just warm enough to sit outside, so that's what I did, sipping an Argo, writing and daydreaming.  As I sat, two stray dogs began to take an interest in me.  I guess the off-season is tough on the strays too, who depend on overflowing trashcans to survive.  I ignored them and they kept their distance, but it made me nervous.

My (crappy) hostel-furnished map of Santorini told me that very near to Kamari was remains of an early Greek city, Ancient Thera.  I wanted to see it, and my waitress assured me it was nearby.  I had to walk back to the cliffs, and apparently it was in there someplace.  I took her at her word, although I didn't see anywhere where an ancient city could be hiding, and feared that maybe it was on top of said cliffs, where I surely was not walking.

Anyway, as I checked it out, I had to walk past a cluster of Greek apartment blocks and houses, and lo and behold the barking started.  There were more strays, including a mother with puppies, and also dogs defending houses, but with no chains that I could see.  Crap.  I started to get nervous.  My two stray friends from the restaurant had stuck with me for some reason, and then as the new dogs started to get closer they actually started to defend me against them.  I couldn't believe it, but apparently I had temporarily become pack.  There was lots of barking and growling and snapping, but thank goodness didn't get any worse.  Meanwhile I was heading back into town as quick as I could hustle without running.  To hell with Ancient Thera.  I didn't want to see it that bad.  My dogs stuck with me until I found another open cafe and went in to wait for the next bus.

...Yeah, that bus?  One rolled by about 20 minutes early, and of course I was in no position to catch it.  My waitress saw my distress and asked to see my schedule.  Of course it was the wrong one.  And the next bus wouldn't be by for an hour and a half at the very least.  So the restaurant owner's wife drove me home.  Just one more Good Samaritan along my journey.  I of course offered to pay but she wouldn't hear of it, and took me right to my door.

Had a blissfully quiet night in.  Villa Manos offered to order out for dinner for you if you wanted, and that's exactly what I did.  Hung out on my balcony.  It occurs to me that I should have kept a list of books I read during this trip, because I know I was reading something good but now for the life of me cannot remember what it was.

The next day, I had to get up early because I was taking a boat ride out to see Santorini's volcano island, Nea Kameni.  To walk from Villa Manos to Fira's Old Port apparently takes about 45 minutes, not exactly the 25 Poppy promised me.  It was first look at Fira proper, not just the outskirts where I'd had dinner two nights ago.  I just could not believe how pretty it was.  It would have been nice to stay in one of the towns, but Villa Manos more than made up for its out-of-the-way location.

To get down the the Old Port, it was quite a walk.  You can't really see it here very well, but said walk was also very liberally sprinkled with donkey poop.  When I got to the bottom, I saw why!

The donkeys weren't the only thing that was arorable.  Just check out my tour boat!

As you can see, I lucked out with the weather!

It took about 25 minutes to motor across to Nea Kameni.  The boat anchored and cut us loose for an hour and a half.  I have never in my life seen a place so utterly barren.  Like walking on a black-red moon.

I'd never walked on top of an active volcano before.  And I was not disappointed.  When I finally got up to the crater, the air started to smell like sulphur.  I was kind of wondering, since the volcano was so old, if the crater itself would even be distinctive.  But yeah, it was.

   You could actually see steam rising from the vents, and see long yellow and white streaks on the rocks from the sulphur.  I loved it!  Right along the path, there was a small rock depression leaking a thread of steam.  I put my hand down and the heat was surprising.  I had a feeling I would have burned my hand if I'd touched the rock itself.

Standing up on the very top of Nea Kameni and looking all around at the surrounding islands and flooded caldera, it suddenly became very clear that a long time ago, something very big had happened to create the way the islands look today.  Some scholars think that what happened to Santorini became the basis for the Atlantis myth.  It was easy to see how that could be.

The second part of our boat trip was supposed to be a trip to some hot springs.  My fellow passengers and I were very surprised when the boat calmly shuddered to a stop in the middle of a sheltered cove, and the captain untied a ladder from the side of the boat and lowered it down into the water.  "Hot springs, there!" he barked, gesturing over to the muddy shallows.  Um, it was November.  And while I was very comfy in my two layers and jeans, even if I had brought my bathing suit (never even considered it), there was no way on God's green earth I would have jumped down into that November ocean.  What blew my mind is how many of my tour companions did.  And yes, they assured me upon returning that yes, it was in fact balls-ass-cold.  No thank you.

On the ride home I sat myself in the bow and had the best seat in the house.

When we got back to the Old Port, options for getting back up into Fira included walking (nope), cable car (okay), or donkey.

My donkey was about the best thing ever.  His huge ears flopped up and down with every step.  I loved him.  And I got to ride a donkey in Greece!  It was a short ride but so completely worth five euros.  

In Fira, I did some dedicated Christmas shopping and had yet another gyro/souvlaki.  (I never could exactly tell those two things apart.)  Fira was practically deserted, and a lot of the shops and restaurants were closed.  Every shop I went into or restaurant I walked past, I was greeted as if I was the answer to their prayers.  Everyone was so gleeful to see me it actually made me feel guilty if I walked out of the shop without buying something.  The upside was that, in their eagerness to sell me something, I was able to score a couple good deals.  My family lucks out on Christmas morning. :)

I finished up shopping and walked through an old part of town that my guidebook said was exceptionally known for its perfect Santorini architecture.

More blue domes than you ever even knew existed.  I had a lot of fun exploring and only got (slightly) menaced by dogs once!  It was a long walk home to Villa Manos from the far edge of Fira, but I took it slow.  Home, I happily had yet another quiet night.  Ordered in yet again, bundled up in my fleece and sat outside under the moon and stars, reading.  Perfect end to an incredible day!

Santorini: Slow boat to paradise

In my mid-twenties, I lived in Richmond, VA for a year, and I worked in a travel agency.  It was, honestly, a demeaning job and a crummy salary, but the one good thing that job did for me was open my eyes to places around the world that I hadn't even heard of, or at the very least hadn't ever considered someday seeing for myself.

Santorini was one of those places.  I didn't have a terrible lot to do at this job, and since they frowned on using the internet for personal use, I spent many hours looking longingly through travel brochures.  I learned about The World, a luxury condominium cruise ship; and Turtle Island, where someday I fully intend to stay, scandalizing them with my backpack.  I also learned about Santorini, Greece.

I stared at pictures that looked a lot like that, and thought it was the most beautiful, enchanting thing I had ever seen.  Those perfect whitewashed buildings set right into the cliffside, those blue-domed churches and graceful arches.  A Greek Island in the Aegean Sea.

Around this time I also found in a secondhand bookshop a collection of short stories by Mary Flanagan, The Blue Woman.  Many of these stories were set in the Greek Islands, although not Santorini specifically.  I wanted to go, I dreamed about going; but it was far and foreign and expensive and frightening.  Someday.  Someday I would go.

Years later, as I sat in the passenger seat of a Toyota Camry on the New Jersey Turnpike, I turned thoughts over aloud with my companion as we perused a mental map of Europe's various allures.  The idea of "backpacking through Europe" was still only a few days old, still in the "wouldn't this be an absolute lark" stage.  I hadn't set on anything, hadn't even decided to go.  And where?  Scandinavia?  The British Isles?  Eastern Europe?  Europe was big.  I did not own a backpack.  I had only slept in a hostel a handful of times.  I was piss poor at budgeting money.

I was just kind of voicing countries and cities as they came to me, seeing how they felt when spoken aloud.  It was a surprise to my own self when I burst out with:  "Holy shit, Santorini.  I can go to Santorini.  That's it, I'm going.  Santorini."

And my commitment to backpack was sealed.  I was going, finally, after almost ten years (yikes), to get to see Santorini for myself.

Five months later, I stood bewildered and sleep-deprived at the mouth of Piraeus Port, getting soaked in a steady pre-dawn rain.  I was looking at a ferry, complete with a cheerful yellow sign blinking at me in reassurance that I was, thank God, once again at the right place.  "Paros," the sign flashed.  "Naxos.  Santorini."  I boarded, grinning like a fool.

It's an almost eight-hour ride from Piraeus to Santorini, and of course you have to tack on the hour it took me to get from my hostel in Athens to the port in the first place.  I was beat, but I loved the ferry ride.  It had a little cafe restaurant, a coffeeshop/bar, and a second bar upstairs outside.  This thing was huuuuge.  It was also comparatively empty, and I could barely imagine it during high season, every single metal chair  strewn about the deck filled with pink, sweating tourists.  I was very grateful to be going in November, despite the chill and rain.  I got coffee and went up to huddle on the wet deck and watch the sun come up.  As we got further from Athens the weather cleared up quickly which I was happy to see!

The ferry ride passed quickly, although I couldn't nap despite paying for an upgraded "airplane seat" in an inner cabin.  This inner cabin was strewn through with TVs blasting Greek programs the entire time!  I almost felt back in Georgia.  Instead, I spent a most of my time outside, watching the islands and islets roll past.  In the whole eight hours, the boat was never once out of sight of land.  Did you know the Greek Archipelago has over 3,000 islands, only about 130 of which are inhabited?  It makes for a beautiful ride.

What blew my mind was passing some tiny island and seeing, halfway up the cliff, three or four buildings nestled in there, all alone.  How did those people even get there?  What do they do for water?  For food?  You can't do much farming on a rocky cliff.  I've always liked being on my own, and that level of extreme isolation holds almost a macabre fascination for me.  Maybe someday I'll try it for a while.  I can see the blog now.  "My Three Months Alone on a Mediterranean Island."  I better start stocking my wine collection now.

I was surprised at how quickly the ride was over.  And all of a sudden I was getting my first look at beautiful Santorini.

I learned later that this was the village of Oia, up top, with even tinier Ammoudi down below.

On the island, I had decided to give myself a gigantic reward for finishing up my trip with smashing success.  I had booked a single room at the Villa Manos, outside of Fira.  Coming in the off-season meant that a single room here cost me the astonishing price of 20 euro a night, which was the top of my budget for a dorm.  I could have stayed in a dorm for as little as seven euro, but damn.  A single room.  I couldn't resist.  I booked it.

I admit to also booking at Villa Manos because they offered to pick guests up at the port, and personally take them right to the hotel!  After my long travel day, there nothing could have sounded any better.  And true to their word, a van was waiting.  A very nice man whose name I never got shepherded me and two other girls also on my ferry to the hotel door.

Villa Manos is beautiful.  Just gorgeous.  There is a pool!  Although sadly it was much too cold to swim during the time I was there.  And Poppy, the owner and wife of my driver, could not be nicer.  She welcomed her new arrivals with plates of pasta and a glass of wine!  And then she showed us all to our rooms.

Yeah, that's the view from my private room onto my private balcony, and then the amazing view off the balcony itself!  I was so happy I didn't know what to do.  So, I took a nap, then walked into town for dinner.

Here I found the one not-so-good thing about Villa Manos.  It's a little isolated, and to get anywhere you have to walk on the road, which has no shoulder and is full of crazy Greek drivers.  At night, there are also the dogs barking.  Confession:  after Georgia, I am scared of dogs.  I mean, I love dogs, but I love them to be leashed or behind fences, with their owners, and as small as possible.  Walking at night and hearing the barking and howling erupt all around me did not make me happy.  Once, a few evenings later, an unleashed dog did rush me, but thankfully backed off as I left his territory.  I took to carrying my pepper spray in my pocket, not for humans but for dogs.

But anyway.  This first night I had no problems with dogs or anything else, and ended up selecting a quiet restaurant that was empty except for a large group of happy Greek men in the corner.  My waitress was incredible, spoke perfect English, and patiently explained the menu to me since half of it was only in Greek.  I asked her what she'd recommend... and wouldn't you know she went and named almost the exact same dish I'd had last night in Athens!  Oh well.  After that I couldn't very well not take her advice, so I had stewed lamb and potatoes again.  This one was seasoned slightly differently though, and there was no feta.  Pretty good, if not something I'd usually want two nights in a row. :)

Of course it comes as no surprise to you that yet again I spent too much on dinner!  That orange stuff in the back is a spicy goat cheese spread, tirokafteri (still easier than Georgian).  Goat cheese is hit-or-miss with me but I loved the heat at least.  I think I ordered dessert too that night, but now I can't remember what it was.  At any rate, I had the best time chatting with my friendly waitress and writing in my journal as I polished off the last of my wine carafe.  And then it was home to my very own room for a shower and bed!

(And... shit.  Here I was thinking I could somehow cram all of Santorini into one post.  I see now that was unrealistic of me.  Welp, here's me adding another item or two to my to-do list before Istanbul.  Stay tuned for Kamari Beach, more dog adventures, the kindness of strangers, a boat ride to a volcano, an ancient city sheltered in a Wal-Mart, and grilled octopus by the side of the sea.  And donkeys!)  

Athens: ouzo, souvlaki, and the whirlwind walking tour

One of the most awkward things about hostel life is the alarm you sometimes need to set at 5:00 in the morning.  I do my best to warn roommates the night before, but sometimes I don't see them or they're just dicks, in which case, I don't.  But after you've woken everyone in the room up along with you, they get to listen to you clumsily and chaotically bumble around in the dark, getting dressed and getting your backpack together.  Of course I pack up as much as I can the night before, but things like pajamas, toiletries, etc. obviously can't go in until the morning of.  You never quite realize exactly how loud a backpack zipper or clip is, until you're hearing it at 5:30 in the morning.  On my trip, I encountered the full gamut of reactions to this unfortunate but unavoidable set of circumstances, from snoring right through it to huffily tossing and turning like a princess on a pea.

Such was the awesome start to my day, the morning I said farewell to Bella Roma and boarded the airport shuttle bus to the airport.  I was flying EasyJet, and unfortunately due to a strange noise whilst taking off, we had to land back down in Rome while they checked the plane.  Naturally, safety first.  But I couldn't help thinking... since we had to land anyway, couldn't we just have landed in Athens?

Overall, the flight was delayed about four hours, but nothing ended up being wrong at all, and we did eventually get there all in one piece.  I was annoyed mainly because one thing I did not want to do was try to navigate my way to my Athens hostel in the dark.  For some reason it's always just so much more confusing. Plus I was really kind of nervous about visiting Greece.  After Georgia, I know how exponentially harder it is to feel your way around in a country that does not use the Roman alphabet.  And there were those protests and riots happening here and there that had my mother positively freaking out back in the States.  By far, Greece was the furthest from home and the most exotic place I would visit on my trip.  I was happy to have saved the best for last, and I had been dying to see Greece for as long as I could remember.  Hell, the idea of visiting Santorini was kind of the entire inspiration for my trip in the first place.  There was utterly no way I was not going to Greece.  But I left Italy feeling extremely unprepared.

But I was able to find the bus I needed with little difficulty, hooray!  Except that no one told me the bus from the airport to Syntagma Square would take over an hour!!  Then I had to figure out the metro fare machine and ride one stop to Akropoli.  Exhausting!  Thank goodness my hostel was literally about three minutes from the metro.  I was so relieved to not have to deal with getting lost.  It had been a long day.

I stayed at Athens Backpackers, and it was just fine.  The staff were great and the location could not have been better.  We were right next to the Acropolis and the view was amazing!  I asked at the front desk where I could go for my first meal in Greece -- somewhere close, delicious, and cheap!  I was directed to God's Restaurant around the corner, and it did not disappoint   Once again, I found myself spending way too much on dinner.  Greek beer, spanakopita, Greek potato salad, and ouzo for dessert.  They also gave me this little slice of something almost like set cream of wheat, flavored with honey and cinnamon.  The texture was definitely weird but it was pretty tasty anyway.

I ate slowly, wrote in my journal, sipped my drink and stared up at the freaking Parthenon.  I couldn't help grinning like an idiot.  I had made it to Greece!  Right away I could tell my uncertainties had been an utter stupid waste of time.  So far, the Greeks I'd encountered had spoken the best English of any country I'd visited!  It wasn't difficult to get around at all!  Everyone was crazy nice, and so visibly over the moon to have an American tourist visiting in the off-season, and during their economic troubles no less.  So far, I felt more welcome in Greece than any place I'd visited -- Even Rome!

After dinner, I retreated back to my hostel for what was probably another night of blogging. :)

My first day in Athens, I got off to a slow start.  Even with the trip almost over, I still had more planning to do, and researched where to stay in Santorini, as well as how to get there, and how to get around the island itself!  The downside to winging it is that sometimes you do spend a significant amount of time not seeing the city you are in, because you are busy planning for the next city or series of cities.

Eventually I got out and had my first souvlaki in Greece!  Damn it was good.  And cheap!  I ended up eating a ton of gyros and souvlakis in Greece because you could get a whole big filling sandwich for under three euro.  Definitely the cheapest meal around, and bonus points for also being delicious.

And then I headed out with a big smile and a bounce in my step, because I was going to visit something I have wanted to see for my whole life.  THIS:

But first, to get there I had to make my way up the Acropolis Hill.  I can't even tell you how amazing it felt to be wandering around these incredibly ancient places that made Rome look brand new.

Theatre of Dionysus 

Altars for shrines

Inside the Cave of Pan

 Whenever I visit ancient sites like this, I always can't help but think how much fun it would be to scuff the ground with my shoe and see the glint of a 3,000 year old coin or bit of pottery.  Something that has lain undiscovered for millenia, a connection to the people who lived and prayed (and died) here so many centuries ago.  Of course, that did not happen this afternoon.  But it's fun to imagine, nonetheless. :)

Eventually I made my way to the top of the hill, looking down at the Agora and the ancient outdoor theatre still in use today!

They still hold summer festivals here!

Agora, with the Temple of Hephaestus

 And finally I passed through the Propylaea, and came in sight of The Parthenon itself.

Propylaea

The Parthenon

It was one of those moments that just turns out exactly as you always hoped it would.  The wind was whipping around the barren hilltop like crazy and it was blessedly uncrowded.  I walked slowly around the temple and just took my time.  The Parthenon was undergoing heavy restoration work and there was a detailed exhibit explaining the history of the building and the reasons for its present state, as well as exactly what they were doing and why.  Sat on a bench, rested my heels, and stared at this a while.  Yet one more time, I felt like simply the luckiest person in the world.

The Erechtheion, with the famous Caryatid pillars

Restoration scaffolds

Finally I had to go back down and join the present again.  I have had so many incredible experiences on this trip, all back to back and mushed together, that sometimes it is easy to forget just how singularly remarkable each experience is.  But my afternoon on the Acropolis is something I'm confident I will never forget.

I went into the old part of town and spent an hour or two doing something I hadn't really been focusing on so far -- buying Christmas gifts!  I'd bought a few in Italy but most were going to come from Greece.  Dinner was a gyro chicken platter with flatbread, hummus, salad, and olives.  Delish!

In the evening I met up with Beth, the girl I'd met at the Rome hostel.  We had a few beers and complimentary shot of ouzo at a nearby bar, and agreed to meet tomorrow morning to tour the sights.  It's great when I get the chance to sightsee with other people -- for one thing, it's one sure way to get me out of the hostel at a reasonable hour of the morning!

That night, I had the weirdest thing happen to me.  I woke up in the middle of the night and it was like my entire body just decided to give a big FUCK YOU all at once.  My nose was completely stopped up (I'm sure I was snoring), my head was killing me, and worst of all the crummy flat hostel pillow had given me a terrible crick in my neck that was radiating pain all the way down my arm.  I got up and took advil, which only then made my stomach start to hurt like crazy.  If I hadn't been so wretchedly uncomfortable I would have been cracking up because it was almost hilarious.  I just couldn't believe so many things had spontaneously decided to not work properly all at once.

After a long time, I did eventually fall back asleep.  Because I am a fearsome solider, I got up and met Beth at our appointed time all the same.  We headed off to check out the Roman Agora.

Roman Agora

As you can see there is not much left.  The highlight for us here was discovering a 2,500 year old public toilet!  Next we walked through the ruins of Hadrian's Library, where the highlight was seeing the remains of tiled floor mosaics that were incredibly beautiful.

Hadrian's Library

Floor mosaics!

We kept right on motoring through our list.  The Acropolis ticket also includes entrance into six other sites and  we wanted to hit them all.  Next up was the Ancient Agora and Temple of Hephaestus.

Temple of Hephaestus

Ancient Agora

 The Temple of Hephaestus is apparently the best-preserved ancient temple in Greece.  Which is slightly ironic because the rest of the Agora is practically rubble.  It was hard to imagine this place as a bustling market and town center three thousand years ago or so.

Quick stop for (another!) gyro for lunch, and then we headed up to see the Kerameikos, an ancient ceramics factory and cemetery.  Here, the highlight was watching one tortoise headbutt another tortoise.

Kerameikos

And finally... we trekked across town and paid a visit to the Temple of Zeus Olympiad.  On our way there, we passed Parliament where there was a march/demonstration happening.  It all looked very peaceable but we were relieved when we parted ways. :)

Protesters

Temple of Zeus Olympiad

Me and Beth

  Whew.  We were freaking exhausted at the end of all that.  But Beth still had to hike up and see the Acropolis itself, which thankfully I had seen the day before.  I headed back to the hostel and took a nap, because I'd not had the most restful of sleeps.  In the evening, we headed off into Athens' Old Town for dinner.  The waiter suggested I try this dish of stewed lamb with potatoes and feta cheese.  It was very different but I liked it a lot!  And it wasn't a souvlaki, so bonus.  After dinner, it was time for a few beers at our local bar and some excellent conversation.  I liked hanging out with Beth a lot; she was good people.  It was actually sad when we hugged and parted ways for the evening and likely forever.  Both of us were strapping on our packs again the next morning (5:00 AM again for me!) to head to our next destinations.

I'd saved the very best for last, you see.  I was going to Santorini.