#but like most pop up parade figures the base is absolute trash

[hotwaterandmilk]

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[rememberthattime]

Chapter 48. Athens

I didn’t plan on writing a post for this short work trip. I was only in Athens for five days, and three of those were filled with meetings... but it was the other two days that make this trip worth remembering. Yes, Athens itself is nice — I’m writing this from a cafe, sipping a coffee frappe with my zucchini fries. That wasn’t the best part though. What makes this short trip so special is the reminder it provided: a reminder of Chelsay and I’s past weekend adventures, and just how far you can go with two days in Europe.

Upon arrival in Athens, I received an immediate reminder of the “particularities” required when traveling in Europe. Simple task: I needed to get from the airport to my hotel. Problem: I had forgotten the travel skills Chelsay and I had built up from our time in London: always have cash, never rely on others, and plan alternatives. It took me four attempts before I successfully caught a ride. Eventually I made it to the hotel, where I was reminded why these “particularities” were worth it. From my hotel’s rooftop, I quietly looked across Athens: the birthplace of civilization, with a history and culture you couldn’t find on any other continent.

Because Chelsay and I had previously visited Athens, I wanted to get into some "deeper cuts" for this return trip. From researching, the Kaisariana Monastery was #1 on my list. Perched in the hills outside Athens, Kaisariana would be a quiet reprieve from the touristy city center. Now, I could have taken a cab, but walking only took an hour. We were well into winter in Sydney, and because it was 80+ in Athens, I decided a hike in the warm weather would be nice. This was absolutely the right call. Walking through the Athenian neighborhoods was like visiting an alternate dimension. The city had been built by and for humans, but there was just a different take on what a home, shopfront, and street should look like. This is the beauty of Europe: every city is SO unique, and their architecture, people, and culture are evidence that each developed independently over time. Although Athens certainly isn’t as pretty as London or Paris, it’s uniquely Greek.

With no set route, I was essentially just wandering in the general direction of the monastery. I’m a sucker for parks, so this flexible approach allowed for off-road detours. My Google Maps app reassured me that I was still going the right direction, though dense trees meant I couldn’t tell exactly where I was heading. What Google Maps doesn’t tell you is gradient, and the over hanging trees meant I couldn’t tell how much further until the path flattens out. I knew I’d been going up for awhile, and also that I was thoroughly sweaty, but I was shocked when I finally popped out of the tree line... How did I get this far!? From well above Athens, there was a river of white washed buildings flowing into the Aegean Sea. I could barely see the Acropolis poking out from the urban sprawl. For reference, my hotel was at the base of the Acropolis, and somehow I’d walked well beyond the fringes of civilization.

This was a phenomenal view, but it was also a reality check: where the hell am I? I need to find this monastery.

My search quickly turned into a Lake Bled-level fight to find the walking path. I hopped through prickly bushes, bounded from boulder to boulder, and braced myself along the edge of a quarry rock face. My legs were getting cut up, and I’m pretty sure the “path” I was following wasn’t a path at all... It was just a dried creekbed. Rather than going towards the monastery, I decided it was best to just find civilization first and follow paved roads from there. After a precarious descent, I finally emerged from the forest, scratched and sweaty, but ultimately appreciative that this route provided such unique views of Athens. Now following more established paths, I found the monastery easily. I’m actually not even sure it was THE monastery I was looking for, but it was religious looking and tucked away in a forest, so it checked all the boxes. That said, it didn’t seem like locals had trouble finding it: as I walked in, a community service was taking place. I tried to blend in, but a couple things were working against me: (1) I was extremely sweaty and my legs were cut up from the “hike”. (2) I was wearing a RVCA shirt... apparently not many of Nordstrom Racks around here. (3) I was the only visitor under 60. (4) I was also the only visitor that didn’t speak Greek, which the locals quickly figured out as they offered me snacks. This was their monastery, so although I poked around for a bit, I mostly stayed out of the local’s service.

My next destination was another “deeper cut”: the Athens Olympic Complex. Athens hosted the Olympics in 2004 (and also around 2800 years earlier). In the modern version though, the 2004 Olympics were billed as a Coming Home experience. To host the festivities, Athens built state-of-the-arts Olympic parks and stadiums at an expense of around Euro 4B. That may seem large, but I just looked up the costs of Beijing and Sochi: Euro 50B each! Now the reason I looked all of this up was because I’d assumed the cost of the 2004 Olympics was crippling, and part of the reason the country continuously seems to be on the brink of bankruptcy. As I walked the now decrepit venues, it was easy to reach this conclusion. What was once a grand exposition, hosting hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world, was now just an unkept field of trash and cracking concrete. I could imagine the bustling crowds making their way through the cutting edge complex, but just 15 years later, there were weeds growing out of the basketball stadium’s roof.

This is why I’d assumed the Olympics were a budget busting expense, but at 1/10 the cost of Beijing or Sochi, these games were actually relatively affordable. What’s more: at least according to the government, Greece actually pulled a profit from the games. This makes for an interesting investment: I’m sure these stadiums were built with future intentions, but even only as temporary structures, the host city still came out ahead... I’m not so sure the same can be said for Sochi.

Back to my exploring though. I’d now been walking around in the sun and heat for over three hours, and was exhausted. I nearly passed out on the train back to the city, but managed to make it to shady Cafe Melina for a reprieve. Here, I ordered two of Chelsay and I’s Greek favorites: zucchini fries and a coffee frappe. I relaxed for an hour on Melina’s shady outdoor patio, and actually started this post while sipping my second frappe.

Revived, I was ready to continue my EUReunion, starting with the tiny lanes of Anafiotika. Anafiotika, which means little Anafio, is braced up against the Parthenon’s surrounding hillside. Anafio is a Greek island in the Cyclades (same as Santorini), and when the Anafioan people moved to Athens, they decided to build a neighborhood that reminded them of their old home. The result is a little slice of the Greek islands in the bustling city.

You might remember that I was very sweaty from my “hike” earlier, and that situation hadn’t taken care of itself. I decided it was time to head back to the hotel and shower, but not before stopping in Monasteraki Square for an obligatory gyro.

After a long rest in my air conditioned room, I decided to head on a city tour hosted by none other than Chelsay and I’s ol’ European go-to Rick Steves. Now, we’d already done this audio tour the last time Chels and I were in Athens, so I went a bit off script this time. While Rick made some corny jokes about the Parliamentary guards, I slipped into the royal gardens for a trip down memory lane. I routinely skipped through parts that required me to walk a long distance, and equally paused when I found a nice bench. One of these breaks was actually the highlight of my weekend. In our 2016 Greek adventure, Chelsay and I spent the last night of our trip at an outdoor restaurant in this small, charming, and most importantly, shaded square. Rick’s tour took me back through this same square, and I decided to relax on one of the benches. I took in all the hustle happening around, but was protected under the overhanging trees. I ended up staying on that bench for an hour (longer than the entire Rick Steves audio tour itself), and wrote most of the first half of this post. Although Athens doesn’t come close to challenging Paris as the best European city, this small park could at least contend with the Luxembourg Gardens.

That night, I wandered around a new neighborhood, Psyri. This place was hip, grungy, but gentrified: kind of like an Angel equivalent in Athens. It’s another example of a deeper cut, and a reminder of how many unique experiences are waiting for Chelsay and I in Europe. The next morning, I’d booked a ticket to visit the Acropolis. Before the trip, I wasn’t sure if I’d visit the Parthenon again, but I’d already covered so much of the city in my first day. Plus, it’s not like you can come to Athens and NOT visit the Parthenon. It’d be like going to Paris and not visiting the Eiffel Tower... unthinkable. I’ve been to Paris about 8 times and visit its glittering light show every time. Anyway, the Parthenon is just as impressive the second time. This place is 2500 years old! Sure it’s been through a few pillages and rebuilds over time, but much of today’s structure is the SAME marble those PRE-Jesus builders hauled up the Acropolis hill. It was probably sourced from the quarry I almost fell into during my “hike”.

Having visited before, I took this trip at an especially relaxing pace. I appreciated subtle features in each relief or pillar crown, and equally, enjoyed people watching. These visitors were so excited to see the structure - they’d be staring up in an, not paying attention to where they were walking, and slipped all over the smooth rock walking paths. It made me wonder whether ancient Greeks took spills during their Panhellenic parades. Those togas wouldn’t do much to protect you...

After the Acropolis, I didn’t have much else to explore, so I decided to relax in the warm weather. I stopped in at an outdoor bar called six d.o.g.s, who’s hidden courtyard, tasty frappe, and strawberry smoothie helped me relax before my meetings.

I’m now off to my meetings, the whole reason I came to Athens. Although these past two days exploring “deeper cuts” were fun, the most exciting part was that it reminded me how easy unique escapes are in Europe, and a preview of Chelsay and I’s weekends to come. What a teaser for my next post! Oh, by the way, the hotel for my work meetings was ridiculous.