OPA! Spring Break in Greece

My trip to Greece started at 3am, when we took a sheirut from the Student Village to Ben Gurion Tel Aviv International Airport for our 7am flight to Athens.  We waited in line for a long time, until we finally got up to the front of the line, where we were asked a series of questions by Israeli security, as per usual.  I got questioned about my passport, which, when delivered back to my house after getting my student visa, had gotten caught in a bush and poured on during a rainstorm, which made it look slightly messed up.  I explained to the woman what happened, and she told me it sounded like a "dog ate my homework" story (apparently that phrase translates to Israel too).  When we finally got up to the check in line, they asked me when I was coming back to Israel, since my ticket wasn't round trip, so I explained to them I'd be coming back after going to the US.  They told me I needed my paper ticket for my trip to the US to show them, which I obviously didn't have because my ticket was an eticket.  Well, after much arguing, they finally let me go because I was with 4 other people who were flying round trip (2 other girls from Hebrew U who were on our flight had gone with us).  Anyway, after we got through passport control, we made a quick stop at the airport Michal Negrin store (where I did NOT buy anything), and then went through security to our gate.  I slept most of the two hour flight to Athens, seeing as I hadn't really slept all night, but was obviously exhausted when we landed in Athens.

However, there was no time for that, because had a full day ahead of us.  After we through customs and got our luggage, we took the metro to downtown Athens near our hostel.  After we dropped our stuff off, Jordana was really tired and wanted to stay in the hotel for a nap, so Amanda and I went and got lunch.  We went to a restaurant near our hotel, and discovered that in Athens, every restaurant has someone (usually an owner) standing outside the restaurant trying to convince you to come to their restaurant, immediately going into a whole shpeel about what they have on their menu or the deal they would give you.  We finally settled on a place, and shared fried cheese and mushrooms, and each had a Greek salad (which apparently doesn't have lettuce in Greece).  We also stopped at the nearby Starbucks, which they apparently have in Greece, since they did not have any in Israel, which was a nice caffeine pick-me-up to make it through the rest of the day.

 

Me enjoying Greek fried cheese

After lunch, we went back to the hostel to get Jordana, and then went to the Acropolis.  We didn't really realize that we would have to climb all the way up a tall mountain to get to the Parthenon, which would have been much better if we weren't on very little sleep at the time.  Anyway, we took our time slowly walking up, while looking at and taking pictures of the different ruins as we walked up.  By the time we got to the top we had seen some gorgeous views, but nothing like the views and ruins that met us at the top.

On the way up the Acropolis - overlooking the city

View from the Acropolis - Hadrian's Arch, Temple of Olympian Zeus, and the 1896 Olympic Stadium

Theater of Dionysos, located on the path up to the Acropolis

View from on top of the Acropolis of the Stoa

The Parthenon (sadly, covered in scaffolding as all of Europe seems to always be)

Amanda and I in front of the Erechtheion's maiden columns

View of the Temple of Olympian Zeus from on top of the Acropolis

After getting a bit lost on the way down the Acropolis on the other side, we finally arrived at the ancient Agora (marketplace).  There, we saw ruins from the ancient city center, as well as the Stoa, which houses many sculptures that are thousands of years old.  We also saw the Church of the Holy Apostles of Solakis, an 11th century Byzantine church, and the Temple of Hephaestus.

Church of the Holy Apostles of Solakis

Me standing between some of the pillars of the Stoa

Some of the sculptures in the Stoa

Temple of Hephaestus

After a rest and a snack at a cute little cafe, we continued on to the Roman Agora, which contained more ruins.  We then headed to the marketplace and looked through some of the stores.  There we saw a store where I later purchased worry beads, special strings of beads that we saw people everywhere playing with.  I think they originally had some religious significance, and they may still, but mostly there are just a traditional Greek thing now (I think?).

Roman Agora and the Tower of the Winds

Worry Beads!

Well, by this point, we were pretty much EXAUSTED, so we headed back to the hostel for a nap before dinner at the restaurant next door.  The street our hostel is on is a very busy touristy street with lots of restaurants, and it was fun to sit at our outside table and watch the people go by.  After that, we called it a day, and went to bed after a LONG day of sightseeing to prepare for another.

The next day we started in Syntagma Square (Constitution Square) and the sights around that area.  We walked through the National Gardens, and then saw the Zappeio Palace, a beautiful but reasonably modern palace.  After that we headed to the old marble Olympic Stadium, which was the host of the first ever Olympics in 1896.  After that, we went to the Temple of Olympian Zeus, famous for, among other things, its recently fallen column, and Hadrian's Arch. 

National Gardens

Zappeio Palace

Inside the Palace

   

Me in front of the Olympic Stadium

The Temple of Olympian Zeus, with a view of the Acropolis through it

Hadrian's Arch

We went from there back to the main square, where we saw the Changing of the Guards in front of Parliament.  The guards are there guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which we were upset to find was covered by a drape and some scaffolding.  However, the Changing of the Guards ceremony was really cool.  The guards wear traditional Greek costumes, with "pom-pom" shoes, and do this crazy tap-dancey march during the changing.  It was REALLY cool, and we got a great view right up front, and right at the edge of the path they made through the people to enter the area.

Guard in front of Parliament

Changing of the Guards

Changing of the Guards

After that we went to the Banaki Museum, which had all kind of ancient artifacts, traditional Greek clothing, and displays of entire rooms from pre-modern Greece.  After that, we went walking around Plaka, the area our hotel was located in.  We went off the beaten track and got to see some really cool churches and cute little houses along narrow streets.  After our later afternoon rest at the hotel, we went to a restaurant with a roof top garden that had a view of the Acropolis lit up at night.  It was a gorgeous view!  It was also a somewhat interesting dinner, as I ordered fish and was given, well...a fish - head, tail, fins, scales, and all!  I did actually eat it, which I was proud of myself for (even though I didn't eat it until Amanda helped me take away the way too gross parts).

Cute house in Plaka

The roof of a little church in Plaka

Our view of the Acropolis from dinner

My dinner...

On Sunday we woke up early, packed our bags, and headed over to the port to catch a ferry to Aegina, an island about an hour ferry ride from Athens.  We got off the ferry of the port of Aegina, and then took a cab across the island to Agia Marina, an area on the other side of the island where we would be staying.  After checking into our hotel, which was about a minute walk from a beach that is apparently very busy during the season (which, as we found out, hadn't started yet), we walked around the town and ate lunch at a restaurant at the edge of the cliffs overlooking the pier and the water.  It was a gorgeous view, and the food was pretty good too.  After that, we decided to go to the beach, even though the weather wasn't great, but we didn't think it would be better the next day and we had planned on beach time (it turned out it was better weather the next day, but unfortunately we had sites to see and ended up making the wrong decision scheduling-wise, but oh well!).  Despite the clouds, it was still fun hanging out on the beach, and the sun did come out towards the end.  We sat on the beach for a few hours, read, and relaxed.  While we were sitting there, a ferry came into the port at Agia Marina, so we got to watch it come in too.

Me and Amanda with the view of Agia Marina from next to the table we ate lunch at

 

Beach by our hotel

After we got back from the beach, we walked around the town and through the shops, and then went back to the hotel to rest and hang out for a little while.  At night, we went out to dinner, and finally realized how much it really was the off-season, because not a lot of restaurants on the main street were open and the ones that were weren't very busy.  We came to the conclusion that most people who came to the island either stayed on the other side of the island or only came for the day, which we probably should have done, but hindsight is 20-20, right?  Anyway, we had dinner, and then headed out to one of the local bars and hung out there for a little while before going to bed.

The next day, we had breakfast at the hotel, and then went to the main site on the island, the Temple of Aphaia.  It was all the way on the top of a hill in the middle of the island, and had a gorgeous view of the island as well as beautiful temple ruins.  It was really cool because we could all imagine people in ancient times coming from around the island up to the hill to worship their goddess.  After that, we went back to Agia Marina, and had lunch at the restaurant we had lunch at the day before (where I had stuffed tomatoes which was really yummy and very adventurous for me considering my picky taste and usual dislike of tomatoes).  Then we got our stuff from the hotel and headed back to the port of Aegina, where we hung out at a cafe (where I tried Greek coffee) and walked around the pier until our ferry left to go back to Athens.

At the Temple of Aphaia overlooking the island

Temple of Aphaia

View of the island from the Temple of Aphaia

Stuffed tomatoes!

Port of Aegina with a church in the middle

Street next to the pier in Aegina

Church right next to the ferry docks

Our ferry from Aegina to Athens

View of the island from the ferry

After we got back to our hostel in Athens, we changed and went to meet up with Amanda's friend who is studying abroad in Athens this semester.  On the way to meeting him at the Olympic Stadium, we got to see Hadrian's Arch and the Temple of Olympain Zeus at night, which was really pretty.  After we met him at the Olympic Stadium, we were able to go up to the top of the Stadium and go inside, which we didn't think we were allowed to do.  It was really pretty in general, but especially at night.  Then he took us to a local tavern, where we paid 10 euro for them to bring us all kinds of different dishes.  I was able to try some traditional Greek dishes that I had seen on menus but was nervous to order them in case I didn't like them.  Anyway, they were REALLY good, particularly tsatsiki, a Greek dish made of a special Greek yogurt, cucumbers, and dill.  It was really good, and I ended up having it a few more times before I left.  It was really cool meeting one of her friends, and the dinner was really fun.  It was also good to get some information from someone who had been traveling in Greece for a while, and he was able to help me work out my plans for my last day, during which I would be on my own.

Olympic Stadium - view from the top at night

The next day was kind of crazy because it was Amanda's last day in Athens and she was leaving that night, and Jordana had to register for classes in the middle of the day, so we had some splitting up and rearranging throughout the day.  We started out back at the flea market area to do some walking around, and Jordana and I went to see Hadrian's Library, which was another collection of ruins.  Then we went to Kerimakos, the most important ancient cemetery in Athens, where we saw tombs of ancient gods and the path that was taken on the way to Plato's school.  After that, we went to the Hill of the Pynx, where we saw some ruins, Old Athens Observatory, a few churches, and an AMAZING view of the city.  For the first day, the weather was actually nice and clear, so we were able to see really far and the city seemed to sparkle.

Hadrian's Library

Church at Keramikos cemetary

Keramikos

View of the city from the Hill of the Pynx

View of Parthenon from the Hill of the Pynx

After that, I went and met Amanda at the National Archaeological Museum.  Unfortunately, it was closing MUCH earlier than we had originally thought (ie 3pm instead of 7pm), so we had to forgo our lunch break until after the museum and rush through the museum a little faster than we would have liked.  It was still really cool though, and we got to see lots of different artifacts from various areas in Greece.

Various vessels in the Archaeological Museum

Jewelry at the Archaeological Museum

Sculptures at the Archaeological Museum

After dinner, we said goodbye to Amanda, and then Jordana and I hung out in the hostel for our last night together.  The next morning I woke up early and after dropping my stuff off at the hostel that I was staying at for my last night, I went to the central bus station and took a bus by myself to Nafplion, a city about 2 1/2 hours outside of Athens and the first capital city of modern Greece.  The bus dropped me off in the middle of the town, and I quickly found a travel agent to get a map of the city from.  I had been told about a gorgeous view from a fort called Palamidi Fortress, so I asked the travel agent what would be the best way to get up there, and he suggested taking a cab.  After taking a cab up the to the top, I found my way into the fortress to see one of the most gorgeous views I have ever seen in my entire life.  There was a fabulous view of the water, which sparkled in the sunlight underneath a very clear sky.  Between the clear sunny weather and the perfect breeze, I just sat at the top of the fortress looking at the view for a while.  After that, I walked around the ancient fortress, which was also really cool and beautiful, covered in small purple wild flowers.  When I was done, I walked down the 999 steps from the top of the fortress to the center of town.

View from the top of the fortress

View of the peninsula from the top of the fortress

View of the town of Nafplion from the top of the fortress

Me on top of the fortress

In the fortress

The fortress

View on the way down from Palamidi fortress - Peninsula with the other smaller fortress of the city

When I got down from the fortress, I found a cute little cafe with seating in a park in the main square.  I ordered my last dish of tsatsiki while in Greece, along with a basic lettuce salad.  It was really good, and a nice relaxing lunch enjoying the beautiful weather.  After lunch, I walked around the town for bit, looking at the different sites and going into some of the shops.  I also went to a worry bead museum, which was a small museum set up by a man who had been collecting different worry beads from various time periods, countries, and religions.  It was really interesting to see all the different styles of beads and to learn about what they meant to different people.  After that, I found a little tourist train that you could get on to take you all around the town and it explained all the different sites.  Unfortunately, the train was full of very loud Greek teenagers, so I really couldn't hear much of what was being said on the loudspeaker, and the explanation also said everything in Greek first and then English, so by the time the loudspeaker said the information in English, we were already passing the site.  It was still pretty cool though, and I was able to make sure I saw most of the important sites in the city.

War Museum, located in the first military school

Cute house in Nafplion

A church off of Constitution square in Nafplion

View down one of the streets

Church by the dock

View of a castle in the middle of the water from the dock

The train I took around the town

A lion carved into the side of a cliff in memory of Bavarian soldiers

Main square of Nafplion

Parliament building, housed in the first high school building

View of Palamidi fortress from the town

After I went on the train and walked around the town a bit more, I went and got my bus ticket for a bus about an hour later.  While I waited, I went to a cafe close to the bus station, and had a delicious chocolate crepe and some coffee while people watching along one of the main streets.  Then I took the bus back to Athens for my last night in Greece.  When I got back to Athens, I grabbed dinner at a local coffee shop, and had a relaxing night in my room and went to bed before getting up very early to go back to the US.

My travels back to the US were fairly simple - luckily my flights were all more or less on time, and I made all my connections (from Athens to JFK to Salt Lake City to Tucson), and spent the night at a hotel near the airport.  I had a big room with two queen beds to myself, and it was very nice to be staying in a hotel with very comfortable beds and American showers after staying in hostels all week and in my dorm in Israel.  The next morning, I met my family at the airport, and then went to our hotel in Tucson for Passover.  I'm not going to go into too much detail about Passover, but it as a nice blur of eating, relaxing, sleeping, and praying.  The seders were nice and much better than I expected, since I was expecting it to be very difficult without my grandfather.  I also got a lot of rest in VERY comfortable beds, and it was nice to see my family, though I did experience a little bit of US culture shock.

Overall, I had a very nice break and was able to see a new part of the world while having some time for relaxation as well.

Look for more updates soon!

-Leah