Αντίο Αθήνα!

Bye-bye Athens – pic shows Athenian city flag in front of the Acropolis. We got up very early this morning, at 5 am, left the hotel in the dark at 5:20, walked to the metro station and took two trains to the airport, where we arrived at 6:25 am. Cloudy skies, but clearing. The big "Duty Free" shop is a heaven for last-minute shoppers, lots of Greek delis for reasonable prices: olive oil, olives, cheeses, sweets, spirits, wine etc., everything the heart could wish for. We were not sure whether the shop will be open that early in the morning, but now we know!

Our Aegean plane, an Airbus A320-200, was on time and, again, the service was excellent, even the breakfast was good. Very friendly, attentive and good-looking young flight attendants - what a contrast to some German and U.S. airlines!

Arrived on time in MUC and from landing to our door it took us two hours. Quite a bit cooler here, but during the drive on the autobahn it was at least still dry, whereas it started to rain in the afternoon. The expected welcome to Germany!

In total it was a good trip, much better than we had expected, also, more productive. In addition, we regained our taste for Greece and the Greeks and plan not to wait so long again with another visit. Wish we would have had time to spent an additional long weekend, e.g. in the luxurious Grecotel in Cap Sounion, just to get some R&R...

But instead we are back home in rainy Germany, where politics shifted quite a bit, too, last weekend during elections. Not to good account, considering the success of the right-wing AfD,,,

For your enjoyment a last couple of "still lifes" from Athens (pomegranate flower - little kitty - hibiscus flower - orthodox miniature shrine):

Shopping and Beaches

Rain last night, but blue skies again this morning. First thing, we checked out two neighborhoods which are sort of strange, considered "up & coming", but still pretty "special": Metaxurgio, named for the former soap factory in the neighborhood (pic left), nowadays with some artists' co-ops and workshops and great murals, but otherwise still not very attractive. And, Gerani, the traditional immigrants' neighborhood - we will have to watch it, but right now they are no touristic 'must-sees', despite of recent enthusiastic newspaper coverage in Germany.

The Athens City Market - closeby the City Hall Square (pic) - only takes place in the morning and therefore we had to be there in time to buy our provisions. What a heaven to buy fresh fruit/olives/herbs/cheeses !!!






Also, meat and fish are incredibly inexpensive and fresh (though, it's not the place to be for vegetarians) but couldn't buy anything to take home. Instead, we bought about two kilo of different olives for the price we would have paid in Germany for not quite one pound. We bought Greek cheeses we like, Kefalotiri and Graviera, at a cheese store (see pic) on the market area and pomegranates, dried origano, tea and salvia and sultanas and pistachios on the market. The surrounding area and its streets, like Odos Athinas, is a heaven for bargain hunters: there are cheap hardware, household, garden and many other stores you won't miss.

We had to unload our purchases from the market at the hotel at noon, but then we took the tram to the waterfront again, this time to the Apollo Coast, where recently a big oil spill had taken place when a tanker ran aground. Still the fire brigade and other helpers clean up there, closeby some people sun-bathing at the beach. We went almost all the way to the end of the line in Glyfada, south of Athens, closeby to the old airport.






Before we started to explore the city of Glyfada, which is a luxurious and very popular destination for Greeks, with chic (chain) shops and boutiques, restaurants, fancy cafés and clubs, we had a late lunch/early dinner at a seafood restaurant directly at the fishing harbor. Of course, we chose fish - maridaki - with choriatiki (Greek salad) and "patates" (fries).

Back to Athens at around 5 pm we got out of the tram at the Olympieion, the Temple of the Olympic Zeus, one of the largest temples in Greece, begun in the 6th century BC accomplished under the Roman emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AC. A huge building with some of its columns still standing upright. We walked back back from there through the Plaka to Monastiraki - surprised by a couple of highly creative shops in the Plaka - and called it a day. Have to get up at 5 am tomorrow morning to get to the airport!

Museums and island feeling

Our day started just fine: in a kafenio across the German Archeological Institute (where we spent quite a bit of time during studies), with our old friend Panos. We met Professor Valavanis in Wurzburg during archeology studies and stayed in loose contact, but didn't see him for a long time. He is going to retire from the university next year and plans become an olive farmer on the countryside ...

Museums first, afterwards: only a few steps apart from each other are four top museums and we visited three of them: there is the War Museum (which we skipped), the Byzantine Museum (great byzantine art - Peter's favorite museum today), the Goulandris Museum (famous for its cycladic idols, nice presentation, great shop and café, and, my personal favorite) and the Benaki Museum. This is a cross section through times and genres, with a focus on history, textiles and costumes - interesting, though a little bit old-fashioned compared to the previously mentioned ones.

Byzantine Museum:

Museum Goulandris:

Benaki Museum:

After three museums in a row, we needed some fresh koulouri (like soft Pretzel rings with sesame) and a leasurely walk through the National Garden, a huge park adjacent to the Parliament building. It's not necessarily manicured and highly maintained, but a neat green oasis with parrots and palms and benches. After a short break, we watched the change of guards in front of the Parliament Building, funny, because the costumes are still in the style King Otto from Bavaria introduced them. In front of the parliament Syntagma Square - one of the main squares of the city, the other is Omonia, is to be seen. We walked through new town, on Odos Ermou (pic), into the Plaka neighborhood, which is considered "old town".


Our destination this time was Anftiotika,a tiny part of the Plaka, at the Northeast slope of the Acropolis. It was settled in the middle of the 19th century by workers from the cycladic islands, and therefore it reminds of a little village on an island: all white walls, narrow alleys, steep stairways, a little church - very picturesque! In 1834, again, thanks to King Otto from Bavaria, Athens became the capital and building activities increased as well as workers flocking in from all over Greece.Also, there are great modern murals and views towards the Lykabettos (the hill we've climed yesterday) - today in a strange light because of sun and dark skies at the same time.


Climbed down again and checked out some of the branches of the Historical Museum, mostly in historic homes in the Plaka. They are small, but focus on different interesting topics, like music, crafts, children, etc. On to the Roman Agora with the famous Tower of the Winds (Turm der Winde), and Hadrian's Library.

Again, thick clouds in the afternoon, but no rain, perhaps because we had our umbrella in the backpack today! After an early dinner (Greeks don't even think about dinner before 8 pm) of kebab on a little square in the Plaka, we called it a day and walked back to the hotel.

The picture below shows another fancy kiosk - this one focused on glasses and bags - kiosks are such a great Greek institution! You can find everything there from tooth paste to beer to cookies to glasses to papers... until late night for reasonable prices!

Fantastic Architecture and Harbor Feeling

This morning we went out of town... towards the ocean, with a couple of stops on the way. Athens always was a harbor town and Pireus is its harbor - nowadays a big city of its own. We took the modern "tram" (see pic) - a good way to explore - and stopped at the new Onassis Cultural Center first, and, then in Kallithea - another city of its own, grown together with Athens.



In Kallithea beginning of 2017 a fantastic new building (above) opened: the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center. Like Onassis Stavros Niarchos was one of the big "oil barons" of Greece and at least shared some of his money with the people. Renzo Piano, also architect of the Acropolis Museum (and many other buildings), planned this fantastic LEED qualified building which houses the Athens Opera and the National Library. It has a unique green, walkable roof with a café. Superb views (see pics) from there towards the city and the Acropolis, as well as towards the ocean and Pireus. The building is surrounded by an equally unique park, planted exclusively with local plants (e.g. olive and pomegranate trees, grasses, shrubs, herbs etc.), there is an open-air stage, a fitness area, a lake and other great features. This is a fantastic addition, alone because of the views! Even we took a break and has a nescafé frappé...

On to Pireus by tram, where we walked all the way around the three harbors ("limani"): the Microlimano with some smaller yachts and fishing vessels, mainly a destination to eat seafood and fish. "Pasalimani" is where the bigger yachts from all over the world are at home, and, "The Port of Pireus", finally, is where all the ferries to/from the islands anchor, and - new to us - huge cruise ships - towering high and being extremely ugly and, at the same time, not really helping the Greek infrastructure. Never would like to be on a ship like these, rather on one of the ferries to one of the islands...

We visited the Archeological Museum (same as before) and the City Market (cheap and smelly and great) and had a well-earned afternoon meal in a tiny little Estiatorio, where you passed the hot counter (offerings of the day) into the "guest room" (open-air) with five tables. No menu. We had fried maridaki (sardelles) with chorta (greens) and pasticcio (a pasta casserole) with choriatiki (greek salad) with a "side" of half a liter of local wine and bread ... Life can be good sometimes! For the whole feast we paid 27 Euro!

From Pireus we took the "Elektriki" - the first local train connection from the harbor to Athens - back into the city. Explored Kolonaki then, a pretty fancy neighborhood, the favorite address of many wealthy and beautiful Athenians. It has changed a bit, some apartment buildings are standing empty now, but there are still lots of fancy boutiques, international brand stores and chic café-bars to be found. And, they were packed with locals!



After a full day of walking we got lazy and took the "teleferik", the funicular up to the Lykabettos hill, where the views are gorgeous. Thoough, not so today: as yesterday, clouds came up in the late afternoon and didn't move at all. When we walked down the hill towards the metro station in rained out of buckets, but it was still warm. Of course, our umbrella was in the hotel.

... and one of the little miniature chapels you find everywhere, even in the middle of nowhere: