Αντίο Αθήνα !

After six full days in Athens - and with a distance of about 90 km (55 mi) walked – we got used to the "pulse of the city". Also, we got to appreciate the great philoxenia (hospitality) and honesty of the Greeks again. Went on the market again this morning to buy two kilo of different olives, cheese, raisins and pistachios. Especally, the olives are gorgeous, the variety and the prices are fantastic! You can try them all before you buy any, and, then they are even vacuumed for free.

Because of demonstrations, announced for tonight (remembering a murdered student during the riots about eleven years ago), police presence was heavy this morning, some metro stations already shut down. Considering this (we had strikes before!), we started early and have some time to burn (or, rather, to work) now at the airport. Gate is not announced yet. The Athens Airport really improved considerably in the last couple of years. It's modern, airy and has nice shops with good deals.

Athen's Showpiece

This morning, we again enjoyed breakfast at the Grecotel's great buffet, including a "Cretan corner", hot dishes, cold cuts and cheeses, yoghurts, granolas, honey and other sweets, baking goods and cakes, juices and champagne. After "experimenting" a bit yesterday, I went with the delicious fresh breads with olive spread and cheeses, yoghurt with honey and walnuts, and, the typical Greek sweets today.

Invigorated (though with permanently tired feet) we set off for the Acropolis. We had decided that we don't want to miss it (though we've been up there many times), needed to see what's going on currently and to enjoy the great views with partly blue skies and clear conditions.

Below: view towards the Hephaisteion (Greek Agora) and the Herodes Atticus Theater:


Lykabettos hill and, further below, the Panathenaic Stadium and the Olympieion (temple):


First time we've been up there, in the 1980ies, it was still possible to climb up the Parthenon steps, and, as students we even got a tour inside the temple. Now it's all barricaded trails for "herds of tourists", but restauration work is continuously going on, like in a medieval cathedral. The old museum (where we spent hours in cramped exhibition halls) is still there, but closed, contents were moved to the new Acropolis Museum ten years ago. What a big progress!

The museum, on the south slope of the Acropolis, with a direct view towards the Parthenon, was our next stop. Swiss architect Bernard Tschumi has designed the museum. Especially remarkable is the top-floor - glass-enclosed and skylit -, the Parthenon Gallery, which offers a 360-degree panoramic view of the Acropolis and modern Athens, and presents the preserved artwork from the temple - the metopes, the frieze and the pediments - in an ingenious way. Especially interesting among the rich collections from the Acropolis is the archaic sculpture, Korai and Kouroi, dating in the 6th century BC. (pic above, left), as well as all the other artwork from the different Acropolis temples, like the famous "Sandalenbinderin" (Sandalbinder, on pic below) from the Nike Temple ballustrade, dating in the heyday of Greek Classical Art, end of the 5th century B.C.

The base of the museum hovers over an excavation - which was newly opened this summer - on more than 100 slender concrete pillars. To be seen in the "basement" are houses and other archeological remains of life and human activities from the 4th millennium BC until the 12th cent. AD. Streets, residences, baths, workshops and tombs are very well preserved.

In the afternoon we met our old friend Panos, who we know from study times in Wuerzburg and Athens. He's (3/4) retired as a professor of Archeology and is happy now to get his hands dirty and to operate an olive oil/almond farm closeby Delphi. We had a wonderful meal in the venerable, very exclusive University Club, and pleasant conversation.

Reality and myths ,,, how Athenians live

Grey skies and scattered rain today. Unfortunately, because of the rain, I didn't take that many pictures as usual. We met with the project manager and one of his volunteers of "This is Athens with a Local"(www.thisisathens.org/ withalocal) in front of the City Hall. This organisation (connected to the Athen's Tourism office) offers walks with locals - similar to the Big Apple Greeters in NYC. Locals go on (free) walks with visitors after registrating. Focus is e.g. graffiti, culinary, architecture or similar, in different neighborhoods. Main purpose is to offer new perspectives of the city (besides Acropolis and museums, history and archaeology), to educate visitors about the "real life" in Athens and to dismantle old clichés. Katerina, our guide, and Spyridon, the project manager, first walked the market area with us and showed us shops/places we wouldn't have noticed and told us "secrets" we didn't know, e.g. that almost all fish (with the exception of salmon) comes from Greece, where to get the best herbs and sausage (pic) and where to eat the best freshly prepared market food or the most delicious loukoumades. Just look, how artfully presented the fish are on the market:



There is a "graffiti alley" (like in Toronto) in Psirri, too, considering the people, taking pics, very "instagramable"!

On to Pangrati, the neighborhood around the old Panathenaic Stadium - the only stadium in the world built entirely of marble. It was built on the site of a simple racecourse by the Athenian statesman Lykourgos (Lycurgus) c. 330 BC, primarily for the Panathenaic Games. Rebuilt in marble by Herodes Atticus, it had a capacity of 50,000 seats. In 1896 it was a venue for the first modern Olympics, and was once again used as an Olympic venue in 2004. Nowadays, it is the finishing point for the annual Athens Authentic Marathon.

We got to know about this residential neighborhood and its infrastructure, interesting little cafés and restaurants, shops, squares and parks. Nothing "spectacular" or extraordinary, but how Atheneans - like Spyridos - live. Ah, almost forgot the Magemenos Avlos ("Zauberflöte"), a legendary restaurant (pic above), found in 1961, where people of Greek culture and politics enjoyed/enjoy European food of all kind: including the former King of Greece, Constantine, Konstantinos Karamanlis, Manos Hadjidakis who used to hang out there, Nikos Gatsos, who wrote in the restaurant some of his most famous lyrics, and many others….


Later in the afternoon we checked out Metaxourgeio, a working class neighborhood, which got its name from a silk factory, which closed down in 1875. The area lacks a bit in charm, but made it up with a great taverna: "Seychelles" (thanks to the guys from Noctua brewery we knew about it). Had an early dinner in this cozy space, operated by young people, interpreting old Greek classics in a new and creative way. Alone, their cheese menu - cheeses from all over Greece - was terrific and fit perfectly fine with the Fava dish and a spinach "pie", all considered "mezedes" (appetizers), but filling and delicious. And, of course, they had different house wines, too, half a liter less expensive than a little glass in Germany (or the U.S.).

Walked a couple more kilometers after dinner - not so much to burn calories, but to check out a few more places on our list. During the week, the streets and restaurants in old town (Plaka/Monastiraki) were really empty, tourists are missing. On weekends it's packed with Greeks, but not on a weekday in December. Discovered a couple more murals - a genre of art in which Athens is really filling a leading position in Europe.

Ta pedia tou Pirea – Never on Sunday

"Ein Schiff wird kommen" from the movie "Ta pedia tou Pirea" or "Never on Sunday" ("Sonntags nie") - a song by famous songwriter Manos Hadjidakis, sung by Melina Mercouri always comes to mind when visiting Piraeus. The port city of Athens is located about 7 mi. (12 km) southwest from the city center, on the east coast of the Saronic Gulf. The city was found in the early 5th century BC, and became the new chief harbor of ancient Greece. Today, Piraeus is still a buzzling, large city, and it is still the country's biggest harbor and the largest passenger port in Europe. Though,,, it's not Greek anymore, since in 2016, China's shipping firm Cosco purchased a majority stake in Piraeus port.

But, first things first: We had to move to another hotel this morning, but were fortunate and got our room at 10 am! We moved to the fantastic 5-star Grecotel Pallas Athena, very centrally located nearby Omonia Square and the Central Market. With its 60+ individually decorated guestrooms, it's considered a boutique hotel, and it offers great luxury. We got a nice, spacious "graffiti room" with French balconies and a view towards City Hall Square. Besides the fancy design in the room, fridge, safe, bathrobes, slippers, coffeemaker, water and (!) a bathtub, as well as a "pillow menu" are nice features of this hotel. The lobby is inviting and tastefully decorated, too, though currently featuring Christmas decoration. Looking forward to the breakfast buffet tomorrow!

And the view from our room:

After having checked in, we took the streetcar to Piraeus, a fun trip of about half an hour. Weather was like in September, sunny and warm. We walked from the final streetcar stop at the Olympiakos soccer stadium along the coast line to the city and - to our full surprise - many Greeks were still at the beach, swimming in the ocean! Wished, I had my bathing suit! A swim in the ocean with Bill Gate's yacht (not 100 % sure about it, but we read something along these lines) in the background,,,

What a beautiful walk along the waterfront to Micro Limani - the little harbor - plastered with little fish restaurants, on to Zea Harbor, the antique harbor, still with fishermen selling their catch from the boat. Crossing through downtown, passing the Archeological Museum we arrived at Pireus Harbor (Kantharos) with towering cruise ships, appearing like skyscrapers. Since the Chinese took over, all the huge cruise ships (pic below) are landing here,,, Would never want to be on one of them!

Before we checked out the harbor further, we had a late lunch at our favorite taverna in Pireus, more of a diner, with an semi-open seating area with five tables covered by solid umbrellas and tarps. It's an authentic greek taverna: When you walk in, you pass a counter with pots and pans showing what's offered today. You get further explanations by the owner/waiter and order what you want. It's delivered to your table (all at the same time), with fresh bread. We had maridaki (picarels) and moussaka (eggplant & minced meat casserole) and choriatiki (Greek Salad) with 1/2 liter local white wine and paid 23 Euro at the end. What a delicious meal!

On to the ferry harbor to check out the ferries to the Greek Islands and getting wanderlust. As students with big backpacks we took the next boat to an island, without pre-booking or worrying,,,








The market in Pireus was about to shut down, but we still got some provisions there. We criss-crossed downtown (which is totally ignorant when it comes to tourism) and, eventually, took the "Elektriki", the Athens–Piraeus Electric Railways, back into Athens. It's the oldest urban rapid transit system in Greece.

Checked out Kerameikos - the potters' quarter of Athens, and, at the same time, the site of an important cemetery featuring numerous monumental funerary sculptures - and, in the evening, Gazi (pics below), a neighborhood around a former natural gas depot, which was moved out of town in 1984. The stone buildings left behind are quite attractive and were restored and are functioning as sort of a cultural hub, museum and event space, surrounded by clubs, bars and restaurants. Our final destination was the oldest and major microbrewery in town in Gazi: Noctua, situated in an old garage. Four young guys have had the courage in 2017 to open this brewery, and, they do a great job now! We had a tour and "tasting" with one of the owners/founders and talked about (and admired) the courage, young people developed in tough times in Greece.