July 27 to 30
First impression: Athens is a huge city in a desert! When I flew in, it looked like I was flying into the Middle East. As far as I could see, there were brown hills with no sign of life. I was surprised not to see any tall buildings. Everything I saw in Athens was a max of around 8 stories.
City Center
My hotel was a block from Monastiraki, which is the downtown/ city center area, at least in a historical sense. The streets there are pretty much walking only, although there is an occasional car or motorcycle. There is a street that has all the fashion stores, a street with restaurants and a street with kick knacks. I heard that these streets are the old Roman and Greek markets. They’re right next to the Acropolis and nearby ruins so it’s believable. A sign at one of the excavation sites said the newer streets cover up parts of the ruins. The street with the clothes stores is the busiest at times it’s pretty hard to walk.
Acropolis, nearby ruins and Filopapou hill
All these ruins are impressive to see to give perspective as to how new everything I see in my daily life really is. I wonder what Seattle will look like in 2000+ years. There were lots of sacred places built to worship their gods. A few of the sites are on the hill tops in Athens which afford a nice view of the expanse of buildings and out to the Med.
Glyfada
When I asked the hotel receptionist where would be a good place to go at night, he recommended I go to Glyfada. Glyfada is about an hour tram (light rail) ride from Monastiraki. First night: fail. Got off the stop that was called “Glyfada” and there was only a hotel by the sea, surrounded by giant houses. The last train went back 30 minutes after I arrived so I walked along a boardwalk next to a marina for a bit and got back on the tram. I decided to give it another try the next night. I found out that there are several tram stops in Glyfada and this time learned the correct stop for the center fo Glyfada. Glyfada is a nice town on the shore of the Mediterranean. Reminds me a bit of Southern California. It is supposed to be famous for its night life but as far as I could tell, night life in Greece consists of going to a restaurant with your friends. I wasn’t going to go to a restaurant by myself so I walked around the town then jumped back on the train.
Quick Facts
Communication barrier: none. Everyone spoke pretty good English and communication was never a problem.
Food: similar to Greek food at home. Even the fast food restaurants served gyros. One difference: gyros here have French fries in them. Funky.
Friendliness: good. Everyone I asked for help seemed happy to lend a hand.
