Meeting Carolyn
Trip Start
Mar 21, 2005
1
315
354
Trip End
Ongoing
Athens,
Attica,
Greece
Saturday, May 10, 2008
That afternoon, with beautiful puffy cumulus clouds and crisp skies, we went to the Acropolis for views across Athens, walking up slippery marble steps worn from millions of feet. The Acropolis was being restored so was covered with a metal frame, with cranes in the center. Still, you could picture how impressive the place would have been thousands of years ago, when Socrates and Plato and others would hold their dialectical debates around town.
Athens Acropolis
We sampled various foods in the area--kebabs, moussakas, gyros, Greek salads, souvlaki, spanakopita, and desserts--but were also happy to go to the market where the locals shopped and buy fresh feta, tomatoes, and bread to make Greek sandwiches.
For a few days, we explored the rest of modern Athens by foot and by metro, visiting the Antiquities Museum at Ommonia station, the Agora across the rails from our hotel, the Temple of Zeus near Syntagma, the ancient theatre behind the Acropolis, and mineature tenth century Byzantine churches, which were tucked into city squares about ten feet below the current sidewalk levels.
The museum was a good way to begin understanding the vast array of Greek culture scattered about dozens of islands and sites. After our eyes focused on dozens of significant masterpieces and finds, including the gold "Mask of Agamemnon," Aphrodite of Cnidus, Diadumenos, Frescoes from Santorini, vases, pottery, gold, tools, and statues from around the Greek world (see photographs).
At the same time, continuing with the tradition of this travelogue, I began to read the arguable most meaningful book for the area I was visiting, already having read the two Homeric epics back when I was living in Yunnan a couple years ago
Carolyn and the Acropolis
. Maybe subconsciously I was drawn to Greece from the beginning of this trip; hard to say. In this case, Carolyn brough me a tome of Greek philosophy chock full of Aristotle, Plato, and more, bought from the Amazon.com Marketplace. It's fair to say is that Greek philosophy lies at the roots of many parts of our thinking and shows remarkable parallels with Buddhism, Egyptian, and other worldly philosophies at the time.
One afternoon, we climbed to the top of the Areopagus for views of the entire city, from where the Venetians destroyed the Ottoman Turkish Acropolis ammunition reserves with an accurate cannon shot. Down below, was the "prison" where Socrates was allegedly held.
As we explored the thriving streets, we had moments to slowly catch up with one another and our lives. Along the way, we passed street musicians, telling grafitti, cafes, and hundreds of Greeks going about their lives. At night near the hotel, hundreds of people gathered at outdoor bars to drink and talk before going to weekend night clubs.
Among the culture both ancient and new, clearly Athens was a modern metropolis with good infrastructure, a thriving Euro economy, and relatively clean air
Athens
. Coming from Cairo, the cleanliness and expensive Euro and the Christian-European culture and the lack of a call to prayer and much less bustle and seeming chaos were striking contrasts. This was a city that would be almost unrecognizable to an Athenian such as Socrates or even one from just over a century ago, when Athens had fewer than 100,000 residents.On the Metro, a man tried to reach into my pocket, hiding his thieving hands under his jacket. I watched then hit his hand aside. A few seconds later he was trying the same thing with an old lady's pocketbook, so I moved closer to him and once again hit his hand aside, then stared him down, looking into his blank eyes.
Soon, we were off for Crete by overnight ferry. Carolyn had three weeks of vacation and a list of things she wanted to do, so we wanted to make the most of it all. Over these three weeks, we would visit four Greek Islands, the abode of Apollo, the Oracle of Delphi, mythological sites of Atlantis, the debating grounds of Plato and Socrates, the mountain of the gods, and perched monasteries.
Along the way, by train by foot by bus by ferry by car and sitting, we would catch up with conversations on our lives, the American election, life in America, spirituality, and more and eat desserts and ice cream and enjoy beautiful views, and walk through canyons and forests, and explore Greek culture, both ancient and present.
Here we go.
