Athens Hotels
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Acropolis, Parthenon and Ancient Athens
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Ok, when the 'Superfast Ferry' company timetablers detailed the arrival times for their overnight ferry from Bari to Patra they were clearly on hard drugs. Instead of arriving at the the early hour of 6am, we found ourselves docked in at the very inconvenient hour of 4.30am (3.30am Italian time), and hence were considerably knackered as a result of this untimely wake up call. Still dark outside, with a waxing crescent moon high up in the early morning sky, we trundled our weary eyed, half asleep carcasses to the nearby railway station as it opened up for the day.
From all accounts we were informed that mainland Greece and particularly Athens was a less than desirable destination for the backpacking tourist (quote 'Shithole'), so the master plan was to train it from Patra to Athens, take a brief tour of the sights, and jump on the quickest ferry from Athens to a sunny, luxurious Greek Island. A 5.55am train and we boarded it accordingly, a poky, rattly fiend of a train, more like a delapidated caboose. Things took an interesting turn as the ticket inspector with a thick Greek moustache approached us, questioned our desired destination, and shook his head with a mocking smirk when we replied 'Athens'. Athens was, of course, the opposite direction, and we had boarded the wrong caboose.
The next stop was a desolate, nowhere-town get off point called 'Btpatxia', with a toilet block sized station house and no platforms, the kind of stop that bums with swags might take advantage of in order to stowaway on a cargo full of farm-corn. Thankfully there was another train back to Patra, but it wasn't for another hour and a half, so we chilled in the effervescent Btpatxia for a while, and smelled the morning roses. Sun rose over a nearby mountain and the smell of our first Greek morning was pleasant on the senses.
The 7.52am to Athens via Patra was also an absolute prick of a train, far worse than the 5am caboose to God knows where, as it bandied our weary bodies from left to right like an enraged rodeo bull. If the option was available, i probably would have opted to take the bull from Patra to Athens instead, especially if it was covered by Eurail. Past the flickering, sun speckled Gulf of Corinth, Ancient Greek hills passed my train window, and it felt a little surreal to be in yet another country with such a rich, ancient history. We arrived at the Athens metro around noon and took the efficent 2004 Olympic-facelifted train system to the port station of Piraeus. Investigating the possibility of getting to the island of Santorini poste-haste, we booked tickets for the 10pm overnight ferry with cabins beds instead of the customary floor. Success. Meanwhile, we had a good afternoon to kill in the city of Athens - time to check out some more old stuff.
I really enjoyed seeing the ancient landmarks of Athens. The Pantheon, perched high up atop the ancient granite hill the 'Acropolis', yielded an inspiring 360 degree view of the Athenian sprawl, the dry shrub stained hills surrounding the city giving a real impression of being 'ancient'. This place just felt so much 'older' than Rome and Italy, like a good portion of the original Greece lay seperate and untouched by modern civilisation. Unlike some parts of Italy, these ancient sites had more of sense of seperation from the modern world, not terribly manicured or polished for the tourist crowd, proudly on display despite the ravaging effects of time and the elements. They were far away enough from the modern city to allow you to easily step back in time, appreciate and imagine.
We consumed our first Greek 'Gyros' on the way back to the metro and relished in the authentic flavours. Late night souvlakis back home would never be the same again, and Brunswick Street's 'Souvlaki King' best take heed and abdicate it's self appointed throne immediately.
After a complete wild goose chase trying to locate an Internet Cafe, we spent some time on the net, then threw down another top notch Gyros (two actually), before boarding the 10pm ferry to Santorini. With 3 hours sleep in the last 36 hours, i was really starting to wig out, having intense mental difficulty processing my location in the world, and Brooks and Rev were in a similar boat (no puns). At last we had a real bed, and a chance to mentally process the distance travelled, and the fact that we were once again heading off to a fresh land.
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| 41. | Acropolis, Parthenon and Ancient Athens - Athens, Greece May 22, 2006 |
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