1/2/09 You're Up: Athens

I ended up sleeping for around two hours before getting up to shower, pack and catch the buses down to Victoria. It went so smooth that I had to kill off some time, nearly an hour. The station is huge, and not heated, so it was rather chilly. I bought a hot chocolate and waited around until they announced which train was mine.

The ride down was pretty quick, about 40 minutes, the worst part was battling sleep and worrying about missing my stop. I read through my Athens guide and once I finished it was about time to leave.

The airport is nice, easy to maneuver about, although there were a number of stretches were I was the only person for a while. I think I got here too early. They hadn’t even announced which gate my flight was going to leave from, although I cheated and saw when I was at the train station that it was out of 111. Security here was easy to get through, in fact they were helpful. There were many bags available for liquids and good signs telling people that if they had electronics in their pockets, they should put them in their coat or bag instead of messing around with the bins. Good stuff.

The first time through security I didn’t even have to take my shoes off. I was pretty excited. My laptop set off alarms and they had to swipe it down with what looked like a Swifer duster. I asked the guy if he could clean my screen while he was at it. He even laughed. Turns out there was no bomb in my laptop.

Once I passed through security, I entered another room with another conveyor belt just for shoes. I was disappointed. I thought the Brits were past that. It ran pretty smoothly, so maybe it’s a better way of handling it. I wonder what it takes to be a shoe inspector. I mean seriously, do they ever expect to catch anyone in their career? It would be a huge bust.

I went and sat down by the gate and even found a plug for my laptop. Now if airports would only offer free wi-fi.

I got a window seat and no one sat next to me, so I slept almost the entire flight. Customs was basically, hand us your passport, we’ll stamp it, and go. Painless. I found the way to the subway (all the sings are in English as well) but I just missed it, so I had to wait a half hour. I got to the hostel around 2, was given my room (me and two other guys, we have our own bathroom too, it’s pretty nice) and went out to the Acropolis. It’s literally right behind the building.


The sun was out and it was just gorgeous. The trees and foliage here are very Mediterranean. I climbed up to the entrance and found out they were closing it. They close at 3 everyday. I was bummed. So I went up to the top of the rock next to it and looked down on the city. It was really impressive. St. Paul used to preach from around there.

I went down the other side of the hill and wandered by the Agora, the marketplace where Socrates used to speak. There is a flea market close by, and I think I’m going to get a bag and maybe shoes here. Things are cheap and they have a big selection. In many ways, it was a lot like Venice Beach. There was a surprising amount of graffiti around. There are also a ton of stray dogs and cats. But it gives the city character. It feels like an old European city. I’d rather have some dirt than a gleaming new city. I felt very safe their the entire time however.


I spent most of the time just exploring the area (and trying to get a table to eat, but I think the place was closed because they didn’t seem interested in serving me) before coming back and taking a shower. I walked passed some kids playing soccer in the street. This is sort of what I picture Brooklyn in the 40's like.




I went out in a different direction and saw the gate of Athens put up by Caesars and the Temple of Zeus. You can’t help but run into things thousands of years old. Even just walking down the street they have excavations from centuries BC.

I went through the National Gardens and passed Parliament into a newer, hipper part of town. It felt like London, so I went back toward the older part of the city, although a Greek lady came up to me, said something in Greek, and handed me a Lipton Lemon Green Tea. I took it, it looked like she was giving them away. Or maybe I just stole it from her. It wasn't very good, but I was so thirsty that I downed it quick.

On the way, I saw them doing a changing of the guards in front of Parliament. It was the most ridiculous thing I saw. They wore huge shoes with a ball on them and would kick their legs up, taking funny steps and scraping their feet on the ground. It looked like Goofy was doing the changing of the guard.

I went back into Agora and hung out at the top of the Acropolis overlooking the city again. It was dark now and gave a different view. The Acropolis is all light up and rather impressive. You can see it from almost everywhere here.

I ate at a café overlooking the ruins of the Agora and sat outside. The temperature was really pleasant, although I was happy to have my coat. I ordered a Greek Salad, which was pretty good. The oil and feta cheese they put on it was awesome. I nearly at the whole thing, an accomplishment since cucumbers play a large role in it.

I also got Eggplant with feta cheese, tomato and onion in it. It was terrific.

I sat around waiting for them to bring me the check but apparently they brought it with the food and I had to go inside to pay. Weird. It started to rain but I wanted to get a dessert so I went to a little place around the corner and got some baklava. I don’t really remember getting baklava before, but I loved it. I took it up to the Acropolis and ate while looking at the city. It was a nice day.

I came back to the hostel around 10 and one of my roommates was already sleeping, which is good. I went to the 5th floor balcony and wrote a column about the Super Bowl and sent it to RedEye (I’d say there’s about a 1 in 500 chance it gets published, but I can rework it for The DePaulia at worst). I went wandering around the streets and found some WiFi and sent it in before coming back and typing this up on the couches in the lounge area. This is a much nicer hostel than the last one I was at.

I’m going to get up around 8, get free breakfast here, and make my way over to the Acropolis for when it opens around 8:30. I plan on spending from 8:30-3 looking at archeological sites (the Acropolis ticket gets you into a bunch of different sites, and I think as an EU student, I get it for free). It should be a pretty eventful day.

I don’t think I’ll get pictures up until I get back (since I’d have to stand around on the street and load them), but I should be able to get the text up.

My column was about missing the Super Bowl. It’s a weird feeling. I always loved being at home and watching the game, I wish I could be there but being in Athens isn’t so bad either. I asked the Brits if they ever watched the game and they asked what sport it was. I haven’t seen anything about it over here. Kind of interesting.

I’m rooting for the Cardinals while I sleep.