Athens: dirty but ancient

Our train arrived in Athens in the mid-afternoon which meant that by the time we walked to our hostel nearby and got settled in, we had given up on the idea of doing any major sightseeing that day. Instead, we contented ourselves with discovering the location of a nearby grocery store offering slim pickings in the fresh fruit department but great deals on 2 Euro plastic bottles of retsina. We also became acquainted with a cheap eatery a block from the market where we ended up eating 2 meals a day for the length of our time in Athens. I think I'd rather be struck dead than see another kebab pita sandwich again. Amir can't get enough of them, though.

On the next morning, we equipped ourselves for a full day of sightseeing and set off by Metro in search of the Acropolis. Once there, we quickly coined new terms for the Euroskanks abounding there that were area appropriate. Such as, Acropohoes, Acroposluts and pitachippies. Tickets to get into the Acropolis cost us 12 Euro each which, when combined with our hostel, left us 2 Euros for meals if we had stuck with our budget.

The Acropolis, with its Parthenon and Temple of Dionysus, was very, very old. Some group or other was in the midst of rehabilitating it so we could clearly see the old, yellowy colored stone contrasted sharply with the new white stone they were using to fill in the gaps. We walked around the ruins, all twelve columns of them, and then found ourselves wondering, "What next?" From the viewpoint at the far end of the Acropolis, we could see the Temple of Zeus and Hadrian's Library and some other equally decrepit ruins. So we basically saw the glory of Athens' antiquity in 40 minutes.

Not to be deterred from getting our city's worth, we walked onward and upward to the National Gardens a few blocks away where, for no cost whatsoever, we could enjoy a fountain that spit up water in amusing patterns, weird stone head sculptures and a misplaced zoo of goats, roosters and peacocks. There wasn't much to see on the botanical front, however. Afterwards, we decided to walk most of the way home to get a better flavor on Athens city living. What we found were boutique shops no one in Greece could afford, loads of cheap outdoor cafes filled with youth and age alike, a somewhat dirty and tacky attempt at a grand square (Omonia) in the middle of downtown and then back to the urine-smelling immigrant section where our hostel was located.

The next day, having exhausted our more ancient sightseeing options, we set off to explore both the flea and the Sunday markets near the Syntagma square, which Amir referred to as the stigmata square. We soon found out that prayer beads are all the rage in Athens amongst the Greek Orthodox. Who knew? Athenians are also very fond of cheap watches, used clothing and porno mags. These are the signs of a weakening economy, for sure.

The day after our marketing excursion, we took ourselves off to Piraeus Port by Metro and caught the Alexandros ferry to the lovely island sanctuary of Aegina where we booked ourselves in for a true vacation within a vacation.