"Journey to the West" - Greece (Part 1): Athens, Delphi, Meteora

Prologue:

- My dad will be turning 60 this year, so he thought he wanted to do something special. He has always dreamed of going to Greece, and he felt that it was the perfect time to do it; Greece to my dad is like India to me, although I can assure that his fancy for Greece is not as deep as my passion for India. He told us that he became a bit interested in Greece after reading about them in his history books in school, and has always believed Greece to be the first civilization. (I actually had a heated argument with my dad ages ago because I had to break it to him that Greece is neither the first civilization/cradle of human civilization, nor the only "advanced" ancient civilization; the first permanent settlements and cities were in Asia and Northeast Africa. Of course, he did not take it well, although I do not blame him for thinking this way, since the textbooks he used ages ago were very Western-centric, and Asia was merely seen from an orientalist perspective - that is, that Asia, and other non-Western countries, are portrayed as "exotic" places shrouded by mystery, eroticism, and a lack of European sophistication. Let's say no to orientalism, please. Also, my dad has slowly accepted my side of the argument.)

- Although this trip was mainly about my dad, and we were happy that he finally decided to go to his dream country, this trip was also big for me. It was my first trip outside Asia. More importantly, I received my comprehensive exam results on the day I left for the airport, and I got a "high pass." I cannot even begin to explain the tension of the moment when I received the e-mail. If I had bad results, I don't think I would've enjoyed the trip, and just spent my time worrying. I was so happy that I felt the heavens decided to have my exam results released so I could fully enjoy Greece, and let it be a reward for the long suffering I had to prepare for my comprehensive exams. Thank goodness, I can breathe a bit before I start my thesis.

- We got a package tour for this trip, because it would be easier to get a Schengen visa if travelling to Europe by package tour, and because my family usually likes to travel without the hassle of the everyday commute. (I prefer to travel alone and experience the everyday-commuter life of whichever destination I go to, but since I'm travelling with my family, well, I think a little luxury wouldn't hurt too, especially since I passed my compre exams anyway.)



The trip:

- April 15-17, 2014, Tuesday to Thursday.

- We flew from Manila to Abu Dhabi, and from Abu Dhabi to Athens, via Etihad Airways. We arrived at Greece in the early afternoon, and proceeded with our city tour of Athens. Prior to the trip, I came to know that the places of interest of Athens are mostly beside or across one other, and so they are best covered by walking. Athens, like many parts of Greece,  also has many small streets with interesting shops and surprises; these can also be best appreciated if travelling by foot. Athens' central avenue is called Syngrou Avenue, and is where all the main buildings and establishments are situated. including the Acropolis.

Not sure why the prayer rooms are located beside the toilet; cleansing perhaps?? (Ritual washing before prayer I think??)

Wherever I go, India goes with me. I swear I was an Indian in my past life.

First step in Europe.

"Athenai."

Oh lookie, Hadrian's Arch from the bus.

- The Acropolis ("high city",) was the first thing we visited. It was made on top of the second highest hill, since it had a flatter surface. The walk from the group up to the hill was surprisingly not as tiring as initially thought. On the way up gives a good view of the Theater of Dionysius, an ancient theater that is currently still being used during some special festivals in Athens.

The Parthenon, being renovated.

Theater of Dionysius.

- Of course, the most important structure in the Acropolis was the Parthenon, a temple built for Athena in 4th century BC (around the time Ashoka from India's Mauryan Empire was spreading Buddhism in Southeast Asia,) at some point was used as a treasury, a church, a mosque, and was finally bombed by the Venetians in the late 1600s; this bombing led to the destruction of the Parthenon and many structures surrounding it. Today, the Greek government has been restoring/renovating the Parthenon, and so plenty of cranes, chains, and metal rods serve as annoying photobombers for tourists. At least, their government has been trying to restore the Parthenon to its original appearance, unlike the hideous restorations being done in Manila lately. (Has anyone seen the restored Binondo Church lately? Puke. I still like its old "antique brick" appearance, before it was being "restored." I know many people who agree with me on this.)

- The Acropolis also gives tourists a great view of Athens. Athens, by the way, is a densely-packed city with a few hills standing in different parts of the city. Greece is one of the most mountainous countries in Europe, and so cities and towns built either in the valleys, on hills, mountains or plateaus, or at least on the slopes, are very common.

The Philoppapous Monument from the Acropolis.

Temple of Hephaestus.

A religious rock.

Temple of Nike.

Columns from the Propylaea (gate.)

Photobombing cranes.

Erechtheion.

The Porch of the Caryatids.

Details of the Parthenon.

The back side of the Parthenon.

The (giant) Greek flag.

See the Parthenon at the bottom?? Haha.

Temple of Zeus from the Acropolis.

The highest hill in Athens.

Ionian columns.

Lions.

- We visited the Pan Athenaic Olympic Stadium next, the Olympic stadium where the first modern Olympic games (1896, the year Jose Rizal was shot to death) was held. It was a brief photo stop before our quick on-bus tour of the city. We passed by the Syntagma Square in the city center, the House of Parliament, the three adjacent buildings of the Athens Academy, the university, and the National Library. The bus whizzed by quickly, so I wasn't able to take photos of them at that moment. (I was able to take photos of them during our last few days after we went back to Athens from Santorini.)

Pan Athenaic Olympic Stadium.

Guards (Evzones) in front of the House of Parliament, guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier  

- We had a nice dinner in a taverna in Plaka Street, and fortunately, we were given an hour after dinner to shop. Plaka Street is known for its souvenir shops, cafes, and tavernas. The Plaka area is near other shopping areas like Monastiraki (more about Monastiraki in a later post.) Plaka's streets are narrow, with picturesque buildings. It reminded me of Seoul's Insadong Street, but Insadong is wider with more shops. Shops in Greece usually open late in the morning, close around 2-4/5pm for lunch-and-siesta break, open again from early evening until 9-10, or perhaps 11pm in other more touristy areas like Mykonos or Santorini.

Plaka.

Hadrian's Arch again.

- During my first day in Greece, I realized that what travel blogs said were true - the Greeks speak perfect English, and so learning Greek is not necessary to get by, but like the many times that I've traveled, learning the local language (written and spoken) can help a million, most especially in countries like Greece where haggling is also a norm when buying souvenirs. When it comes to reading/recognizing Greek, I think that many people know the Greek alphabet, but they just don't realize that they do; almost all Greek letters are used in math and science classes (i.e. alpha decay, beta particle, gamma ray, sigma as summation (statistics,) omega, etc.) Of course there are some pronunciation exceptions and orthographic changes that can be learned and easily understood when people to study the Greek language, but generally the symbols should be recognizable. Apart from this, I also realized that my body now has a better tolerance for the cold weather - it likes the cold weather so much that while everyone, including the locals, were wearing jackets, boots, sometimes even scarves, I was outside (10-11 degrees Celsius the lowest, 18-20 degrees the highest) wearing a normal thin shirt with normal pants, and my gladiator sandals; some Greeks were even asking me if I felt cold, but I just told them that my body wanted to absorb as much of the cold weather as I could, since it's burning hot in the Philippines at this time of the year.

- We stayed at Athens Ledra Hotel, located at Syngrou Avenue. It was a nice hotel, but free wifi was only available at the lobby. The hotel shuttle van from Ledra to Syntagma Square (from which all other places of interest will be accessible by foot,) charged a minimum fee within a schedule; we weren't able to use the van because we didn't have time to go wandering off on our own after our late dinner.

- Our second day in Greece started with a long bus ride to Kalambaka, but we had to drop by Delphi, situated at Mount Parnassus, to visit the ruins of the Temple of Apollo, where the ancient people believed was the "navel of the Earth." Delphi is also the place where the "musical Olympics" is held.

Passed by a nice Byzantine-style church. (Most churches in Greece are Byzantine anyway.)

Nice scenery on the way to Delphi.

Windmills!!

Marijuana Iced Tea. No it didn't give me hallucinations.

Passed by the hilltop town of Arachova.

Arachova's Clock Tower.

- Before going to the actual ruins, we stopped by the museum to know more about the location, and see the statues and treasures excavated in the site. I also came to know that there is a rule in Greece that people cannot take photos of themselves beside statues after an incident with a group of students; the students took photos with some statues while doing inappropriate gestures, and wrote bad things about Greece, such as Greece not having strict rules and regulations. I don't know how the Greek government found out about this, but they did, and so the government acted on that, "and I hope the students got what they wanted from Greek government," our guide said.

A Sphynx, not the Egyptian kind.

They're supposed to be twins who were put to a "sleep that lasted forever" by Hera.

Unearthed gods.

A bull.

Ancient musical notes.

Sculptures outside the museum.

Fat cats.

- It rained the whole afternoon, while we were "enjoying" the Temple of Apollo. (It was hard to enjoy it while being wet, muddy, and outdoors, under the rain.) We had a nice lunch afterwards, at least, and had another very long ride to Kalambaka, where the curved rock formations/mountains of Meteora can be found. These rock formations used to be under water (several millions of years ago,) and are evidenced by the seashell fossils that were dug up even in the higher parts of these mountains. Meteora is also famous for the Byzantine monasteries and nunneries that were built on top of some of Meteora's rock structures. These monasteries and nunneries still run today, and also frequented by tourists.

Ruins.

Ancient Roman agora (market place.)

Stories carved on all big bricks that serve as borders/walls.

Ancient Athenian treasury.

Rainy day.

Theater.

- The sky also cleared up on our way to Kalambaka, which was great, although we all still wished that the Apollo the sun god was kinder to us while we were visiting his once-glorious temple in Delphi.

Meteora from afar.

- Our hotel, Divani Meteora, was located near the footsteps of the Meteora formations; it had a good view of it too. A long souvenir street with cafes and restaurants was located right outside the hotel too. The only first-world problem of the hotel? No free wifi. We stayed there for one night, so it didn't matter as much.

From the hotel.

Byzantine-style picture of Justininan I.

This picture was in between floors in our hotel.

A giant camera for display at the lobby.

- The following day, I got up early, but too early for breakfast. The moon was still up, and just as the sun was about to rise completely, I decided to have a little photoshoot behind the hotel, with the Meteora formations behind me.

Photoshoot!!

- After breakfast, we went up the rock formations to visit a monastery and a nunnery. We first went inside The Holy Monastery of the Great Meteoron, the largest monastery, built in the 14th century. Apart from the usual prayer halls, the monastery has a small exhibition hall, an old hospital. and a gift shop. The prayer halls also had some lit incense sticks, very earthy and fragrant, which reminded me of the ones that were used in Buddhist temples in Nepal (and Tibet too, most likely.) The Byzantine-style orthodox paintings also reminded me of the thanka wall paintings in Nepalese/Tibetan Buddhist temples. a lot of gold was used, and plenty of mudras (hand gestures) were used by the people in the paintings. The prayer chants also sounded like Tibetan-Buddhist mantras too.

Snow-capped mountain.

Photo stop in front of the Holy Monastery of St. Nicholas Anapausas.

Very deep formations too.

The Holy Monastery of Great Meteoron.

We're here!!

Inside the church.

From the exhibit hall.

- The monasteries and nunneries had some interesting features in their compounds too. Since these religious buildings were high up the rock mountains, they usually transported their needs from the main road, or from the bottom of the rock mountains, through cables and pulleys. At least the monks and nuns did not have to go down from the monasteries and nunneries regularly. Well, they do avoid contact with people (to avoid temptation,) aside from the devotees.

- After The Holy Monastery of the Great Meteoron, we drove to the Holy Monastery of St. Stephen, a former church destroyed by the nazis, but was reconstructed by nuns, and so it now functions as a nunnery. Unlike most Meteora monasteries/nunneries, this church/nunnery was built on the plain/plateau side of the mountain, not on a cliff. The Holy Monastery of St. Stephen was smaller than the first one, and had newer wall paintings in the Byzantine style. It also had a small exhibition room and a gift shop.

Crossing the short bridge to The Holy Monastery of St. Stephen.

Overlooking the valley.

The monastery, the rock formations, the valley, the town, and the snow-capped mountain from afar.

- We had lunch at Kalambaka before another long bus ride back to Athens for an overnight at Athens Ledra before the next leg of our tour - the two famous islands of the Cyclades (Mykonos and Santorini.)