Athens, Greece – October 26 – 29, 2012

Caught in the act!!

From Izmir we hopped a plane for the short trip to Athens. We decided to take the train to the station closest to our hotel which was in downtown Athens with a view of the Acropolis. Our hotel was great (we had a Sex Shop at the end of our street so that became a landmark when we explored at night and were trying to find our way back to the hotel).  Jeff has done an amazing job finding hotels with comfortable rooms and great breakfasts included in the price. We dropped our bags and immediately began exploring the narrow streets and outdoor cafes.

Some pretty artistic stuff

And some not so artistic

The first thing we noticed was the amount of graffiti on every surface- even on the trees. The garbage bins were overflowing and we had to put up with more beggars than we had anywhere else in our travels. Despite this, a lot of the graffiti was quite artistic and when Jeff went for a late evening stroll he came upon a young “artist” working her magic on a wall. Despite the financial crisis in Greece, we saw lots of young Greeks out for the evening, eating and drinking at the cafes and everyone was smoking!!!

Ruins next to the tracks and the grafitti

We also could not get over all the unearthed archeological sites that would be right next to a café or shop. The areas would be fenced off but it is clear the Greek government does not have the money to clear the area of debris and open it to the public. Many of these sites were discovered when the metro station was built. Even in the metro, you can see ruins unearthed and on display!

Our first view of the Acropolis from near our hotel

In front of the Erechtheion

The ladies of the Erechtheion

Corner view of the Parthenon

Our view from the Acropolis

The Parthenon

The west eave detail of the Parthenon

The east eave detail of the Parthenon

Once you get by all the graffiti, Athens is a beautiful city. We walked up to the archaeological site of Acropolis (which is a UNESCO”S world heritage monument) and spent the afternoon exploring all the amazing buildings there. Of course the main attraction is the Parthenon where they continue to work on as they unearth more materials to rebuild one of the inner walls. There is also the Propylade, Temple of Athena Nike and the Erechtheion with its porch of Maidens. We had a panoramic view of the entire city and the hills and seas beyond. It was breathtaking. Since this was off season, the hill was not crowded at all and we took our time exploring. One of the things I liked most about Athens was that there were not a lot of new high rises and condominiums to spoil the view of the ancient city. The weather was perfect too. We have had great weather on the entire trip.

Athens street view from the Acropolis

Panorama to the west from the Acropolis

Roman Temple of Olympian Zeus

Other archaeological highlights included the Roman Temple of Olympian Zeus (with the surviving columns) and Hadrian’s Arch.

Hadrian's Arch

We also visited the New Acropolis Museum. This museum ranks as one of the most important museums of the world. For the first time ever all the surviving treasures of the Acropolis are seen together in one place. It was an amazing structure. The third floor is the same size as the Parthenon and the friezes removed from the original site are displayed on the outside wall exactly as they appeared on the Parthenon thousands of years ago. Votives, artifacts of everyday life, statues from the archaic period, Caryatids and the metopes and pediments of the Parthenon are all on display. Most of the pieces are not behind glass and you can get right up to them (no velvet ropes either). You are not allowed to photograph any of the pieces nor touch them, but it was a wonder to be so close to them. They were nothing short of amazing. The first thing you notice is that most of the statues have lost their noses. I could have spent days inside. While wondering around I thought of Jan Dorl and Kristi Ferrise and the art lessons that this museum could inspire!!!! It made me miss teaching!!!! Another interesting feature of this museum is that it is built on top of an archeological site so they used glass on the floors leading to the museum so you could see below. 

Greek street musician we spoke with. The Santouri is an old Greek instrument.

Being serenaded as we ate.

We ate our fill of Greek salads, gyros, souvlaki and tazasiki; I did my best to taste all the local beers. We explored the streets and shops, tasted different sweets and enjoyed late afternoon coffees.  It was time now to head to the Greek island of Corfu for a break from ruins, temples, churches and Buddhas.

Every street and alley had cafes

Someone looking over Beth's shoulder as she enjoyed her Souvlaki

Corfu- the perfect island!  
October 29 - November 1, 2012

View from our hotel in Corfu

A 2 minute walk from our hotel in front of the Old Fortress

We took another plane to Corfu, an island paradise 60 km long and 30 km wide. Corfu- Kerkyra in Greek, is the most northerly of the Ionian islands and is celebrated as the “Garden Isle” of Greece. It boasts some four million olive trees and has an immense number of wild flowers. Its climate is mild but it does get its fair share of rain as we discovered on our last day there.

The moat around the old fort, notice the little houses that are still occupied

Old Fortress at dusk

The historical periods imprinted on the island’s landscape and life includes Classical Greek, Byzantine, Roman, French, British and Venetian. In the old quarter of the city of Corfu, the Venetian influence can be seen in the buildings and narrow streets. There are lots of terraced gardens, old churches and shrines. There are wide pedestrian walkways where numerous outdoor cafes compete for your business. Corfu is a favorite with the British (lots of warm sunshine) and the Germans. We heard every language spoken except Spanish.

And at night

Beth at rest in front of the Church at the Old Fort

 We decided to rent a car in Corfu so we could explore the island over the three days that we would be here. Our hotel had an excellent view of the water and the Old Fortress. From our balcony we could watch the ships and ferries depart and the moon rise each night to light up the water; very romantic!

Almost abandoned streets, nice being there off season

hanging out

Bell tower of old church in Corfu

Old well from 1699 in the center of town

The happy couple

We first explored the narrow streets and shops in the downtown section and then went over to the Old Fortress. As we walked across the bridge, there was a young couple getting their wedding pictures taken. Over the course of this trip, we have seen numerous brides and grooms having their photos taken at scenic and historic sites. Jeff always tries to snap a photo or two of the bride and groom.

The Old Fortress dominates the east side of the city of Corfu. It is the city’s most characteristic monument and is linked with the most important phases of its history during the Byzantine and Post-Byzantine periods. It was built on a huge rock and was an important defense site when the

Venetians ruled Corfu at the end of the 14^th century. In 1537 the fort held out during the long siege of Corfu by the Ottoman Turks, who attempted on several occasions to conquer the island without success. During the early 1800’s the English rebuilt a lot of the fort and it was not until 1864 that the island was united with the rest of Greece. A great deal of the fort was destroyed during WW II. It was fascinating to explore and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. The Greek style building at the bottom was the Church of Ayios Georgios.

Our little Suzuki for exploring Corfu

 

Fast asleep in the fishing nets

I got a big one!! I think I'll slip is down his shirt when he's not looking.

Ready for the next day's fishing

Old olive grove with nets to catch the olives as the ripen

on the tree

In the nets

From our lunch taverna on the south east coast

The northwest coast of Corfu

Last blooms of fall

Resting for the winter season

Squid, the best we ate, and sardine lunch

Safe harbor on the south east coast

Along the south east coast

We explored most of the island (going north one day and heading south the next) and especially enjoyed the scenic drive and small fishing villages along the way. A great deal of the island outside Corfu City was closed down for the season but we did manage to find a delightful café on the water’s edge owned by a father and son. Like most of the people on this island, they all spoke English and passable German and French. Since we were the only customers there, our host sat with us a bit and chatted about the island and his business. He said he could rent us a room for only 25 Euros a night during his off season.  He was very interesting. We had an outstanding lunch. Jeff had a huge plate of fresh fried sardines; heads and all, and I had the best fried fresh- out –of- the- water squid I have ever tasted. It had the barest of batter and was in chunks instead of rings. It was amazing and of course we had our hundredth Greek salad. The tomatoes and cucumbers were mouthwatering!!! There was way too much food and the 7 cats hanging around got our leftovers!!! 

All of our dinners were outstanding- the first night was at a fish tavern and the second an Italian restaurant. We were well fed on this island.

On our last day, a huge storm blew in with giant waves crashing over the stone breakwater. The wind and rain were intense and the ports and airports were closed. We watched as a few men tried to save a sailboat that had swamped. I kept thinking the waves were going to wash them out to sea.

We kept checking with the front desk about our ferry but were told the boats were not running. So we hung out at the hotel with a front row seat of the sea and when the storm finally broke, we caught the first ferry we could to get to Igomenitsa so we would not miss our connecting ferry to Ancona, Italy.  

When Jeff checked the “what to do in Igomenitsa”, it came up – Nothing, Nada, Nine, Zero, Zilch!!! And they were right. We got our bags checked into a locker and decided to catch some dinner at one of two cafes we could find.

After that, we had a long wait in the ferry terminal where dogs and kids roamed in and out and the flies and mosquitoes were the worst we had ever seen. To make matters worse, the storm had put all the ferries behind and ours was now scheduled to leave until 2:00 AM!!! 

For my friend Leehman - In front of our hotel

The storm from our hotel room the day we were trying to leave

Full moon from our room the night before we left Corfu

However once aboard the ferry- which resembled a good size cruise ship with restaurants, a small casino, disco, bars, shops etc.- we were shown to our cabin and were able to drop our bags and go explore the ship and watch it depart. At first, it seemed we were on a ghost ship as we did not see a single soul for awhile. Eventually a few more passengers got on. We finally got to bed around 3:00 AM. Since we have a Eurail pass, we could have slept on deck for free, but it was chilly and I was ready for a bed- any kind of bed!!!! The passage was smooth, the food okay and the people watching interesting. We spent most of our time hanging out in the Marathon Lounge- a bit of home- with an internet connection. We meet Mike and Gail Parenti this evening in Ancona, Italy and will spend a glorious week with them at their farmhouse in scenic Umbria. Mike and Gail are close friends from Marathon who winter in the Keys and spend the rest of the time in Italy.  We can’t wait to hang out with our good friends, enjoy the food and meet their neighbors, some of whom we have met, and others we have heard so much about. I am ready to switch from beer to wine. The journey continues………….

The Hellenic Spirit - our transportation to Italy, part cruise ship, part vehicle ferry, and very fast, about 25 knots