St John Travel Blog: Athens

Athens was the most disgusting city I have ever seen. I would rather not relive the stench, grime, panhandling, and generally gross feeling I had while we were there. Instead I would like to focus on the ruins we saw, which were in such stark contrast to everywhere else in Athens that it felt like a different world.

Acropolis Museum

We started at the Acropolis Museum, which is really beautiful and positively stuffed with artifacts and information. It's also only about seven bucks a person, which is kind of insane. The museum is built over the ruins of a small village, and you can walk over it and look down to see the site. They are working on preparing it for visitors in the future to walk around through it.

In the lobby the walls are covered with artifacts from about 1500 BC and later. Everything from cooking pots to marriage vases to loom weights to toys for children to makeup bowls to jewelry and you name what else. They do not allow photography of any kind in the museum, but we did buy a book from their bookstore that has photos of pretty much everything.

On the second floor we found tons of statues of the gods as well as everyday people, and even some treaties between Athens and other cities. It was incredibly cool to be able to actually read certain things, like "Samos" on the treaty between Athens and Samos, that were carved into stone a few millennia ago.

The third floor had a movie area where they described the history of the parthenon. From the movie, we learned that the parthenon has been through several wars, was turned into a church, was turned into a mosque, endured fires and explosions, and was pillaged by many groups and individuals. What was left of the statues and carvings have been removed from the parthenon and placed in the museum in order to secure and preserve them. A large number of the pieces were removed by a British lord in the 1800s and are still at the British Museum, which is a huge controversy.

On the same floor was an exhibit about how historians and archeologists are learning about the statues and artifacts by replicating them with the same tools, materials, and techniques.

The top floor was all about the parthenon. In fact, they basically created a large rectangular donut around the central area of the floor, and they placed the carvings and statues according to how they were positioned in the parthenon. So you could walk all the way around, following the stories told in the carvings. We had to come back a second time to see everything we wanted to see.

Acropolis

The next day we hiked up to the Acropolis, which was no small feat. It was really incredible to be there and think about how many thousands of years there have been people walking through it. It was a good place for a citadel because it was high up and offered a good view of the surrounding land. I will post photos because it is too difficult to describe with words. But I really think everyone should go see it if they ever get the opportunity, despite my non-love for Athens in general.

Agora

Our last day in Athens (and Greece) we were spent and gross and ready to go home. But we wanted to make the most of our day, so we went to the ancient agora and wandered around. Then, because my feet were aching from being on our feet all day at the museum and then hiking up to the Acropolis, we sat down under a shady tree in the middle of the agora and read a book together. We were reading Penelope's Daughter, which takes place in ancient Greece, so it was appropriate.

Trekking Home

I also don't want to relive the nightmare of trying to get back home, but I can't very well make this statement

I will never, ever, ever, ever, ever again fly to or through Heathrow Airport ever.

without some sort of explanation. So here it is:

There was fog in London (imagine that). Boarded our plane from Athens to London on time. Sat on the plane, unmoving, for three hours before taking off. Landed in London with 30 minutes to get to our gate. Waited 30 minutes for a bus to take us to our terminal. A couple buses drove by without stopping because they were too full to take on additional passengers. Finally bussed to our terminal, which was a 15 minute ride. Entered a hell dimension in which we were passed from one line to the next to the next, only to be told we were in the wrong line and needed to go to a different one, surrounded by extremely angry people who had missed multiple flights because of the disorganization, for six consecutive hours. People were yelling and breaking down crying. Finally got to the counter, waited 30 minutes to be told we needed to go back to our original terminal because they couldn't help us. During this time we had no idea where our luggage was or if it was lost forever. Waited again for bus, took 15 min ride back to terminal 2. Went through customs. Went through security. Were told the counter we needed was outside security/customs. Arrived at proper counter and they were closed for an hour. Got dinner. Came back to counter just before opening. Waited at counter for an hour while the agent (the only agent) got us new flights and arranged a hotel. Meanwhile, line formed behind us that was multiple blocks long and a lady in the line collapsed from exhaustion and they called an ambulance. Got our tickets and waited for the hotel bus, which was going to take that entire line of people to the hotel also. They were talking to each individual in the line, but after about an hour they just told the entire line to follow them outside to the hotel busses. Got on the bus, went to hotel, got on line at the hotel to be checked in. Fortunately we were near the front of the line. Got our key, dropped our stuff in our room, went to the hotel restaurant for dinner (with a voucher). Food was disgusting. Came out and saw that the line for checking in was still way out the door.

Got to the airport very early the next morning. Confirmed the whereabouts of our luggage, but did not have access to them. Went through security, waited for our plane, boarded, miraculously took off after a short delay. Landed in Washington DC with 40 minutes to catch our connecting flight. Stood on customs line for approximately 30 minutes. Sprinted to luggage pickup, drop off (they require you to physically get your bag and move it to a drop off point - to ensure that your luggage doesn't end up on a flight that you are not on). Waited in line to hand in our customs declaration even though we had already gone through customs. Went through security. Sprinted to our gate, agent told us they had already been told to close the doors, they walkie-talkied to hold the doors, we RAN down the tunnel way to the plane, arrived at our seats sweaty and panting.

Arrived on time in San Francisco approximately 27 hours later than originally planned (and having worn same clothes for 48 hours), waited for luggage, luggage did not arrive. Went to counter to inquire about luggage, ours had been on a later flight because they weren't able to load our bags in time. Waited another 45 minutes for the following flight to land and unload. Got our bags, caught a cab, collapsed in our apartment.

Now That We Are Home

It took me about two weeks to get over the jet lag and the exhaustion of the trip home. I felt like I needed a vacation from our vacation. We tried to pack light, so we had almost no room in our suitcases for souvenirs, but we managed to bring home a couple of small things to remember our trip by. For now, I kind of feel like I just want to stay home and never travel again, but I think that will change soon enough. I am just very, very happy to be home and to have my dogs, my bed, my washing machine, and my own food. And Lindsey.

Speaking of Lindsey, our thanks go out to her for not only watching the dogs for two weeks (no small task) but also keeping the dogs an extra day when we got held up in London.

I will add photos/captions, and that will be the end of our Greece 2014 travel blog!

It's a little hard to see, but we spotted this from our taxi

It's called "American House Toast" and the logo is a

woman in a graduation cap/gown and a burger.