Today was supposed to be my day of rhetoric. I’m taking a course via correspondence at TCU this semester in it. In the course, Dr. Enos gave me an assignment for when I visited Athens. I like to call it a university-level scavenger hunt. I had four things to find in the National Archaeological Museum and to use as the foundation for a paper I need to write. For sure I found two great examples of the four. I may have found another (the portrait head of Demosthenes didn’t have an inscription). One, which was supposed to be the first instance of the written Greek, wasn’t on exhibit!

Two or three years ago they closed the museum and remodeled it. The map that I picked up shows that over half of the museum doesn’t have exhibits available to the public. Hopefully the “missing items” on my hunt are in those.

I have a new strategy that worked well doing chronological museums: start with the present and work backwards. Most historians probably cringe hearing that. Their arguments that I don’t appreciate the development and progression have some merit. For me, though, seeing Mycenaen works at the beginning wasn’t working. I was bored! So, I started with the late Romans, retraced to the earliest works, and then went through again chronologically. Since I was a “man with a mission,” it was much easier for me to see the developments by skimming the descriptions and spending most of my time with the works that are famous and prominent.

I left the museum frustrated since my scavenger hunt wasn’t much of a success. One of the other favors Dr. Enos asked was for me to get the listing of holdings for a smaller museum in the vicinity. That visit made my day! The Epigraphical Museum (the one that specializes in preserving and cataloguing ancient texts) was without any visitors. The content is exactly what I like looking at. Sculptures and pottery are great, but looking at texts appeals to me more. There’s more information. For me, there’s more content on and in the forms the texts are written on than in the sculptures. Trying to decipher stone engravings is better than admiring and critiquing how they sculpted certain muscles.

I didn’t have time to tour the museum (that’s planned for Saturday), but I did make it to the Agora. The Agora, the gathering place in Classical and Hellenistic Greece (more in Hellenistic since Augustus was a major patron) served as the center of public life. Now all that’s left is a bunch of stones (in some ways the story of all Greece), but with the recreated Stoa, I could definitely tell why people would want to spend time there. The speeches of the rhetors and the teachings of the philosophers took place where I was standing — around two and three millennia before.

Other than all of the sites, the morning’s highlights are the souvlaki I had for lunch (it’s going to be a daily lunch) and my ride on the Metro. Athens’ brand new subway is incredible. It’s cheaper than any other I’ve been on (the Metro in DC, the T in Boston) and it’s supposed to cut out a lot of the smog production once more of the Athenians begin using it. The smog, while bad for the preserving the Acropolis and everyone’s lungs, does make pretty colors in the sunset. Nevertheless, the convenience of the subway beats out adding artificial colors to the sunset.

Every city is known for some quirk in its personality. Venice: the Romance. Florence: lots of Universities. Rome: the Church. Athens: the Promoters.

I met the TCU girls at a hill by the Acropolis. The Areopagos (Hill of Ares — the Greek God of War) is this incredibly slippery giant rock outcropping that you can climb and take pictures or just get a great view of Athens. We stayed and watched the sunset for a long time and then tried to find our way down to the Plaka. Even though I knew the quickest way (going back by my hotel), we decided to see if going around the other side of the Acropolis was quicker. It definitely wasn’t. 45 minutes later and we were in the Plaka and trying to find the restaurant.

I’d seen the restaurant last night and also knew that our 6:45 start for dinner was going to beat the crowd — by a huge margin. When I was looking at my map to find exactly what street the restaurant was on, a guy came up to us and asked us where we were trying to go. When I told him the name of the restaurant, he gave a little shrug and said it was only OK. He pointed it out and then said, “but try the Taverna ____ just down the street and you’ll like it better.” Everywhere I turn in Athens people do this. The hosts at restaurants in several cities make you wait for a while before they give you enough attention so you can ask for a table. The hosts in Greece will start pulling you as you’re walking by, motioning for the nearest open table. Even if it’s obvious that you’re not wanting to eat there, they’ll still get in front of you and try to redirect you to the nearest seat.

Our dinners were phenomenal. Unlike Florence, a place known for its pastas, wines and cheeses, Athens is known for its meats and baked dishes. Our table of four had a feast, and once again, for much less than we would have had to pay in Florence. For appetizers: dolmades (grape leaves stuffed with pork and rice) and mousakas (this baked dish with beef, egg plant, and a bunch of other stuff I couldn’t distinguish). Even with just the appetizers we knew that the meal was great.

Then came the main courses. My veal topped with a light tomato sauce (and accompanied by fried potatoes — not even close to tasting like French Fries) melted in my mouth, but still didn’t match up to some of the girls’ plates. Marisa’s skewer of meat probably beat out Jen’s codfish. All of the meats, though, tasted superb. We topped those off with individual servings of baklava. One word: intense. The honey wasn’t the slow-moving syrup kind you find in the US; it was a shining coat of sugary glaze that made the nuts and pastry go down slowly. You may think slow is a bad thing; in which case, you’d be wrong. With something that good, eating it slow is the only way to enjoy it.

They also had a barrel of white wine that they served on-tap. While Greek wine is OK, I’m definitely a fan of the Italian ones more. For some reason, the Greek one didn’t have as sharp of a flavor, so it went down like warm water. That was a case where slow wasn’t better.

After we finished the girls came back to the hotel and they wanted to look at the sunset pics on the computer screen. I ended up showing them all of the pictures I’ve taken in Florence and even showed them how I blend the triple-exposure shots to get the richest color spectrum. Then I walked them back to their street in the rain. Want to know the only downside to having a town made mostly of marble? It’s too slippery when wet. This was also a case where slow was definitely the only way to go. I didn’t need another trip to the hospital; which happens to be called the ‘nosokomio’ in Greek (I looked it up — it’s not from experience).

On the way back from walking with the girls I found two more of Athens’ promoters. These two guys in their late 50s, about four blocks apart, both stopped me and asked me if I wanted to meet girls. I laughed and said no. I’m not sure if they were setting up hookers or trying to get me to go to a nearby club; maybe both. I must have looked like a lonely American walking down the street.

Around 2500 years ago the Greeks built one of the most recognized buildings in the world. It was situated on top of a giant rock outcropping that put it in an almost perfect defensive position. Now the Parthenon is being reconstructed after the Venetians destroyed most of it when the Turks controlled Greece. The Venetians, who I appreciate less and less every time I learn something new about them, not only looted the Orthodox churches in the crusades, but they also destroyed this building!

The Greeks are in the process of reconstructing it stone by stone. Scaffolds and cranes fill the view. Similar to many of the buildings in Europe, scaffolding is now a permanent part of the landscape for the next couple of decades. They’re not going to fully rebuild everything, but they are putting up the columns and the entablature (the horizontal cross-beam on top of the columns and capitals (the top decoration pieces on the columns)).

This morning I went up and just browsed around the Acropolis. I watched workers putting small individual stones in their places and securing them with mortar — paradocially with the same name at the things that helped destroy the Parthenon. I spent half an hour sitting on the outer wall of the Acropolis (looking down at at least an eight-story drop) and wondering if all of the reconstruction was worth it. Sure, the Parthenon is Greece’s national monument. Still, the effort seems so much more than the gains.

Then I went inside of the Acropolis Museum and completely changed my outlook. The reconstructions they have of the two facades at the end are amazing. If they can recreate them to look even half as good as the small sculptures in the Museum, it’s definitely worth it. The facades give a mini narrative of the Greek pantheon. The sculptures are detailed up close but also look great far away. Hopefully it looks as good when they reconstruct the real thing (if they end up doing the facades).

When I came out of the Museum I looked to the other side of the Acropolis and saw three of the TCU girls from Florence. I’d planned on meeting them there later tonight, but to see them at that spot that early in the day was surprising.

When we picked a spot and time to meet, I left them and grabbed some lunch before wandering around. Have you ever heard of a Souvlaki? It’s perhaps the unhealthiest, but best tasting, food in the world. McDonalds has nothing on it. A Souvlaki is a flat pita bread wrapped into a cone. Inside is pork that is shaved off of a giant skewer of meat that revolves on a rotisserie. With the pork are onions (which I couldn’t stand three years ago but I now love), tomatoes, lettuce and Sadziki sauce. Imagine a greasy (and as my Dad likes to point out: Greecey) pocket of goodness that drips oil onto you if you try to eat it too fast or drips oil onto the street/plate if you wait too long. The only thing better than the content and form of the Souvlaki is the price: 1.5 euros. In Florence I can’t get a Coke Light for that cheap!

The Agora was only open for another hour when I got there, so I’m saving that for tomorrow afternoon! Now I’m off to find a great hill to climb and take sunset-lit pictures from.

The Plaka, not to be confused with the enemy of the world’s dentists, is an area near the Acropolis with shops and taverns (the Greek equivalent of an Italian ristorante). It’s also a five minute walk from my hotel, which is VERY close to the Acropolis.

The Hotel Philippos is a three-star hotel that definitely beats the camping village I stayed at in Venice. My room, with a queen sized bed (the first bed of the trip — besides at the hospital — where my feet don’t hang over the edge) also has a balcony with a chair for relaxing in the afternoon sun. Add a nicely tiled bathroom and an included breakfast buffet each morning and I can see why this hotel is highly recommended.

After checking into the hotel, I did a self-led walking tour of the Plaka and the nearby area. I’m going to need to spend at least an afternoon in the Plaka later this week in order to appreciate everything. It took me long enough to read the names that with some of them I didn’t even figure out what they did/sold.

I eventually stopped and had dinner at the Taberna Vizantine. My outdoor table overlooking the lights of the Plaka at night was picturesque. Not picturesque enough, however, for me to take out my camera. I was too busy soaking in the Greek culture (and words) to worry about that.

Often times when I have an ethnic type of food in the States, it doesn’t even approach the quality and freshness of having it in the native culture. Italian is definitely that way. I’m pleased to announce that the handful of times I’ve had Greek food in the States were all authentic. Tonight I had spanakopita (a spinach and cheese appetizer layered into a pastry), roasted pork with roasted potatoes, and a beer brewed in Athens (‘Alpha’). While the beer definitely doesn’t match up to my favorite German or American ones, the rest of the meal was intoxicating. I was so full at the end that I couldn’t order my favorite dessert …

Baklava – the dessert with two pronunciations. This pastry with multiple layers of honey and chopped nuts is definitely a treat. When I’d ordered it two weeks ago at a Turkish kebab place in Florence, they had no idea what I was talking about. I had to point it out and explain in Italian which one I was wanting. I said it the way I’d learned it — Baklava (with the accent on the first ‘a’). When I pointed, they said “oh, you mean Baklava (with the accent on the second ‘a’). Ironically they said that in English when I’d spoken Italian; I can’t really fool people. The nice thing tonight: I found my redemption. Greeks pronounce it the way I learn it. The pronunciation must have just been one of the few things that the Greeks and Turks didn’t agree on during the Ottoman Empire’s rule. 😉

Tomorrow is the Acropolis in the morning and then the Agora and Plaka in the afternoon.

Imagine a perfect airline. Imagine the perfect flight. List the qualities and that is what I experienced today. That is what airlines are supposed to be like. Aegean Air was perfect for my flight from Rome to Athens, Greece.

To begin, I was lucky enough to get an entire exit row to myself. For someone with really long legs, especially when flying internationally, this is a treasured benefit. When I first boarded I was afraid I would have to move since I don’t speak Greek (although my reading for ancient stuff isn’t terrible). Little did I know that language didn’t matter.

The flight attendants, all beautiful (and stereotypical Greeks), all spoke everything they said in Greek, Italian and English. Every time they said something, I picked up something in each of the languages. Words would pop out in the Greek, I’d understand the English, and then when they said it in Italian I could identify most of the words since I’d heard the English before. What shocked me is that I would respond to them in Italian – not English. I’m not sure it’s a good thing, but whenever they’d ask something, the Italian was what came out.

With the completely turbulence-free ride, they also gave us lunches. This was a two-hour flight mid-day and they gave us full lunches. First came the trays with cheeses, meats and a cold salad. Then came the steaming whole wheat rolls. It was amazing! Most airline meals are only so-so. The warm and soft rolls made this one great. Then, to top it off, the dessert was a piece of chocolate fudge cake probably 3″x3″ with white chocolate laced on top.

Landing in the nice Athens airport was also painless and the trip into Athens on the bus was simple. I’d only done a small amount of research into my trip before I left and they’ve made everything so easy (partially for the Olympics last year) that I’m not regretting it!