Greece - Athens

Tried and tried and tried to shorten this post and failed. Sorry. Scroll down if all you want is pictures. Or see all the photos here. I'll share bits of Nafplio and Sounion later in the week.

I'm not Greek (to my everlasting disappointment) but I have roots there, of a sort. My parents lived there while my mother was pregnant with me, flew back to have me, and then returned to Athens. We lived in a suburb right outside the city, in Filothei, for those of you who might know it. We left before I was old enough to have any concrete memories.

I returned in high school, on a dorky school trip with three of my best friends (and many other people who I've forgotten). We stayed for three weeks. We learned absolutely no Greek. We got sunburned. We found a bartender in Crete who spiked our milkshakes with (a teeny tiny bit of) rum. We lacked in supervision due to a few planning snafus on the part of the program. We felt very Grown Up.

I came back in college, for my semester abroad. This time I learned enough Greek to ask directions and order food and discuss my ancestry (a truly critical matter that comes up far more often than you might think). I lived in a huge, old apartment in Kolonaki with 7 other girls, at the base of Lykavittos hill. It was a hike - my calves barely fit into my pants by the time we left, so muscle-y were they. We lived on lentil soup and cheap wine, saving money for excursions all over the country. I learned the city like the back of my hand, navigating by feel, wandering at all hours of the day and night. I sobbed into my suitcase at the airport as I waited for the flight that would take me out of the country.

Touching down a couple weeks ago felt like coming home. We arrived right after a few days of rain, so the city was at its absolute best.

We settled into our rented apartment, right on the edge of Plaka, close to Syntagma. We visited the acropolis (which is truly brutal in the heat, but lovely in this sort of moody weather) and we oohed over the New Acropolis Museum (miles better than the poor old one) and we ate.

{athens, from the acropolis}

{acropolis, erechtheion}

{taverna dinner}

The weather warmed up, quickly. We spent our days exploring the city. D took the family to Delphi, while I stayed home and indulged in a free day. Morning city walking (fast, determined, disdainful of traffic signals) with a stop at my favorite bakery and my old stomping grounds, followed by a long afternoon nap in our breezy apartment.

{my beloved old apartment - that's our balcony on the first (not ground) floor}

{curtains, breeze}

An evening out at the Dora Stratou theater, to ogle the costume collection and the dancers both.

{dora stratou theater}

{dora stratou dancers}

Late in the evening (the sun didn't set until 9:30 or so) we'd sit on our balcony and drink beer and look at the acropolis, all lit up.

{acropolis, lit}

And on our very last evening in the city, we went to the top of Lykavittos hill, to visit my favorite tiny church and to see the city.

{lykavittos church}

{athens from lykavittos}

The only sad bit is that D's brother, for whom the trip was designed, did not love Athens. As in, mostly hated everything about it (specifically, noise, cars and crowds), with the exception of the Acropolis. We clearly waited too long to immerse this suburban child in a city environment. I was heartbroken, but we tried to make the best of it. I mean, it's a bit like handing someone the most amazing present you can think of, beautifully gift wrapped, waiting with bated breath for the reaction and then watching them burst into sad tears when they open it. Not good.