(Ok it wasn’t so big and it wasn’t so fat a holiday- but it was a brief two day out of the ordinary one !)
Flight to Athens ~
Well let me start about telling you about Amsterdam. Why ? cuz I wanna boast of course. So what if I didn’t go to Amsterdam- I did go to the Amsterdam airport! The view from the plane was amusing…. Patches of green land – all in squares and rectangles – separated by water canals / streams ! seemingly under sea level- so they call it the Venice of the north – and now I can vouch for it ;)
Old Athens ~
So I changed flights there, and headed to one of the oldest civilisations of Europe. Or perhaps THE oldest civilisations of Europe. We were pretty excited to check the ruins. (well agenda for Roma & Athena: ruins, ruins and gimme more ruins!). And what is amusing that the ruins which were thousands of years old lay right next to modern architecture. So day 1 we immediately headed to ACROPOLIS.
ACROPOLIS ~ literally means a high city (acro: height ). What is built over it are magnificent structures mainly being the Parthenon, Temple of made for Greek goddess Athena Nike
These structures were made of marble (never seen marble of this kind, seemed more like sand stone, really) and years of bombing & oxidisation, called for a new project of conservation & restoration. So most parts were covered by rods & construction activity. We had a guide who being a teacher of architecture, elaborately talked about these structures. Right from concepts like how Olive was is perceived to be a symbol of peace to some , but symbol of longevity to another and so on.
So we wandered all over acropolis looking at the vast city below, and felt like being right in the middle of a shot from gladiator or movies of that sort. (will be watching history channel more keenly now)
Behind the acropolis is this cute little place called the PLAKA ~ a must visit place. Its got small lanes full of souvenir shops & lovely eateries. We relish our intriguing lunch at a family run place. They got a large tray to our table with over 12 dishes with items ranging from beef to eggplant to fish etc. Being the 3 of us, we required picking 7 items. So 7 items + drink + water + sweet dish for 3 people was 35 euros not bad at all. What I liked most was the fish (gimme fish anytime any day !). Another time we were there I had some Greek chicken gyros which was yummy too.
Modern Athens ~
When I think of Athens now, the 1st thing that comes to my mind is the fashion sense & the lovely olive/ wine/ orange trees on footpaths!! (Remember- in Europe- pedestrian is the king!). The Indian in me wondered how on earth weren’t these oranges plucked already !!! Although the weather was pleasant – people wore trendy jackets all day on the roads. Almost all women of all ages were slim – even the ones who were pregnant! The most common clothing was high boots with stockings or slacks- I was in complete awe as I imagine the stares I would get wearing boots in hot, hotter hottest Bombay
The cabs were on a strike! Would’ve created a chaos in apna bharat- but here I couldn’t afford cabs anyways --- so walked all the way – and travelled by under ground metros – which are better looking than London & paris btw , being newer- thanks to the renovation activities conducted to host the Olympics.
To get to the stadium where the 1st Olympics was held, we walked to through a beautiful garden. I must say , everything was so peaceful. Another trend I noticed was all mommies carried their babies up to 3yrs strapped up on trams/strollers. This is obviously possible on flawless infrastructure. Even pet dogs were tamed ( I got to know about the strict laws- if your doggie bites anoyone- be ready to cough up a good sum as fine to the government AND the victim!). This is the thing about the continent-Gardens & parks every were you go. No wonder the air is so fresh and everything is so unbelievably fresh & peaceful!
We also did check out some old temples- which were basically tall pillars some still erect, some fallen (very, very ancient you see!)
It did put things in perspective- at one time it was the seat of power to the whole world- and now it’s just another country.
Other observations ~
Weather ~ very very pleasant (month of May)
Language ~ most people could speak or at least manage in English- but that’s limited to Atehns only- go further north of Greece & you’ll be in for a fix
General Vibe ~ friendly, nice
Also saw plenty of Hyundai santros ( called atos) and Suzuki swifts !