Thursday, March 13, 2008 My Greek dream By Marinneth S. Babao
OKAY, so I have an obsession with ancient Greek history. If the girls of my childhood worshipped Barbie, I, however, believed that I might have been a Greek goddess.
So you could just imagine how it was for me to be in real Greek land!
Greece is very near Turkey. That is the reason why most travel agencies would offer a tour in one of the Greek islands should Turkey be in your trip list.
It's like flying from Manila to Davao. There are so many cheap flights, which you can buy online and may only cost you P5,000. However, you can also take those ferryboat rides crossing the Aegean Sea.
I bought my tickets at the window of the Onur Airlines when I decided to go through Athens before going to Madrid, Spain. It was still quite a buy at P20,000 with a nice Greek meal on board.
My original plan was to see Athens for the ancient structures and see one of the Greek islands -- Santorini. Santorini's beach was believed to be the site where Cleopatra's Palace sank. This was also believed to be where the parting of the Red Sea happened, or so the Discovery Channel says, after the volcanic eruption that made Santorini's landscape as dramatic as its past.
I've been dreaming of testing my beginner's skills on photography on the whitewashed buildings of Santorini. But after deliriously calling every known hotels and resorts at Fira (the island's capital), I could not book a single room. Most hotels and resorts are closed during winter. So, I stayed safe in Athens.
Athens is very easy to navigate with their city tram that stops at almost all possible tourist attractions including the cafes at the bayside.
My companions, a retired vibrant couple from Canada, and I made a short planning, during lunchtime, of our very short stay in Athens.
I took out the map I picked up at the airport, upon our arrival, and showed them that all "must see" ancient structures are just walking distance away from each other. Just go to Syndagma Street. Everything is there. And train ride is only 1 euro.
I was truly amazed by how Athens grew with their history. There were more tourists than the locals I can see, if only for the nostalgia created by Hollywood movies.
Upon stepping out of the end of the train ride at Syndagma, we took a peep at the Parliament Building but didn't wait for the changing of the guards as I opted to recharge at the National Garden. I sat at one of the benches, closed my eyes and meditated amidst the green retreat.
We walked through the cobbled road of Athens to see what's left of the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the largest temple ever built in Athens that included around 100 immensely tall columns. It took Athens 600 years to complete the temple! You could just imagine how many generations of families must have passed to build the temple. Talking about job security!
Outside, you will see the famous Hadrian Arch that was built by the Roman Emperor Hadrian, to mark the boundary between the ancient city of Theseus and his new city. The Temple of Zeus is open daily and closes at 7:30 in the evening.
At the other side of the street is the splendid Acropolis, which used to be a fortified fortress where you can see a 360-degree view of the whole city. I was glad, I traded my boots for slippers and the climb up was difficult for a non-gym-buster like me. There were some steep areas that the younger tourists loved to mill around while hanging their feet. It looked so scary. I had to crawl just to get one lovely photo. You could just imagine the look on their faces.
The Acropolis was built to defend Athens from invaders. I presume that this was the vantage point of the Athenians rulers who watch their warriors battle with the Spartans. From that viewpoint, I wondered why the city of Athens loved those whitewashed buildings, really.
As you move to the top with its fascinatingly well-preserved marble floors, you will see the Temple of Athena Parthenons, more popularly known as The Parthenon. It has eight miniature Ionic columns and houses the statue of Nike, the winged goddess of victory!
On your way down, don't miss the Odeon of Herodes Atticus and nearby ruins of Classical Theater of Dionysus. Both are still being used to this day for special performances. That would have been beautiful to experience. The acoustics are said to be still magnificently preserved that even a drop of coin will echo throughout the whole building.
Make sure you go there before gate closes at 6:00 p.m.; otherwise you just have to unwind down at the Agora (market) complex of Plaka for shopping and bingeing.
There are lots of interesting open-air restaurants. We tried one of those that said "authentic Greek." The 8-euro lamb gyros (pronounced yee-ros), stuffed pitas with cheese, were fantastic! A can of light Coke, which is great with gyros, costs around 2-euros or almost 150 pesos. We sat for a while to try Greek mocha latte at 2.50 euros, which isn't really very different from ours except that their mugs are just half the size.
I bought, for my bookshelf, a handmade alabaster image of the great Greek goddess, Venus, at around 80 euros and some refrigerator magnets for pasalubong to my traveler-friends.
The local government of Athens is currently constructing a Museum beside the Acropolis to house some of the statues that they have gathered from Turkey to Rome as great legends were made here in Greece.
I wasn't really satisfied with just Athens. I wanted more of Greece. Same time next year, maybe.
