Athens Adventures Pics

A South view of the arcades of the Odeum of Herodes Atticus

Odeum of Herodes Atticus preparing for a concert. The black bags are filled with cushions for the marble seats. The entire ampitheater is marble.

A Roman bath near the National Gardens. Workers were digging a vent for the subway when they discovered it!

The Temple of Zeus. You can see how the temple's upper structure modeled a fishbone. The columns were stacked up like the vertebra of a spine, which you can see from the one laid out on the ground.

Me at the temple of Athena on the Acropolis grounds.

On one of the rocks overlooking the Odeum of Herodes Atticus

At Boo's Cafe. A gay hangout near my hotel auspiciously bearing my childhood nickname!

The Parthenon. You can see construction cranes. One of the facades is being reconstructed.

The Temple of Athena

A wide view of the Acropolis. Hard to believe this is right in the middle of Athens!

A crowd of tourists roaming the Acropolis.

The Sunday convocation at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

The changing of the guard in Sunday dress whites. The weekday garments are brown.

Athens Adventures

posing with one of the guards at Athens' Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

On my recent trip to Greece, I spent three days in Athens on either end of my journey.

On both ocassions, my local guide was a couchsurfing.com buddy, George-Michael. The first night, he led me from my hotel near Omonia square to his favorite hangout near Athens’ University.

We spent the evening chatting with two of his friends at a hookah bar.

I learned that the park just beyond the awning had once been overrun with substance abusers. A neighborhood socialist organization decided to reclaim the park by meeting there every night. The park was now populated by students and seniors, sipping sodas and eating ice cream.

The next evening, George walked me past the Acropolis. A large pedestrian walkway forms a semi-circle on the site’s south side. There were many Atheneas strolling about or eating a late meal at one of the outdoor restaurants. Quite a few people were on top of the Acropolis rocks listening to a Croatian singer perform in the Odeum of Herodes Atticus, a Roman-era ampitheater exposed to the elements.

George showed me the place overlooking the Agora where he goes to meditate. He also showed me the Gasia, a cosmopolitain gay neighborhood to the north.

I explored the Parthenon, The Temple of Zeus, and the National Archeology Museum with my friend Vivian who I ran into strolling the ruins Sunday afternoon.

We were excited to discover a gay cafe near my hotel. Boo’s Cafe, was auspiciously given my childhood nickname! The proprietors filled it with antique rosewood chairs, subtle lighting, oil paintings, and lots of color to pop against the dark walls. I returned to Boo’s several times.

I saw the changing of the guard twice - once during the week and the hour-long convocation featuring all the guards on Sunday at 10 am.

The slow awkward step that makes the guards look so ridiculous when they are leaving their posts is very intimidating when it is sped up for the Sunday parade.

Many people asked me if I suffered at all because of the numerous strikes. The very last day I did.

The subway workers between Athens and the airport were on strike. I found out on the way to the airport! I had to stay an extra night in Athens because of the mess.

Aegean Adventures - The Delphic Oracle Pics

The ruin of the Temple of Apollo where signs were once read. In ancient times, the Oracle was one of a number of female religious leaders. Now the grounds of her temple are what is referred to as The Oracle.

Statues at the Delphi Oracle Archeological Museum

An enormous marble replica of the Sphinx at the Delphi Oracle Archeological Museum

The twin cities of Kirra and Itea in the distance on the Ionian Sea.

The last intact obelisk at Delphi

The temple of Athena a short walk south of the Oracle

Text from one of the fallen obelisks. It's tough to translate as there are no spaces or punctuation and all the spellings/words are outdated.

Yours Truly at the Temple of Apollo

The Treasury of Athens, the last freestanding building at Delphi

Aegean Adventures - The Delphic Oracle

Mists envelop the Oracle at Delphi

The Oracle is the country’s number two tourist attraction after the Acropolis. In part, this is due to a confluence of destinations nearby.

The extra-long European Rambler hiking trail runs through the area. The Oedipal crossroads are still visible in a nearby tourist town. In winter, there is skiing in this part of Greece.

It is three hours each way from Athens through some beautiful countryside.

The day I went, the Oracle was desnse with mists. The cypress trees were wet. Wrinkled olive fruits, ripe enough to eat, fell and split into oily puckers under the feet of the tourists.

I had befirended an Italian student and a Dutch military man on the bus ride to Delphi. We attempted to find the site unguided in the drizzle. Since the site is not well marked, we wound up about a kilometer above it, unable to hike down except to go the way we came.

When we did reach the Oracle, it was uncrowded. There were a few tours being offered - in Japanese and English. We discovered a wide discrepancy between the adult tourist price and the student price. I paid 9 euros for entrance while students paid nothing. Not 50% off or 70% off, students paid zero!

The archeological museum at Delphi has a collection of artifacts recovered over the last 150 years, including hawk-shaped cauldron handles, larger than life kuros, an Amazon battle frieze, and bronze offerings.

A print by an artist attempting to recreate the look of the Oracle circa 4 BC prompted me to consider how magnificent the site must have been at the peak of it’s influence.

Outside the museum, the ever upward trajectory of The Oracle gave me a feeling for how hearty the early Greek citizens must have been. While it is unlikely the majority of Greeks lived even as long as I have, they would all have needed exceptional mobility to ascend to the upper grounds.

The levels of the Oracle included mausoleum-like treasuries, the temple of Apollo where fortunes were told, public art, a theater, and a stadium. I took lots of pictures and even tried to translate some of the ancient Greek carved into the obelisks.

It is odd that even today Greece does not hold re-enactments or has not re-created any of it’s ancient temples even in part even though copies exist in other parts of the world including Nashville, Tennessee.

Just down the road, one can visit the temple of Athena, flanked by olive trees, and the ancient gymnasium. Admission is free to both these attractions.

Aegean Adventures - Super Paradise Beach Mykonos Pics

Super Paradise beach

The famous Mykonos windmills

A Little Venice alleyway

Yours Truly nipping an espresso near the water

View of Mykonos Island from the mills

Pelicans hanging out

Aegean Adventures - Super Paradise Beach trek in Mykonos

The pier of Hora on Mykonos

I arrived in Mykonos in the midmorning and found an accomodation right off Taxi Square, the pier area of the island’s Hora.

It was a small, easygoing hotel with a safe above the closet, an odd painting of a red lobster eating a plate of fried cheese, a lovely candystriped window covering, and blue shutters.

I wandered the narrow streets of Little Venice familiarizing myself with the jewelry and olive oil soap shops, the name brand retailers and the mousakka sales points. There were many bars and coffee places and when I found one to my liking I nabbed my first espresso of the journey. (I’d been drinking Greek coffee exclusively.)

My trek began with the five most famous residents of Mykonos, the iconic windmills, perched on top orange rock and brush just south of Little Venice. I followed the street beside them past shops and a bus turnaround toward the beaches.

While it is tempting to load up on food and water ahead of the 5.5km trek, I would recommend holding off until one sees the fresh fruit sign - indicating bakeries, a vegetable shop, and an organic food outlet within close proximity to one another.

Though much of the produce is shot up with water here, some very fresh small apples were available. They made my day.

Of the hikes I’ve made on the Greek islands thusfar, the road to Super Paradise was the least spectacular. I suspect, made with friends with a similar beachgoing mindset in season it would be more convivial and exciting.

There are plenty of dovecotes to distract the imagination. There is little subsistance farming to provide pickable wild fruit. The only shops, architecture, or culture of any kind is beachside, limited to alcohol consumption and life sustaining activities.

“Super P”, has blanket-to-blanket visitors during the high season. When I approached it, the crowd had thinned to about a dozen. It was lovely having the wide expanse of golden sand and indigo water largely to myself.

At the beach, I stripped and dove into the sea. I flirted with a man past the last bouy, but he ignored me and went back to shore.

Shortly after, I struck up a conversation with two other naked men from Florence, Italy, and we discussed the before and after of Mykonos. They informed me that their first journey to the beach had been made by boat in 1983, before the tourist infrastructure made driving to the area possible.

We compared notes on the different islands and I resolved to make Delos a stop on my next visit.

Aegean Adventures - Tinos Trek Pics

One of the more intact ruins from the Temple of Poseidon and Aphrodite

The towers of the Panagia Evangelista

A handsome roadside temple

A dovecote near the Panagia Evangelista

Yours Truly hanging out with the lizards in the ruins

Aegean Adventures - Tinos Trek

The port city, Hora, on Tinos.

I purchased a ticket for the ferry traveling from Milos to Andros. It was as far as I could get away from the island the day I left and I figured that was auspicious.

However, as I read more about the islands the ship was stopping at, I became excited by the possibility of stopping on Tinos. I jumped off the ferry a stop early and took a ride from a domatia operator waiting in port.

The major attraction in Tinos is The Panagia Evangelista spread which caps the central hilltop of the Tinos Hora. The central road toward this site is flanked by vendors selling religious tokens and trinkets.

The Greek Orthodox tin reliefs of various body parts I had seen on Serifos were selling for a Euro apiece. Frankensence and copal, which I was more familiar with as organic dried saps, were pressed into fingernail sized chips through which one could comb for a quick fragrance buzz.

At the Panagia Evangelista, I observed an exterior courtyard of black, brown, and white pebbled set into cement to create symbols significant to the faith. Through the plaster arches, past a faded fresco of Joan of Arc in battle, I heard the sound of the choir celebrating mass within the cathedral.

The cathedral was so crowded that celebrants stood outside each of the doors peeking in. Near the offices of the church, a crowd of locals was sipping coffee and enjoying the sound of the mass which could be heard clearly without amplification.

I sat down and chatted with Georgio, a handsome man with CP who works at the on site museum. He served as a translator for the others as they asked me questions about San Francisco and about blogging.

I inspected the museum which featured two remarkable battle frescos, several marble and alabaster busts.

Later in the day, I wandered several kilometeres downhill to the Temple of Poseidon and Aphrodite.

Along the road were several dovecotes, elegant geometrical birdhouses Tinos is famous for. The natives of Tinos have historically trained doves and pigeons.

I also saw one of the finest examples of a roadsite temple that I’d ever seen. It was a handsome Greek Orthodox shrine made of white marble columns with a St. Andrew’s cross at the peak.

At the anthropoligical site, I could hear workmen digging in the backgound. I sat on the benches, touched the columns and imagined what my life would have been like in another age.

Milos Greece Adventure Pics

The mountainside town of Trypiti on Milos

In front of the black lava rock tower of the ancient theater of Milos near where the Venus De Milos was discovered.

A look down at the ancient theater from a nearby cliffside, just beyond this is the Mirtoon Sea

The port city of Adamas on Milos where I stayed for two nights

Milos Greece Adventure

Ships bobbing in the port city of Adamas on the island of Milos

I left Serifos two days ago on a rainy afternoon, attempting to make the best of my remaining days in Greece with some island-by-island adventure.

I jumped on board the ferry for Milos, original home of the Venus de Milo, just in time to depart. The ride was smooth, about an hour and a half long, with a brief stop on the island of Sifnos.

The home I stayed in on Serifos had a great deal of fine pottery from Sifnos including a few beautiful blue bowls.

Upon landing in Adamas, a woman from town wandering the port asked me if I wanted a room. Her name was Nina. When I told her I was from San Francisco, she informed me she had relatives there.

I was led to a handsome small apartment building with rooms nested on three floors. Past flanks of black and white cats, I climbed the stairs.

The room was comfortable and clean with a refrigerator full of peas and bread and a hot pot. A gorgeous hand blown poppy-flower shaped fixture hung above the bed, with drizzles of gold paint in cross-hatch patterns. A matching bamboo loveseat and couch with a geometric patern in browns and greens from the 1960s. Other cozying elements included crocheted cozys and doilies.

It was maybe only the fifth night this year I’ve slept with a pillow that wasn’t meant for a plane. And probably one of the few in the last week where I slept for more than an hour or two.

The water was not potable, however, it was plentiful. It was tepid enough I could take a shower without shivering.

The port in Adamas was brightly lit against the blue water. I walked past bobbing boats to catch the Tripyti Road.

The vegetation here is a little different than in Serifos. Some beautiful red berries plants I could not quickly identify, gave off a sweet apple and rose smell. Sage and eucalyptus I broke off in pieces and inhaled.

Tripyti is a small town, like many others in Greece, with narrow streets and cafes and outdoor shops.

Guidance may vary during the tourist season. I found a single open market just past the main road. It took me close to an hour!

I was pleased to find Orangeade and Smarties, a British candy I enjoyed when I first came to Europe in my teens.

Just past is the Tripyti Theater, a lava rock and marble beauty, facing the Mirtoon Sea.

I imagined what it would be like addressing a group of people on the floor of the ampitheater.

I sat on some of the old marble columns and touched rocks and trees all along the road to leave a bit of my energy with Milos.

Serifos Hiking Adventures - The Road to Taxiarchon Pics

The Taxiarchon Monastery compound as seen from the Southeast corner.

Pink double doors leading to the artifact laden inner sanctum of the order.

The small town of Kendarhos on the way back to Hora from Taxiarchon.

The exquisite Kendarhos beach

Cats hanging out on the balconies of the monastery

Serifos Hiking Adventures: The Road to Taxiarchon

The Mosuleum of the Taxiarchon Monastery on Serifos.

One final stop for me on the island of Serifos was the Monastery of the Taxiarchon.

Taxiarchon is a rough translation. It indicates what English speaking Christians would refer to as Archangels. Taxi means to move. Archon or "arches" indicates one who oversees or arches over a group. So The Monastery of Taxiarchon is The Monastery of the Archangels.

This time I remembered my scissors to gather wild grapes along the road, and retraced my steps to Piraeus.

From there, the road to the Monastery, founded in the 15th century, is about 7 km of seaviews. I found a driftwood walking stick and began clopping my hiking booths through delicate clouds of hatching flies, tiny spiders flying through the air on a single thread of their own silk. I offered some of my homemade bread to ants along the road.

Taxiarchon is a tidy white compound with a mosoleum and a chicken coop. I climbed a flight of stone steps and crept through a wooden hatch door.

On the other side, the pink double doors of the monastery’s inner sanctum came into my view, buttressed by an overhang of olive trees.

The sanctum was located in a depression in the middle of two levels of surrounding walkways. Every few feet, hatch doors marked the monk’s quarters.

A few of these tiny meditation chambers were open. They looked like dorm rooms for very small students. Not much headroom at all, so indicating seated or resting meditation. The were tidy friendly digs with refrigerators and stickers, degrees and portraits.

The leader of the order opened up the sanctum for me to inspect. I had not been inside a Greek Orthodox church of this caliber to my recollection.

The sanctum held about a dozen irreplacable artifacts. According to the leader of the order, each was about 100 years older than the next. The oldest, an Arabian cistern, dated back from shortly after the founding of the order. It resembled a very tall amphora and was posted next to arm rests, apparently made from olive wood, for the monks, who stand between them for several hours during organized prayers.

Just to the left of this this was a wall of tin press fetish articles, hands and throats and hearts, my understanding is that these indicatet illnesses and infirmities the monks have prayed for.

Additional artifacts in the room included a handsome Egyptian incense burner, just over the entry and a woven gold and platinum thread tapestry depicting the entombed body of Jesus surrounded by his apostles.

I made a donation of 2 Euros to the order. In return, I recieved a nougat of the type made by the order to support their work. It had the consistency of marshmallow, with the milk-and-honey flavor of Greek confectioners sugar.

The Road to Koutalas Bay Hiking Adventure Pics

Beside the White Tower at Aspros Pyrgos

A roadside prayer station. Inside were pictures of a Greek Orthodox leader and offerings.

The still-active graveyard at Aspros Pyrgos.

Some fowl curious about what manner of beast I was.

The big payoff: Koutalas Bay. And no competition for the beach!