For some reason I still haven't written about visiting Athens... I know, I'm just as confused as you about it. I guess I wrote briefly about visiting the Parthenon, but other than that, nihil. Weird.
So here it is: Athens. A city I have such mixed feelings about that I neglected to write about them.
On the one hand, it's ATHENS! Birthplace of democracy. Home of the Acropolis, the Parthenon. Hallowed, revered, ATHENS.
On the other hand... Athens. Meh.
I spent one night there and honestly, it felt like a week. It felt like a very long week. It was too long! This is one city I would have been content to have visited via Cruise Ship... you know, sail into port in the morning, see the biggest sites for several hours, then sail away at sunset. Yah. That's it. Athens is, in my book, a cruise port. A check off my list. Done. I may fly through again in the future, on my way to the outer-lying Greek Isles (which.are.amazing!!!), but I don't intend to spend more time in the city proper.
For crying out loud, I spent most of my night in Athens in a Starbucks on their free wifi. The city is wholly unimpressive, aside from the Acropolis. Dirty, badly organised, poorly maintained... Of course, Greece IS going through some very rough times, economically, but I don't think that has very much bearing on the current state of it's Capitol city.
Perhaps this all stems from expectations of the place being too high. The aforementioned hallowed-ness, rever-ity, et al. Perhaps the problem is that for all of the ancient glory this place once had, it is now utterly inglorious. Most of the city feels like a slum.
And that's the heart of it: This city feels it's defeat. It feels the conquering and assumption of the Roman politics and gods that overthrew its' ancient power. It feels as though the place simply exists now because it is too large, and was once too important, to fade into nothingness now. And in existing in that manner, it has faded into a shade of nothingness.
But enough of my musings. If you go to Athens, spend a night, perhaps two. See the Acropolis. Hike through it's vast compound during the day and tour its' museum. See it at night, from your hotel's roof. Tour the other ruins scattered about the city and eat at one of the zillions of "Greek" restaurants all around the city center.
Then go to the islands. And fall in love with Greece.
So here it is: Athens. A city I have such mixed feelings about that I neglected to write about them.
On the one hand, it's ATHENS! Birthplace of democracy. Home of the Acropolis, the Parthenon. Hallowed, revered, ATHENS.
On the other hand... Athens. Meh.
I spent one night there and honestly, it felt like a week. It felt like a very long week. It was too long! This is one city I would have been content to have visited via Cruise Ship... you know, sail into port in the morning, see the biggest sites for several hours, then sail away at sunset. Yah. That's it. Athens is, in my book, a cruise port. A check off my list. Done. I may fly through again in the future, on my way to the outer-lying Greek Isles (which.are.amazing!!!), but I don't intend to spend more time in the city proper.
For crying out loud, I spent most of my night in Athens in a Starbucks on their free wifi. The city is wholly unimpressive, aside from the Acropolis. Dirty, badly organised, poorly maintained... Of course, Greece IS going through some very rough times, economically, but I don't think that has very much bearing on the current state of it's Capitol city.
Perhaps this all stems from expectations of the place being too high. The aforementioned hallowed-ness, rever-ity, et al. Perhaps the problem is that for all of the ancient glory this place once had, it is now utterly inglorious. Most of the city feels like a slum.
And that's the heart of it: This city feels it's defeat. It feels the conquering and assumption of the Roman politics and gods that overthrew its' ancient power. It feels as though the place simply exists now because it is too large, and was once too important, to fade into nothingness now. And in existing in that manner, it has faded into a shade of nothingness.
But enough of my musings. If you go to Athens, spend a night, perhaps two. See the Acropolis. Hike through it's vast compound during the day and tour its' museum. See it at night, from your hotel's roof. Tour the other ruins scattered about the city and eat at one of the zillions of "Greek" restaurants all around the city center.
Then go to the islands. And fall in love with Greece.
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