May in the Mediterranean Part II: Athens and Aegina

After Thessaloniki we took the train overnight to Athens, thinking it would save us travel time in the day and let us get the sleep we needed. We were wrong. While most of the time I think of train travel as the most comfortable and quiet means of traveling, in this case the opposite seemed true. We boarded around midnight, and found that we had seats in an overcrowded car, with several groups of people constantly walking through the cars, talking in the corridors and across aisles. In addition, the bright overhead lights remained on for the entire 6 hour journey, which became longer as we faced delay after delay.
Our friend MK was stuck next to a smelly man whose face we never saw because he had completely hidden himself in a coat...it was awkward, but nothing out of the ordinary for a train or bus journey. My travel buddy and I had seats together, but his long legs and my broken seat kept us both uncomfortable enough to keep sleep just out of our grasp. In the end I may have napped for about an hour? In any case, despite the lack of rest we were groggily thrilled to arrive in Athens - partly because it meant we could get off the train, and partly because IT'S ATHENS!

I went through an obsession with Greek mythology around the age of 12 - as I imagine many other nerdy book worms did - and ever since have waited for the day when I could see the land where the Gods and Goddesses reigned, where the heroes were born and where the myths grew. I was not disappointed.

We refused to let our exhaustion get the best of us. We had just under 3 days in Athens, and didn't know what the weather would be like. It was a bit overcast and on the chilly side in May, and the day we arrived was sunny and hot, so we wanted to profit from it. On Day 1 we went to the Agora, the Acropolis, walked around Plaka a bit, and strolled through the marketplace. In the evening we passed by the Parliament and watched the changing of the guards as well.

For dinner we settled in at our Couchsurfers' place, along with another American woman who was Couchsurfing with them, and enjoyed Greek pizza and a football (soccer) game on TV. It was fun to meet such a wonderful group of people while traveling there, and we were so grateful again for the hospitality show to us by our Greek hosts. All six of us got along well, and it was fun to see the sights with them, and to just share good meals and great conversation. I couldn't have asked for a better experience in Athens.

On Day 2 the six of us headed to a nearby island, Aegina, where we could go swimming - IN THE MEDITERRANEAN! Another dream come true :)

We caught the boat for 13 euros round trip for the day trip, which was very affordable - especially compared to the more famous islands which people usually think of when they hear about Greek Isles. 

The boat ride was enjoyable in itself, seeing the land fade and the islands pass, sailboats and cargo ships passing by, seagulls flying around, and the bluest blue water swirling all around us. 

We had about 3-4 hours to spend on the island, and spent a good part of that time at the small beach, swimming, playing backgammon, and sunbathing. Even I picked up some color - and it wasn't red! MK, on the other hand, wasn't as lucky. 

After our time on the beach we walked around the small streets, enjoying fantastic local pistachios and grabbing a bite before heading back to the boat for the return trip.

On Day 3 the group split up to see different sights, and our Couchsurfers headed to work. My travel buddy and I started the morning at Plato's Academy, a sight my travel buddy had a great deal of interest in since he studies philosophy. Sadly, the Academy, now mostly just foundations of ruins, has been neglected. It lies tucked away in a "bad" neighborhood, in a public park, rundown and mostly covered in weeds and hidden in thickets. It seemed a shame.

From there we headed back to the city center to explore the Agora more, and hiked up Filippapos Hill to get a fantastic view of the Acropolis. We made our way back down to the Temple of Olympian Zeus and the Roman Stadium, the National Gardens, and the new Olympic Stadium. Then we headed through the city to pass by the university and library buildings.

In the afternoon, we took a trip to Kifissia, a neighborhood at the end of the subway line, in a fancy part of town. There is no attraction that brought us there, aside from a personal one: this was the area where my mother and her family had lived when they'd lived in Greece in the early 1970s.

This is the place I'd grown up seeing in pictures: dirt roads with donkeys, small mom and pop stores selling food and basic goods, my mom smiling with her long, straight blonde hair, parted down the middle, lanky and glowing tan in her patterned dresses. My grandfather, always with the same brushed back hair and Navy stance, my grandmother with her curled bob and cat-eye glasses, my uncle looking the part of the annoyed younger brother, forced to be along for the family trips.

This was the image I grew up with: so when I stepped off the metro into the Kifissia of 2012, I was shocked. There were no dirt roads or modest mom and pop shops; instead, the cleanest and newest paved streets I'd seen yet were lined with fancy name-brand stores selling high end goods - Prada and Gucci - with boutiques and specialized cafes in-between.

A beautiful public park with a gated entrance and fountains lay about 25m from the metro. We had been getting hungry, but the prices we saw here were high enough to make us almost lose our appetites, so we meandered a bit so that I could snap photos, before walking back to our Couchsurfers' place. 

I found the third day striking, an example of how much the passage of time can alter a setting. On the one hand you have Plato's Academy: once a center of learning and a place where people could exchange ideas, where Plato himself shared his own; now a run down park, unkempt and bordered by abandoned warehouses and worn-down apartments. On the other hand there's Kifissia: just 40 years ago, part of the outskirts of Athens where visiting Navy families and locals could find affordable and low-income housing; now an upscale suburb for elites who can afford to live just outside of the bustling metropolis. It left my mind full of questions about geography, place, time, memory, and meaning...The kind of questions great trips should leave you asking.