Monday, July 20, 2009

Greece2009

Our trip
Emirates had a fantastic deal for 2 at an unbelievable $1554 (on the way to Dubai, a stopover, the aircraft dropped a few hundred feet suddenly, which has never happened on any of our flights, hope this is the last as it tends to be disturbing, to say the least, the rest of the trip was peaceful, thank God). We booked hotels at Athens, Mykonos and Santorini and the ferry tickets through an agent here, as we didn’t want to go there and start figuring out how to get to the islands. The agent gives you a few options on hotels which you can check against in Tripadvisor and based on the reviews, you can either say yes or no. All our hotels were nice, especially Porto Mykonos in Mykonos and El Greco in Santorini (we had earlier booked the Aegean Plaza, which was by the Kamari beach and we found it a bit run down, spacious, huge actually but like one of those Goan hotels, so we had it changed to El Greco, which, despite some of the negative reviews, was excellent with lovely views of the sea and the Ancient Thera). In Athens we stayed in Classical Imperial, which is in Omonia Square, which kind of could restrict your late night activities apparently. The breakfast was good as was the spread in all these places. The staff were mostly friendly and helpful (except at Classical where the first time around they forgot the art of smiling, but it was a business hotel, so we let it be). Porto Mykonos stands out as the best followed by El Greco.

Athens
Athens, pronounced Aathens by the locals, reminds you more of Cairo or Luxor than of a European city, probably because of its antiquity, it is over 4,500 years old after all, and it shows. An ancient dust seems to have settled on the city, The birthplace of democracy, of western civilization, of great minds such as Socrates and Pericles, seems to wear a neglected air, unlike the other ancient city next door, Rome, which bustles with modern fashion and life and keeps its 2000 years of history well-preserved. Then again, it’s only over 2,000 years old so that makes a difference I guess. The air of neglect, however, reminds you of an Indian city, along with the traffic and the honking.
Our first impression, after arriving in the afternoon was that of disappointment, but that could be because we were in Omonia Square, the oldest square in Athens once a famous square, which looks run down, especially in the late evenings and seems a bit shady. But, honestly, we didn’t see any druggies or unsavoury characters when we were there (maybe because we got back by 7 and our late outings were restricted to dinner at this lovely restaurant right across the hotel, which was a nice, decent 5 star affair). Crime, and drugs are attributed to immigration from Albania and other places when you talk to people.
But you get to like Athens soon enough as you walk around its old streets in Plaka and Monsitiraki, visit its treasured Archealogical Museum, its Poet Sandalmaker in Psiri (just off the Flea Market in Monastiraki). Like most cities, you can cover Athens on foot but they do have an efficient and clean metro we were told but didn’t feel the need to take.

Must-see in Athens
Acropolis
The guided tour (which came with the hotel/ferry package) that took us to the ruins of Acropolis was pretty good. We stopped off first at the Ancient (I should stop saying that when am referring to things in Greece I think, seems kind of redundant) Olympics Stadium, which is where a soldier from Marathon, 42 kilometres north of the city, came and announced that they had won the war before collapsing, dead. Hence the name of the race which is run in recognition of the soldier, and the distance. Next stop was at the Temple of Zeus. All you see are 12 columns or so.

Acropolis, the next stop, was a bit crowded, with school children, other tourists, locals but it was worth the trip. Acropolis means city above, or city at a height with acro meaning height (acrobat comes from that word), and polis meaning city.
(Aside: Interestingly, comparing all old civilizations, only India seems to have preserved the gods, and not just the cuisine, the language and the rest of an ancient past, whereas others like Greece and Egypt, the ruins merely serve to reflect a glorious past whose gods are no more than legends now. Like Tom Robbins says, gods cease to exist once people stop believing in them. Which seems to be the case with over 80% of Greeks professing orthodox Christian beliefs. Arogara☺)


The Archeology museum
It was a 20 minute walk from our hotel, so we walked. It is a must see when you are in Athens. If you thought Athens was old, you ought to see some of the treasures and artifacts they have from 6000 BC. Apparently the Neolithic people lived in Greece way back then, and their household items (including wheat!) are on display. In perfectly preserved condition. Awesome, to borrow a modern term.
The funeral rituals of the ancestors seem to involve a lot of gold. In fact, some of the designs Apu saw in shops earlier had their ‘original inspirations’ were on display.

Ancient Agora
The road from the museum takes you straight to the Ancient Agora, which has a museum too. This one has an ancient ballot machine, a child’s potty, a water clock that measured the speakers’ time (agora means a place of assembly, agoraphobia comes from this word). Expert orators timed their speeches to the last drop it seems. To me, the highlight was going to the Stoa of Zeus where Sokrates (that’s how they spell it) used to frequent and talk to his students.

The Poet Sandalmaker of Athens
Fascinating guy. While his son runs the business now, the father is known as a poet among sandalmakers and as a sandalmaker among poets. Celebrities from Jackie O to the Beatles and everyone in between have come here to get sandals crafted for them. When I picked up a design that said John Lennon, I asked him why the name, to which he said,’because he bought them’. Which was good enough. Despite the celebrity endorsement he sells his sandals for an un-celebrity-esque 20 – 25 euros. First you choose the design, then you try it on, then he or his assistant will make sure you feel totally comfortable, by tweaking the fit, snipping off bits, adding more holes on the strap, whatever it takes. Amazing. It’s not hard to find, Melissinos has his shop a few minutes walk from the Monistiraki square, which has an interesting flea market, where we bought delicious and the largest strawberries ever seen by man or woman.

The juice that didn’t make it
When we left Athens early in the morning for the ferry to go to Mykonos, we had asked the hotel guys to give us ‘box-breakfast’ which comes in a paper bag. It’s more than substantial, it had a muffin, big baguette sandwich, and an orange juice bottle. The juice would travel with all us all over the islands, back to Athens, and get discarded at the Athens airport.


Mykonos
This is the Greek version of needle in a haystack. Tell someone you live in a blue and white house, if you don’t wan them to find you for a while. Apparently, it’s a rule, all houses have to be painted blue and white. White reflects the sunlight and the heat and blue just looks right. A few houses are in maroon and white though.
You don’t need much time in this blue and white island if you are island hopping, maybe 3 nights? Which is how long we spent, though it seems tempting to laze around here longer
We were staying at this wonderful hotel, Porto Mykonos, where (we were picked up from the ferry station and brought to the hotel in under 7 minutes) Kelly was waiting at the door, greeted us with a huge, warm smile, told us to relax with our champagne, on the house, while we filled the necessary papers. Sitting in the verandah, overlooking the gorgeous island, we spent a bit too long filling the form and emptying the glass with more guests arriving as a result, which kept Kelly busy. But Theodore took care of us, gave us his mobile number saying if there is anything we need, at any time, please don’t hesitate to call. If the service was out of the world, the view from the room was even more so. Stunning view of the sea and the downtown below.
Took up Theodore’s invite and joined him and his colleague, Spyros, who were playing Blackgammon at a pub next door (Blu) to watch the Arsenal ManU Champions League match. Disappointing performance. Met an interesting couple from the US who won the fight to pay for the drinks which scared the hell out of the dainty waiter. We bought the next round. The Ouzo made Apu woozy that night.
You get good breakfast at Porto Mykonos.

The other two days saw us exploring the little alleys and roads of the downtown where cars are not allowed. There are motorized 3 wheelers the supply guys use to deliver goods to the stores. We picked up a fair amount of stuff, olive soaps, the distinct white shirts made of Greek cotton, candy from an elderly man who’s been making these sweets since 1950. His store has black and white pictures of him baking and hand-making the candies and sweets from way back when. We bought honey as well from him.

We saw Petros the Pelican, the mascot of Mykonos. He was sitting on the parapet wall near the sea, and next to him was his master if pelicans have one. The guy had a stick with which he was directing Petros to look at the crowd waiting for him so they could take a good shot. Late we saw him doing the rounds near the Niko restaurant as well.

Each trip would have us finding alleys and places we hadn’t seen the day before. One evening, we walked our usual route, down the gate that separates the pedestrian only area from the paved roads and place where hotels are, along the beach (we did see a couple of people trying to sunbathe), through the many alleys, past some regular shops (by now), and we saw the windmills set against the dipping sun. Walking further, we came upon a car park, past which was another part of Mykonos. There was a narrow road leading to the island but we gave it a miss and walked back from another part of the island that was connected to Mykonos downtown by broad steps.

The morning routine usually involved walking down to the town area, having a cup of coffee or mountain tea or sage tea at a café facing the sea, near the blue mosque/church, and shopping for various things, lunch, then back to the hotel. After a couple of hours of rest, we’d set off again, sometimes walking down from the hotel and along the sea. There was always a stop for water, at a mini market near the gate or one by the hotel. Really cheap, about 65 cents for 1.5L.

We took the fast ferry Flying Cat 4 to Santorini, the one saw every day, a speed boat covered in Vodafone logo.

Santorini

We reached Santorini in the afternoon, and as usual, a guy with our names was there, we shared the car with another couple who were heading to the same hotel. It took more than 45 minutes to reach our hotel, Aegean Plaza, from the outside it didn’t look very encouraging. And the inside of the room, which was past the pool, up a flight of stairs, was less impressive. It was big no doubt, but felt more like one of the middle-range sea side places in India. We decided to change back to El Greco once we stepped out.
We took a walk by the sea with its black sand beach, came back on the pathway lined with restaurants, and to the town square where you are supposed to take the bus to Fira, which comes every half hour. For some reason, the square, with its small town shops, families with children eating at a restaurant, the evening sun, reminded us of a US town. That was the end of the town actually, so we walked back to the restaurant where we promised a man who was outside asking if we would come back to his restaurant for dinner.

We sat by the beach, and ordered Ouzo for myself(which made the waiter happy), and wine for Apu, when we saw a match on TV inside. Arsenal won a meaningless match 3-0, and they were going to show Barcelona vs Real Madrid later. Before that there was a local derby happening, with AEK playing Olympiakos, which had a solitary supporter in this family run restaurant, the guy was in his teens, the rest of the family were AEK. It was fairly empty but they didn’t seem worried, this was still off season. AEK were 3 up by half time, we finished our dinner, and they brought the on the house dessert, and we left.

We went to the pub a few buildings down, and watched Barcelonal trash Real Madrid (a couple next to us were Real supporters but were outnumbered). We walked back, it was pretty late, and as we were walking there was a dog that walked in front of us, and it kept looking at us as it walked, as we walked behind, we reached our hotel, as if the dog was there to guide us! We had some biscuits in the bag which we gave the dog, it ate up the whole thing hungrily and left.

Earlier we had called Julia the agent to move us back to El Greco, she said it can be arranged immediately but we decided to spend the evening there.

Next morning, after a decent breakfast, our pick up service was there by 10 and we left for El Greco. A short ride later we reached El Greco which looked more than reasonable from outside, and it had stunning view of the sea and the volcano. Once inside, we checked in, left our bags in the store room as the room wasn’t ready, (I’m giving you a sea view room, said the clerk).

We walked into Fira, the downtown of Santorini. Pretty little place. We were glad we came to El Greco and for extending our stay by two more days here. After a while, we came back to the hotel, the room was ready, but nothing prepared us for the breathtaking views it had. It had sea views on either side and overlooked the Athira from the door. Stunning.

Went out again, had dinner at a place the guide book highly recommended, Salena, but the food was just ok, not bad, but not worth all the ‘if there’s one place you must eat’ sell. And it wasn’t cheap. The view was lovely but the view is stunning from just about any window in Santorini we think.

Next day was rainy. It was drizzling, so we took a bus to Oia (pronounced Ia), and it was pretty much washed out. We walked the wrong way from the bus stop, and the shop we bought some stuff from (including a pack of local cigarettes, Karelia, which was quite strong, recommended by a fellow shopper) said we have to go the other way. It led us to a cliff side walk, stopped off for coffee at a café with a view of course, walked further looking at some local paintings at some of the shops still open, had a very nice lunch at a small restaurant, then walked back to the bus stop. After a half hour wait, (bumped into a couple that was at the lunch place, they were from the US), the bus came, and we boarded. Soon it was stuck in a jam on the narrow road, and the driver earned a round of applause for expertly maneuvering us out of it.

It was still raining when we reached Fira. We went to the same small café for coffee we went to yesterday, drawn in by a fat boy helping out his family which was sweet we thought. The fat boy came back form school later. Went back to the hotel, and spent the rest of the day in the room as the rain didn’t seem to let up.

The prayers of the locals for sunlight seem to have been answered as the day had remnants of last night’s downpour and the sky was clearing up. We went to the museum of Santorini. It’s a cute little museum just at the beginning of Fira, it houses some interesting artefacts though, some from way back when, there are earthenware from Neolithic period, some date back to the Ancient Thira days. It should take about half an hour, the day we went was free admission day.

After a quick bite, took the bus to Pyrgos, a little town up in the mountains. The journey takes about 45 minutes if I remember right. There is a big board with the town’s map, there’s not much to see here but it’s worth a trip. Went up to Franco’s café, a few steps away from the skies (the climb is a bit steep, which explained the ‘donkey transport’ we saw, the donkey was covered in a colourful cloth on which sat the driver, asking us if we wanted a ride or for him to take a photo of us, but we snapped a picture of him instead). The café, run by a couple, had Singapore Sling on the menu, the guy said he went there and picked up the recipe. Had spiced tea which was pretty good. The lady was cooking something delicious for lunch. Went up through the back door to a museum situated a few steep steps further, it’s a small room that has a few things. After buying some cookies (which we had at the café) at a bakery down near the bus stop, we went back to Fira. After lunch, we walked around a bit, and went to a pub to ask if they were showing the Arsenal Man U match, but even before I could ask, the lady at the bar said, ‘Yes, 7.45’.

After resting for a while, stepped out to the pub, but this was a different one, the waitress was a Gunner unlike the other one, so we sat at watched the disappointing match, and stopped off at a souvlaki place (Lucky Souvlaki) on the way back, it was past midnight, but there were still a few people there. When I asked Lucky for a draft, he said it was over but gave me a can of beer on the house! You encounter generosity in the most unlikey places. I told him I’d still pay, but he put the money in the tip jar. Had an interesting conversation with him on life, women, mainly his wife, a Peruvian Chinese, and his boy.

Next day, went again to the nice little crepe place run by two women, the girl serving was from Russia. That’s another thing we discovered in Europe, most of the little cafes are run by two people, and they are never rude or show the stress of serving a full house.

We took the Nea Camini cruise which was worth the money. A bus picked us up outside the hotel, and took us to the dock, where the cruise, with a guide who spoke English, French, Spanish and Greek, took us to the volcano. We walked up the volcano (our second, the first was Vesuvio in 2006), and at one point the guide dug into the earth and took out a stone and asked everyone to touch to see how hot it was. He said they cook eggs in there. The whole climb lasts about an hour or so. Next stop was at the hot springs, but we skipped it, as the temperature of the hot springs was 10 degrees C and you had to swim about 5 minutes to it from where the boat had stopped, and that was desperately cold, judging from the few who dived in. After that the boat stops at another place, you can climb up and see how people live there, but we just had lunch at a restaurant there. The cruise takes you to Oia after that, but we stayed in the boat as we had already gone there earlier. Back by evening around 5.

Did the usual routine the next day, tea at a café, a bite at the crepe place, and took the boat back to Athens.