Around Athens

We set  about to see Athens - there's a lot to see, even if you stayed an entire month I think you would feel like you didn't see everything. We first took a small tour of the city center with a guide, Dorothy.  We passed the temple of Olympian Zeus, the first Olympic stadium - the Panathenaic Stadium (which is no longer used for the Olympic Games but is where the Olympic torch is lit and begins its journey at he commencement of every Olympic Games every 2 years), Syntagma (constitution) Square and the Parliament which has a tomb to the unknown soldier, We drove around the city, the guide regurgitating facts about buildings that I wish I could share with y'all, but unfortunately do not recall nor did I take notes.  I guess that means you have to visit Athens, too! 

Panathenaic Stadium - reconstructed from the ruins of the an ancient Greek stadium
 

The Acropolis: we climbed up to the Parthenon and were given a lesson by Dorothy: the marble used to be painted, we are thankful that the Romans copied us because we know what the statues (that the Byzantines took and used for other things) looked like, much of the decoration of the Parthenon is in the British museum or the Louvre in Paris, etc etc. Next we visited the New Museum of the Acropolis (in which photos are prohibited except on the 3rd floor, which is dedicated to the Parthenon). One small detail that caught my eye was that in the entrance of the museum exhibit, there was a clear glass plate in the floor (the entire floor is glass but it is etched, this particular plate was clear and you could see underneath); there was sand and some ancient, very well-preserved pottery. Dorothy explained that this is a Greek tradition, when you start the construction of a building, you always put something close to you, from the kitchen in the foundation. I really liked that tradition - very symbolic.

You may wonder why the museum is the "New" Museum of the Acropolis."  This is because the Greeks are trying to get back much of the artifacts from Ancient Greece back from the British museum. The British said (probably in more words and much more diplomatically) "well look at your museum, you don't even have a proper place to store these priceless artifacts."  So the Greeks built the new, huge, splendid museum and as far as I understand, negotiations are still underway as to the fate of the Ancient Greek artifacts, especially the decoration of the Parthenon because as it stands now, it is a bit bare - the ornamentation being on display at the British Museum. 

Every museum visit must end, begin or have sandwiched within it,  a drink and/or snack at the museum cafe. We sat on the outside veranda which has magnificent views of the Acropolis and enjoyed cappuccinos (mama and me) and a beer (papa b). Refreshed from our break, we continued on to see more!

The Parthenon

Theatre of Dionysus at the Acropolis

Temple of Athena - note the olive tree on the left, this is because Athena's gift to the people was an Olive Tree (as opposed to Poseidon's which was the sea of Erekhtheis - Poseidon, God of the Sea struck the Earth with his trident and water sprung forth (sound familiar?) - Athena and Poseidon were in a competition to be the patron of the city which is now called Athens

Ionic Columns - note the capital is characterized by volutes (the ornamentation that looks like a scroll); this is one of the three types of Greek columns, the other two being Doric, very plain, no ornamentation at the capital; and Corinthian, which has much more ornamentation, i.e. leaves, scrolls, great detail, etc.

The Olive Tree near the old Temple of Athena, this is not the tree that Athena offered to the people but this one was planted in 1917 and a fun fact, it was planted on George Washington's birthday (Dorothy was full of these trivia)

Amazing - life always finds a way

Nuts and seeds for sale in the Plaka

Next stop, tomb of the unknown soldier in front of the parliament building in syntagma square. The 2 guards (Evzones) are dressed in the uniform of the War of Independence (1821); that is, white stockings, a white pleated skirt, and top, a beret and clog-like shoes with a pompom on the toe, the shoes are lined with metal in the bottom, like tap-dancing shoes. Dorothy had told us that each shoe weighs 5 kg! This made the march that the soldiers do all the more impressive - they stand erect (with and expressionless face) and kick each foot up, the leg parallel to the ground, and before lowering the foot back down, they make a circle motion with their foot, like a horse or a bull before charging. They rotate sides periodically and ceremoniously. There's a third soldier dressed in contemporary uniform who looks after them as they are not allowed to speak or even make eye contact with anybody. About 40-minutes into the hour, they march forward and stand motionless. The modern-dressed soldier examines each one, fixing the tassel that hangs from their hats, their socks and stockings, wipes the swear from their brows and announces to he public, in both English and Greek, "you may take photos with the guards one at a time, please do not try to speak to them, be respectful."  The change of the guard occurs every hour on the hour but we didn't want to wait around for 20 minutes so we went off to our next visit, st. George's church on the top of Lycabettus Hill (the highest point in Athens).

Evzones - Presidential Guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside of the Parliament building in Syntagma Square

magnificent Evzones

We walked alongside the parliament and then up through Kolonaki, a very nice neighborhood in Athens. Kolonaki is on a steep slope and we walked up the hill passing through restaurants, that had sidewalk seating. About halfway up the hill the road turned into stairs and we were walking up stairwells between residential buildings. The road was lined with lush, green trees; that is one thing (of many) that keeps amazing me, the fertility of the land here. There is allegedly a water shortage but there are foliage and plants everywhere! Eventually we made it to our destination, a funicular station that would take us up to St. George's church. The funicular was small and cramped and a wave of claustrophobia came over me as we ascended the hill in a dark tunnel; at one point there was a disco ball flashing lights from the walls of the tunnel...seriously, guys? There is the most adorable white church on the top of the hill, a bell tower and a restaurant. We visited the church which fits about 12 people. There was a priest chanting and later incensing and an elderly nun praying. We lit candles and said a small prayer and were off. The view from St. George's church is incredible, you can see all Of Athens - whose population is 4 million (of the 11 million of all of Greece). 

St. George's Church on the top of Lycabettus Hill

Bell tower at St. George's church, overlooking the whole city of Athens

the back of St. George's Church

 

Land of milk and honey

We had breakfast on the rooftop of our hotel, with a view of the acropolis and ruins of the Temple of Zeus. The planter boxes that lined the outdoor terrace were filled with rosemary, oregano, geranium, among other fragrant herbs. A small olive tree grew to my right, with black olives hanging ripe on it. It's incredible how lush the land is and consequently extremely fertile, explains a lot of the richness of the cuisine and the ancient tradition of food production,  preparation, preservation.  

We took a bus to the Cape of Sounion today, about 75 km SE of Greece. We wound along the Aegean Sea passing gorgeous homes, fuchsia bougenvilia, white and purple oleander, olive trees, caper trees, and more oregano than meets the eye. There's something about the Mediterranean - the sun glistens off the water differently here, it seems shinier than elsewhere, maybe from all the blood spilled in ancient battles or all the passionate love stories that were made here or maybe there's just something magical about the Mediterranean. There definitely is. We stopped on the side of the road for a view of the temple of Poseidon (Greek God of the Sea), and continued on our way to the topf of the hill where the Temple is located.  The Temple was built by the Greeks in the 5th Century BC. Apparently the temple was destroyed by the Persians in the 4th Century and rebuilt by the Greeks in the 5th.  It is a 4-sided building, with the traditional Greek columns, 42 originally of which 15 stand today. 

 

Temple of Poseidon, Cape Sounion, Greece

View from the top of Cape Sounion

Remains of the Temple of Poseidon, Cape Sounion, Greece

Beautiful - I don't know what tree this is but it wasn't an olive tree

Partridge!

These flowers were growing up between rocks in seemingly unlivable conditions

Mama and me at the Temple of Poseidon

Enjoying an afternoon freddo cappuccino - a very commmon Greek drink, espresso over ice with really thick foamed milk on top.

The colors at sunset here are incredible. A golden sun set in a clear sky that's changing colors by he minute, pinks and oranges, soft purples and blues. The closer the sun gets to the horizon, the more yellow it appears and the more pink the sky becomes. Now more purple skies - no wonder people stop what they're doing at sunset and allow themselves to be mesmorized by the beauty of it.


excuse the quality of the photo, it was taken from the bus but this is the sunset over the Aegean Sea

In the evening, we wound through the old allies of the Plaka to a Tavern recommended to us by the concierge.  It was a bit off the beaten path, nestled in a hill right next to an Orthodox Church. We sat at the top of the hill and let the waiter (who I named Georgous because that seems to be every other man's name here) choose our meal for us.  We started with a Greek salad, cucumbers, tomatoes, thinly sliced red onions, capers, olives and feta cheese, that Georgous dressed for us with olive oil, apple cider vinegar and salt.  Georgous was a very animated man, "you must eat Greek salad with a lot of olive oil otherwise it's not Greek salad," he proclaimed as he threw his hands up in the air. For the next course, mama and papa b had grouper with spinach and monkfish with mushrooms, respectively.  I had lamb cooked in foil with potatoes and cheese - another waiter removed the contents of the foil onto my plate at the side of the table. The food was delicious, tender and flavourful.  One of the times Georgous came to check on us he insisted I try a caper with a chunk of potato and a piece of meat, which I did.  I ate it and smiled and he said "you see, The Greeks, we know how enjoy the food!"  We had this with a jug of house red wine that was spectacular and believe it or not, we did not have dessert!  

Kalispera, Atena (good evening, Athens)

The sky was a pink, orange haze - that old world haze that's characteristic of these ancient countries.  As we descended over Athens, you could see the beachfront houses in neat little rows - they looked as of they were glued together and I imagined Greek neighbors yelling from one house to the other: the latest gossip, the price of tomatoes, politicking. It made me think of the conversation I had had with the young Argentinian lawyer next to me, he was asking about the social life in the US, is it really as fast-paced as they say? Are people very solitary and don't go out? I explained that it depends but it's easier to be less social when our houses are so spread apart (as opposed to the "flat-style" buildings so characteristic of the majority of the world.  The way of life makes it easier to drive home after work and stay home in front of the TV, maybe that's also a cultural difference - it is a less social culture and people don't feel the need to socialize and are fulfilled by being in front of the TV. (Or, maybe that's part of what's wrong with our culture, a lot of our depression problems may be because of a lack of social life...?)

The cab driver put our bags in the trunk without even making eye contact with us, I could tell this irked my dad - he really likes to make friends.  We got in and drove off, the warm Mediterranean air blowing through the open windows, the breeze was welcome after being in/on an airport/airplane (read: hot, sweaty, stuffy, recycled air) for 20+ hours.  The radio hummed zorba-esque music in the background and I was taken back to one hot summer in Damascus - we were eating dinner in the open-aired courtyard of an old house converted to a restaurant in the old city. There was a big Greek group dining and the guitar player welcomed them with the zorba, we were invited to join and we spent the evening dancing around the fountain in the center of the restaurant - starting slow and speeding up the tempo, as the zorba goes. I smiled at the memory and knew that before we leave this country, we would dance the zorba again. 

The cab wove through the streets - in that  "ordered chaos" characteristic of old-world-country-driving. Lanes are ambiguous and personal space, non-existent; pedestrians may or may not walk into traffic causing a fit of rage for drivers; motorbikes and vespas take advantage of their size and weave around cars.  The driver wasn't shy to lay on the horn if traffic was taking longer to clear for him than he would like. He sat on a mat of wooden beads - for the heat and a wooden cross hung from the rear view mirror. 

The street signs made me think of my college physics and calculus classes, alphas and betas and thetas. What a beautiful alphabet, not to mention old...

Mama exclaimed that she had spotted the Acropolis! Although it was dark, we could see the Acropolis through the trees as we made our way to our hotel. As we pulled up to the lobby, mama handed the driver his fare and said "efharisto (thank you) so much."

Time to explore! We left our hotel, and were almost run over by motorcyclists who seem to flirt with the cross walk line, anticipating the green light. We wandering around the ruins of the Temple of Olympian Zues and Hadrian's Arch - the columns mightily standing the test of time. This time when we crossed the street, we took extra caution - drivers here are reckless!  In the Plaka, we heard a man softly playing guitar and singing a ballad into a microphone; restaurant owners invited us to have a seat and eat at their restaurant, each claiming theirs to be the best one around. A man sat behind a cart selling roasted chestnuts and corn on the cob; another older gentleman had a compartamentalized cart of nuts "prova!" he proclaimed as we approached. We tasted various nuts, macademia, almonds, cashews and decided on roasted, salted almonds for an evening stroll snack. Men were selling these contraptions that light up as they soar through the air; another couple of young guys were playing with fire - the more daring of the two taking sips of gas and roaring out fire to please the crowds dining in the Plaka. We walked slowly through the olive tree lined allies stopping in each shop to admire the souvenirs, or sample candied fruit.

Ruins of Temple of Zeus in Athens, Greece

More Ruins of the Temple of Zeus

kids messing around near the guys playing with fire in the Plaka, Athens, Greece

Greek yogurt + Greek honey = yummy

various yogurts

Multi-use  hollowed out log, planter

the Acropolis at night

 

Amman Citadel

It took quite some time to get out of the house.  My dad had misplaced his ID card and my uncle wanted to give us fruits, vegetables and bottles of water for our adventure.  My aunt was making coffee and offering us some, my other uncle was telling a story and wanted us to listen...


We finally made it out of the house.  Within seconds a taxi stopped for us, my aunt lives right off a pretty busy road, plus there are tons of taxis around.  The driver was a middle aged man, we spoke to him in Arabic but he could tell it wasn’t Jordanian Arabic.  He asked where we were from.  "Damascus, the great," my father replied.  I told him we wanted to go to Restaurant Hashem, downtown, he said ok and we were on our way.  Dad and I talked in the car, sometimes the taxi driver chimed in, we were talking about Arabic sayings and proverbs, my dad is full of them.  

As we got closer, the man began to tell us of well-known place that sells knafeh (an Arabic sweet that is ground or shredded wheat with cheese and lots of sugar syrup, flavored with orange blossom water), I smiled at Dad, "I’m getting hungry."   "Why did you start talking about knafeh" he said to the driver, with a laugh, "now she's hungry!"  Neither of us had eaten breakfast, just some tea or coffee.  I had done this on purpose because I had read about Hashem Restaurant, it’s your typical Levantine “breakfast joint” or breakfast street food, so to speak.  The cab driver dropped us off there, we paid him and crossed the street in the sweltering heat.  We sat down on plastic chairs at the restaurant which was half outdoor, the outside part covered by green corrugated plastic roofing.  A young waiter came to take our order, there was no menu because they only serve what they serve and you must know what they serve.  My dad looked at me, I said I wanted foul, my dad asked what else they had.  Fool (fava beans, slightly mashed with garlic, lemon, diced, fresh tomato, green onion and olive oil), fetteh (fried pita bread soaked in olive oil that has been treated with some chemical, excuse my being so vague but I do not recall how they treat the oil) msabaha (similar to hummus, ground chickpeas with tahini, which is sesame paste, garlic and lemon juice), falafel (fried “dumplings” of garbanzo bean and spices).  I gave our order, msabaha and fool. 

Falafel

My dad added that he wanted falafel, he looked at me, I said I didn’t want any, he said to bring just a half order.  We were offered tea and coffee, I had black tea, sweetened just perfectly (well probably too sweet but with that combination of foods and flavors, it is perfect).  They brought our food within 3 minutes, the falafel first.  The boy bringing them out just said, falafel, falafel and people would sort of raise their hand or finger or simply look at him to let him know that they had ordered falafel.  The falafel was served on a piece of paper, over a plate.  The paper is there to absorb the excess frying oil. Next came the msabaha and fool.  They were both served in red clay bowls, swimming in olive oil.  Oh they were beautiful.  My grandmother used to say, the eye eats.  Which means, presentation is very important in food, if something is served well and looks appetizing, you will be more apt to eat and enjoy your food.  My dad started dipping the falafel in the msabaha.  Oh man...it was delicious.  First the soft olive oil hits your tongue and then you’re hit with a surprise attack of garlic flavor, there are undertones of tahini (sesame paste) and garbonzo beans, slightly sour, thanks to the lemon.  You haven’t even taken a bite yet.  Then you do and the crunch of the falafel splits into soft warm dough between your teeth.  Not bread dough, but bean dough, so hearty, so flavorful, so wonderful!  The waiter came over and asked where we were from and we told him we were from Damascus.  “Ahla wa sahla (welcome).”  “Ahlayn feek” (welcome to you), we responded.  We sat eating, talking about how wonderful the food was and laughing at how disorganized but perfect everything was.  A waiter came by and threw 2 big hot loaves of pita bread on the table.

Msabaha, falafel, tea and paba B

Fresh baked bread

My dad told me stories about his youth, he had trigonometry class at 7 am, and he and his friends would go to the restaurant in old Damascus at 6 to have fool.  Now, fool (fava beans) have the fame to make you tired, they are a heavy food and make you feel a bit lethargic, so my dad and his friends would sit in class staring blankly at the teacher who thought they were still half asleep.  We finished our meal and asked how much we owed.  “Leave it on us.”  the waiter said with a smile.  My dad said “no no, next time,” the waiter looked down, shyly, “ok.” “But you’ll remember us, huh!” my dad said with a laugh.  “Of course, of course, Mister.”  “How much would you like?” I asked.  “Two dinar.”  (that’s about $3).  We paid and were on our way.  On the way out we heard “tfadalew, tfadalew,” a word akin to welcome or help yourself but more warm.  We walked out, holding hands, which is not uncommon for a father and daughter, albeit a grown woman, to do in the middle east.  It’s not even uncommon for two men or two women or any two people We walked towards the gold market.  Gold is a big deal in the Middle East, people invest in gold quite a bit and you can go down to the gold market and sell your gold for market price to any gold jeweler.

Me, at a gold shop

Dad, as we walk up the stairs to the citadel

We strolled our way through the streets, it was quite hot. We walked by a bakery, "oh, dad! Let's get one of those." I was pointing to these chocolate balls, their basically chocolate dough mixed with ground nuts and oftentimes dried fruit, maybe coconut flakes and dipped in chocolate.  We bought one for 15 piester (like cents, 100 piesters = 1 Dinar = 1.41 USD) 

We walked up and up and up.  We asked along the way for the way to the Citadel and people kept pointing us up stairs and dirt paths.  

Someone's laundry, you don't need dryers in the desert

part of the hike up to the Citadel, we later found out that we took a back road, literally and climbed in through the back, not very protected for a citadel, if you ask me.

Finally! we caught glimpse of the citadel, or at least some Roman ruins which told us we were near

View of the amphitheater from the top of the mountain

Columns

Columns + me + part of Papa B's finger + Jordanian flag in the background = cool shot!

  

What remains of the Temple of Hercules from ~161-166 AD

A really cool coffin

Papa B getting some shade under a grape vine

Papa B walking into the Ommayed Palace

looking out of the Ommayed Palace to the what was the "residence" of the Ommayeds from about 720 AD

Pathway with remains of Corinthian columns, the diagonal stones you see going from where Papa B stands to the bottom right corner of the photograph used to be a drainage system, just past where the photo ends, it is uncovered and you can see where water would gather

Amazing arches!

The Jordanian flag flying high over Amman

Can you believe that these trees are this green in the dessert!

We also visited the Jordanian Archeological Museum which is home to many artifacts from as far back as the Paleolithic Period.  There are cool things like fish fossils and horse teeth, glass tear jars and gold jewelry with cats eye stone, however; photographing was prohibited, so you must visit if you wish to see these artifacts. 

 I leave you with a flattering photograph of me in front of the Ommayed Palace