April 20-22, 2018
After Zosia and I got engaged on her birthday in 2017, I thought she might be looking for another birthday surprise in 2018. I thought maybe I could get away with just a balloon and a cupcake, but I probably have to let her down slowly...can't just give up completely, right? At least not for another year or two. So I decided to plan a trip without telling her the destination. She packed her bags, we headed to the Modlin airport (so she knew it was a RyanAir destination), and I asked her to guess where we were going. She looked at the departures board but couldn’t guess, so I gave her a clue: a piece of paper with images of some temples and gods, the seaside and souvlaki. It took her only a few seconds to scream “Ateny!!” after she noticed the Parthenon. She had always wanted to go to Greece, especially after we visited Macedonia the previous year. I was happy the destination was approved.
Athens is named after Athena (or vice versa), the goddess of war, who was born out of Zeus’s head. I’ve always been a fan of Greek mythology (and the re-named Roman versions - for example, Athena is Minerva), but I wonder if people actually believed someone was born out of someone else’s head? She was supposedly cut out of his head by Hephaestus. How does that even work? Athena and Poseidon had some sort of competition to become protector of the city. To influence the decision makers, Athena gifted them an olive tree while Poseidon gave water. They chose Athena, so Poseidon got to hang out at Sounio (his temple is beautiful there), and the rest is history.
Besides the Gods and Goddesses, the “real” ancient history is fascinating. From the first Olympic Games, the original marathon, all of the famous Emperors, philosophers, fraternities and sororities, and even the language.
The city itself has not done well since the financial crisis. They struggle to support themselves and tourism is barely keeping them afloat. The city is somewhat dirty, but still packed with visitors, restaurants (and greeters who really test your patience when trying to get you to go inside), pedestrian areas, street vendors, marble, smokers, and cats. Zosia took more photos of cats than of the ancient sites.
We joined a free walking tour, which took us around to many nice parts of the city: We saw the white houses of the Anafiotika neighborhood, churches, the national garden, parliament, the agora, and of course the sweaty hike up to the Parthenon on the Acropolis. After a while, you kinda get numb to the thousands of years old buildings and ruins. Down below, the size of the columns of Zeus’s temple were impressive. That’s what she said.
We also took a trip out to Poseidon’s temple, 30 minutes down the coast. It was super windy but the scenery was beautiful. The rocky coast reminded me of driving along Maui towards Lahaina, or around Big Sur in California. I guess we sometimes forget to appreciate what we have in the US.
And oh, the food. And free tap water. That's money. Literally. You don't have to buy water in restaurants. And it’s nearly impossible to be on a street without a restaurant. That's a lot of free water. And outdoor seating. There were so many mouth watering places that we were always hungry. We had good, cheap seafood at a place called Atlantikos, and we tried another place recommended by our guide with a sign I can’t read (so don’t know the name). The place was so busy that the waiter was sweaty from running around so much. On our way out I poked my head to the kitchen where he was catching his breath to tell him we appreciated his hard work.
Luckily Zosia also likes to eat and try different things, so we were happy to order a lot and share. In just a weekend, we found many dishes we knew from eating in other countries, but the "original" versions somehow tasted better.
Greek yogurt (of course) - which was thicker than the Carrefour brand, served with honey and fruit
Znakopita - spinach pie
Moussaka - we made some when we got home
Meat and souvlaki pita, where we learned that "gyros" is the meat shaved from a giant spit (what they call "kebab" in Poland), but kebab is minced meat grilled on its own individual skewer
Fava puree - Hannibal would be proud
Dolma
Pita and Tzatziki
Fried eggplant with yogurt and tomato sauce on pita
Greek salad - it really is Greek!
Ryba po grecku (just kidding, this was nowhere to be found).
For those unfamiliar, “ryba po grecku” means “fish in Greek style”, and is a very common dish served at Polish Christmas. Nobody has been able to explain why they call it "Greek style", as it’s definitely not Greek. But anyway, I really like it, which shows how much I like Greek food...just put the work “Greek” in the title and I’m a fan. Greek sheep intestines? Ok no, it doesn't work for everything.
After such a nice trip, I'm already starting to plan Zosia's next birthday surprise....in Radom.
After Zosia and I got engaged on her birthday in 2017, I thought she might be looking for another birthday surprise in 2018. I thought maybe I could get away with just a balloon and a cupcake, but I probably have to let her down slowly...can't just give up completely, right? At least not for another year or two. So I decided to plan a trip without telling her the destination. She packed her bags, we headed to the Modlin airport (so she knew it was a RyanAir destination), and I asked her to guess where we were going. She looked at the departures board but couldn’t guess, so I gave her a clue: a piece of paper with images of some temples and gods, the seaside and souvlaki. It took her only a few seconds to scream “Ateny!!” after she noticed the Parthenon. She had always wanted to go to Greece, especially after we visited Macedonia the previous year. I was happy the destination was approved.
Athens is named after Athena (or vice versa), the goddess of war, who was born out of Zeus’s head. I’ve always been a fan of Greek mythology (and the re-named Roman versions - for example, Athena is Minerva), but I wonder if people actually believed someone was born out of someone else’s head? She was supposedly cut out of his head by Hephaestus. How does that even work? Athena and Poseidon had some sort of competition to become protector of the city. To influence the decision makers, Athena gifted them an olive tree while Poseidon gave water. They chose Athena, so Poseidon got to hang out at Sounio (his temple is beautiful there), and the rest is history.
View of the Acropolis from our apartment balcony
The city itself has not done well since the financial crisis. They struggle to support themselves and tourism is barely keeping them afloat. The city is somewhat dirty, but still packed with visitors, restaurants (and greeters who really test your patience when trying to get you to go inside), pedestrian areas, street vendors, marble, smokers, and cats. Zosia took more photos of cats than of the ancient sites.
We joined a free walking tour, which took us around to many nice parts of the city: We saw the white houses of the Anafiotika neighborhood, churches, the national garden, parliament, the agora, and of course the sweaty hike up to the Parthenon on the Acropolis. After a while, you kinda get numb to the thousands of years old buildings and ruins. Down below, the size of the columns of Zeus’s temple were impressive. That’s what she said.
Blending in in Anafiotika
Parthenon
Zeus's ancient graffiti has lasted a long time
Zeus's temple is small?
Nope! We're so sneaky.
Poseidon's temple
And oh, the food. And free tap water. That's money. Literally. You don't have to buy water in restaurants. And it’s nearly impossible to be on a street without a restaurant. That's a lot of free water. And outdoor seating. There were so many mouth watering places that we were always hungry. We had good, cheap seafood at a place called Atlantikos, and we tried another place recommended by our guide with a sign I can’t read (so don’t know the name). The place was so busy that the waiter was sweaty from running around so much. On our way out I poked my head to the kitchen where he was catching his breath to tell him we appreciated his hard work.
Luckily Zosia also likes to eat and try different things, so we were happy to order a lot and share. In just a weekend, we found many dishes we knew from eating in other countries, but the "original" versions somehow tasted better.
Delish
Greek yogurt (of course) - which was thicker than the Carrefour brand, served with honey and fruit
Znakopita - spinach pie
Moussaka - we made some when we got home
Meat and souvlaki pita, where we learned that "gyros" is the meat shaved from a giant spit (what they call "kebab" in Poland), but kebab is minced meat grilled on its own individual skewer
Fava puree - Hannibal would be proud
Dolma
Pita and Tzatziki
Fried eggplant with yogurt and tomato sauce on pita
Greek salad - it really is Greek!
Ryba po grecku (just kidding, this was nowhere to be found).
For those unfamiliar, “ryba po grecku” means “fish in Greek style”, and is a very common dish served at Polish Christmas. Nobody has been able to explain why they call it "Greek style", as it’s definitely not Greek. But anyway, I really like it, which shows how much I like Greek food...just put the work “Greek” in the title and I’m a fan. Greek sheep intestines? Ok no, it doesn't work for everything.
After such a nice trip, I'm already starting to plan Zosia's next birthday surprise....in Radom.
Snowflakes final edit by Allen Steble (Feat Andrej)
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