In the morning we visited the Roman Agora which is on the North side of the Acropolis not far from the Ancient/Greek Agora. Construction on this square began in the first century BC by Julius and Augustus Caesar. It held a large wooden covered colonnade on one side and on the other was an open air market place.
Part of the gate to the West is preserved but the only remnants of the building are the series of column bases that formed the outline. After the invasion of the Herules in 267 AD, which destroyed most of Athens, the Roman Agora became the commercial and administrative center of Athens. By the time the Ottomans conquered the city the entire square had been destroyed and it became covered with houses, churches and mosques.
(The West Gate)
The space that was the open air marketplace contains a tall, octagonal tower called the Tower of the Winds that was an ancient, water driven clock. The panels above contain friezes that illustrate the characteristics of the winds from the eight cardinal points of the compass. We were able to see into the interior. The roof is a marvel. It is a vault containing 24 large slabs of stone that are set in place by a round keystone. The walls were once painted but only faint traces of color can be seen today. The clock mechanism was similar to the Antikythera that was found in 1901. It’s likely that the tower survived only because it was repurposed. The Byzantines used it as a church and the Ottomans used it as a meeting house.
(The Tower of the Winds)
During the Byzantine era three churches were built on this site. One of them, which was converted to a mosque at one time, is still fully intact. When we were there we saw a presentation of photos taken by the Germans during their occupation of Athens during World War II. It was interesting to see many of the most famous sites as they appeared over 60 years ago. Outside we found the remains of what had once been a minaret.
After seeing the Agora we went in search of lunch. We had intended to go back to one of the falafel places we had already eaten at when a souvlaki restaurant called Ermina’s caught our eye. We ordered a beef souvlaki and a side of french fries. Amusingly, the souvlaki came with fries so we had more than enough. The plate came with five small beef patties that were freshly cooked on the grill and were perfectly seasoned (we’re not really sure what the seasonings were but they were fantastic). There was also some yogurt sauce and grilled vegetables including tomatoes and onions. Total cost was €5.90 / $6.75.
(Souvlaki from Ermina’s)
We stopped in next door for dessert. It’s a place called Lukumades that bills itself as selling “Authentic Greek Delights”. Inside they were making small fried donuts, similar to zeppeli, with a variety of fillings and toppings. We choose chestnut filling and white chocolate sauce as our topping. For €5.75 / $6.60 we received twelve donuts that were drenched in sauce. They were hot, fresh, greasy and absolutely delicious. The chestnut filling, which is only available during the Christmas season, was very good but the white chocolate sauce was simply amazing. The place had just a couple of tables inside and a few more outside. It was an absolute madhouse. We’ll definitely be going there again.
(Lukumades from Lukumades)
Our next destination was the Temple of Zeus. Along the way we stopped into a number of small, Byzantine churches. It’s easy to tell that many of them have been constructed out of fragments of marble that were repurposed from more ancient monuments.
By the time we got to the Temple of Zeus it was 2:30 pm. Since it closed at 3:00 pm we decided to come back another day so we could see it at a leisurely pace.
Athens has two Agoras. The older one, the Greek Agora, is usually referred to as the “Ancient Agora” to distinguish it from the more modern, “Roman Agora”. Agora literally means “gathering place” but could easily be referred to as the Forum, market place or central square. It was filled with markets, temples, theaters, civic buildings and was a great place to meet. It was also a place where political discussions took place. In Greek the phrases, “I Shop” and “I Speak in Public” both derive from this same root word. Situated in the shadow of the Acropolis it was the heart of the old city.
Fun Fact: The word “agoraphobia” is made up of the two Greek words “agora” and “phobia” and literally means fear of a public places.
Athens offers a combination ticket that allows access to seven sites for €30.00 / $34.50 per person. The sites include The Acropolis, the North and South Slops of the Acropolis, The Ancient Agora, Hadrian’s Library, The Roman Agora, Kerameikos (a cemetery), Olympieion (The Temple of Zeus) and Lykeion (a gymnasium) and is good for five consecutive days.
When we got to the agora the person at the ticket booth told us that during the winter months the tickets were all half price making the combination ticket more expensive. We were delighted. This meant we could take our time and see all the sights at our leisure. Sometimes it’s worth going in the offseason The cost for us to enter the Ancient Agora was just €4.00 / $4.60 per person. Credit cards are accepted.
Note: The combination tickets do NOT include the cost of entry to the Acropolis Museum.
There are some signs spaced out around the Agora that provide a cursory explanation of the site but we wanted to get the most out of our experience so we took along the Rick Steve’s podcasts to guide us. We’ve used them before. They usually contain lots of good information and fun facts but their introductions are very long and uninteresting and their pace is off. Still, if you’re willing to start and stop the recording a few times they will often make the experience better and the cost is great: they’re free!
The tour starts with some background information. In 600 BC the agora was nothing more than an open field that was a common place for people to meet and buy goods. Over the next few hundred years it flourished and buildings started to appear. In ancient times only free males were permitted entry to the site.
In the early 20th century the agora was covered with modern houses. In 1931 a decision was made to re-discover Greece’s ancient roots and preserve its archeological past. The modern buildings were all removed and the site was excavated. The dig was directed by the American School of Classical Studies in Athens who are responsible for the site to this very day.
We began walking down the Panathenaic Way. This was the main street in ancient times. It extends to the North and was the main path to the Acropolis. Everywhere you look there are pieces of old marble and fragments of columns off to the side. Most are small and only serve to provide some idea of the scope of the site.
The first building we saw was the Stoa of Attalos. The Stoa, a two story colonnade used a marketplace, was a gift to the city of Athens from Attalos II, ruler of Pergamon from 159 BC to 138 BC. He donated it in appreciation for the education that he received in the city. In those days all free males were entitled to an education free of charge.
In the 1950s the American School of Classical Studies in Athens reconstructed the building to appear exactly as it would have in antiquity. At 377 feet by 66 feet in size it’s a magnificent sight. Each story has two aisles and 21 rooms. The ground floor is now home to the Museum of the Ancient Agora. The upstairs was closed to visitors when we were there. It was surprising to us that they would be allowed to completely reconstruct an ancient building like that. It was lovely to see how it would have appeared over 2,000 years ago. Given the Vienna Convention and UNESCO no one would be permitted to do that any more.
(Stoa of Attalos)
Admission to the museum is included in the price of entry and it is well worth seeing. There are many artifacts and sculptures on display but perhaps the most interesting exhibits were those on how the Greeks voted. They had a Klerotera on display – a device that was used to select people for jury duty. It was a slab of stone with slots cut into it. People would put their bronze identification tickets into the slots and bronze balls would randomly choose those who would serve. They also had an interesting display on Ostracism, which was a way of removing someone from office.
(Klerotera and Id Tickets)
The outlines of other buildings could be seen but they were mostly rubble. High up on the hill to the North was perhaps the most impressive building of all. It was the Temple of Hephaestus and it was wholly intact from ancient times. Dating from the fourth century BC the temple was dedicated to the god Hephaestus who was the patron of metalworking, craftsmanship and fire and, as blacksmith, made all of the gods’ weapons. Most likely the temple survived because it was repurposed as a church starting around 700 AD. The interior of the temple is closed to visitors but you can walk all the way around. It’s a marvel to see something so old that has survived in its nearly original condition.
(Temple of Hephaestus)
On the way down the hill we were treated to stories of how Socrates, Aristotle and Plato, who could often be found in the agora, would espouse their ideas of philosophy. Another story was about Diogenes, who had eschewed material goods, walked around the agora naked and slept in a bathtub. One account says that Alexander the Great, who was thrilled to meet him one day, asked if there was anything that he could do for him. Diogenes replied, “Yes, get out of my sunlight”.
On the way out we saw the remnants of the Odeon of Agrippa. Marcus Agrippa, the right hand of Augustus Caesar, had a large, two story theater constructed there (the Romans did not confine their building projects to the Roman Agora). The outline of the building is still apparent. At one time six huge sculptures, which doubled as support columns, could be seen at the front entrance. Three of them are still standing today.
Afterwards we had lunch at a Turkish restaurant in the area. They had falafels for just €3.00 / $3.45 each. The sandwiches were rather large, served in a wrap and had yogurt sauce instead of tahini. We washed them down with some Greek coffee (which is actually Turkish coffee). It’s hard to get a bad meal in this country.
Next we visited Hadrian’s Library. The library, built by the Emperor in 132 AD, contained over 16,000 papyrus books. All men, even slaves, had full access to the library at no charge. The building was a large colonnade with a grand entrance on one side and another entrance on the opposite side. Many of the original walls still stand and several of the columns from the grand entrance can still be seen. The size of the library can easily be judged by the outline of the remaining column bases.
We found a church in the area that was doing a sing-a-long Messiah. In case you’re unfamiliar with this it is a performance of Handel’s oratorio, “The Messiah” where the audience sings the choral parts. The Messiah is often performed during the Christmas season and sing-a-long versions are very popular. We participate in them whenever we get the opportunity. We attended one at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center once but most of the time they’re done in churches; they’re a great way for them to raise money.
This performance was scheduled for 8:30 pm at an Anglican Church near the Arch of Hadrian. We were told to arrive by 7:45 pm because the director wanted to warm up the singers first and go over some of the more difficult parts. We arrived at 7:30 pm and the doors had barely opened. Everyone there spoke British English and we learned that this church was attended primarily by members of the UK expat community. It was a small, neo-Gothic style church with a small two-keyboard organ on one side and seating for about 300. Soon they put out signs as to where the various voices should sit and we took our places. The warm-ups started just after 8:30 pm.
The church was packed to the gills with attendees but only about 25 people planned to sing the choral parts. Piano-vocal scores could be purchased at the door for €10.00 / $11.50 but we had already downloaded it to our iPads. Cost of entry was €5.00 / $5.75 per person whether you were singing or merely attending. For this performance the soloists were young vocalists who had volunteered their services. Most of them looked like they were students or had recently graduated. We were accompanied by the church organ and were directed by a man who was likely the director of the church choir.
The level of competence all around was fairly low but the evening was still a great deal of fun. Everyone there was happy, friendly and talkative. The evening was a great social success and considering that there were probably 400 people there the church raised a good bit of money. This was the ninth year in row that they had staged The Messiah. We heard that for the first couple of years they had gotten members of the opera company to sing the solo parts. We would have liked to have seen those performances.
Believe it or not we forgot to take pictures!
Distance walked: 2.5 miles
Monday, December 24
We decided to head out a see a few sights today. Tomorrow is Christmas day and most things will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Our real goal was simply to buy some groceries to tide us over for the next couple of days but while we were out we planned to see a few things.
We waked through the National Garden and headed towards Kallimarmaro, the stadium that had been used for the first modern Olympics. We intended to walk around the back and get in for free; our guide George had told us about this route that supposedly only locals knew about.
(The National Gardens)
We finally came to the school yard that he mentioned and found that the gates were locked. School was not in session that day so it made sense that their grounds would be off limits. We were disappointed but figured we would come back on another day.
Google maps told us that it would be faster to continue walking around rather than retracing our steps so we continued on. Soon we found a long staircase that seemed like it might be another way to get in. We walked to the top and found a large park that was adjacent to the stadium. There was a fence that prevented entry and we could see no gates. Just as we were about to leave someone inside the park walked past us and exited through some bars that were bent. We asked if you could get into the stadium from there and they said, “Yes”.
Once we got into the park we realized that there were several trails. The one we took led to a clearing high on the hill with views of the area and the stadium. We were high above the stadium. By now Deborah wasn’t feeling too energetic so instead of trying one of the other paths we just left and decided to try again on another day.
This time last year we were in Rome. We had a great time trying various cakes and Panettone. In fact, we must have had six different Panettone alone. We only had three cakes and some Greek Christmas cookies back at the house so after leaving the grocery store we stopped at a new bakery and bought an orange cake. It had just come out of the oven and was still warm.
(Christmas Treats)
Distance walked: 7.6 miles
Tuesday, December 25
Merry Christmas to all. We stayed inside all day. For Christmas Dinner Deborah made pasta with shrimp scampi and for dessert we finally dug into the buche de noel that we bought. It turned out that it wasn’t exactly what we expected. The outside had a thick white chocolate ganache and the inside was chocolate and vanilla mouse separated by a thin layer of moist chocolate cake. It was absolutely delicious.
Our tour was scheduled for 2:00 pm so we started the day with lunch. We did a Google search for Turkish Restaurants and found a Lebanese Restaurant that looked interesting called Feyrouz. It turned out to be a small place that was mainly for takeout but they had a counter area where we could eat. There was a menu on the wall but it was written in Greek. We were about to leave when the owner offered us some English language menus. We decided to stay. The food looked amazing so we ordered a Lebanese spinach pie topped with humus and something called a feyrouz (a thin dough with minced beef and herbs filled with vegetables and yogurt in the shape of a wrap). According to the owner the feyrouz is a very popular food in Lebanon.
(Spinach Pie with Humus)
The spinach pie was different from what we’re used to but was very good. The feyrouz, however, was absolutely delicious. The cost, with a bottle of water, was about $8.00. Credit cards are accepted (but we can’t find the charge). Highly recommended!
Deborah really needed some coffee before the tour so we stopped at a place called Foyrnoi. It’s a coffee shop and a bakery where, as usual, everything looked just wonderful. As is our practice we ordered two cappuccinos. They had some really nice looking baklava in the window but we opted to share a piece of orange cake. We’d had some at Christina’s and fell in love. It’s definitely a Greek treat. The cappuccinos were much larger than you’d usually get and, as we were walking away, she told us not to forget to pick up two bottles of water – they were included in the price of the coffee. The total was €5.00 / $5.75. Credit cards are accepted. The orange cake was very good. We immediately decided that this was going to be our favorite coffee shop for the next several weeks.
Our last stop before meeting the tour was at a Mastic store. Mastic is a tree resin that is only found on the island of Chios and is often called Arabic Gum (which is different from gum arabic). It’s been harvested in Greece for over 2,500 years and is supposed to contain medicinal properties. One of its main attributes is its ability to help with digestion. We bought a bottle for later use. With all we’ve been eating we probably should have bought two bottles!
Our tour started in front of the National Historical Museum which is dedicated to the modern history of Greece in a building that was once used for the Parliament. Admission is free.
We walked across the street to three large neo-classical buildings that contained the National Library, the University of Athens and the Academy of Athens. George, our guide, had studied both ancient history and archeology. He pointed out to us many of the symbols on the buildings. The Academy in particular, had a pediment that was reminiscent of the Parthenon. The freeze contained depictions of the gods and he told the story of how Athena and Poseidon competed to have the city named for themselves. Athena won the competition and has been the patron of Athens ever since. She is the goddess of Wisdom and War and is often symbolized as an Owl.
The most instructive part of the discussion was the difference between Doric, Ionic and Corinthian column capitals. We knew this at one time but had long since forgotten which was which. George had a simple system for remembering – just count the number of syllables. Doric (2) is the simplest followed by Ionic (3) and the most ornate is Corinthian (4). Even we can remember that!
(Column Capitals)
Next we walked over to the Numismatic Museum. The building was once the home of the famed archeologist Heinrich Schliemann who found and excavated the city of Troy in 1870. The front gate held a series of swastikas, which are ancient symbols from the East. What we never realized was that some swastikas open to the right and some to the left. The ones that open to the left represent wisdom and the others power. Swastikas were famously used by the Nazis as their symbol. They used the version that opens to the right.
Further down the street we came to the palace that was built by the first modern king of Greece: Otto. After the defeat of the Turks Greece became an independent country and needed a leader. The world powers decided that they should have a king that would be respected – someone who came from an existing royal family (Greece’s last royal family had died out over 2,500 years ago). At the age of 16, Prince Otto, second in line to the Throne of Bavaria, was selected as the ruler.
Otto selected Athens to be his capital. At the time the city was little more than an open field. Athens had been completely destroyed after the fall of the Roman Empire and had never been rebuilt. George said that if Rome had not been the Pope’s residence after Rome fell that the city of Rome would have befallen a similar fate. Interesting food for thought. Today this palace is used as the Greek Parliament building.
The front of the palace holds a memorial grave to the unknown soldier and, while we were there, we witnessed a Changing of the Guard Ceremony. We noticed that soldiers wore large pompoms on the tips of their shoes. George explained that when the Turks ruled the area Greeks were not allowed to carry weapons. Many Greeks wore pompoms on their shoes to conceal small knives. That tradition has been carried forth into the makeup of the uniforms that are still worn today.
(Changing of the Guard)
Next we walked through the National Garden. Originally it was a large private garden that was attached to the Royal Palace but after its completion King Otto gave it to the city as a public park. The park has a surprising variety of trees that were donated from countries throughout the world. The United States donated Floridian palm trees.
The park contains a number of excavations too. We visited one that contained the remnants of a Roman era aqueduct. Nearby we saw Zappeio Hall. This neo-classical building was built in the 1880s as the home to the Olympic committee. Today it is used as a conference center.
On the other side of the park we found the Panathenaic Stadium which also goes by the name of Kallimarmaro. We’ve already mentioned this stadium, which was home to the first modern Olympic Games. There is a charge of €5.00 to enter the stadium but George told us about a back door that only locals know about where we could enter for free. We plan to check that out on another day.
The tour ended with a quick look at the Temple of Zeus and the Arch of Hadrian, places we’d already been. In total the tour lasted three hours. George said that he didn’t normally visit so many places but he had just gotten carried away. It was a good tour with lots of valuable information.
Afterwards we headed back towards our apartment and our thoughts came around to dinner. We had planned to get some groceries and have dinner at home when we came across a restaurant called Ambrosia and just couldn’t resist giving it a try.
It’s a small, family run place where lots of locals were eating. In fact, the restaurant seemed to do a bigger take-out than sit-down business. They had a nice selection of Greek foods and the prices seemed quite reasonable. Deborah ordered a chicken gyro which came packed with french fries and I had lamb chops that came with a side of fries. The chicken was seasoned perfectly and, instead of the usual tzatziki, had a spicy sauce. The lamb chops were not the fancy Frenched version you might expect. There were six large hunks of meat on bones that were seasoned and grilled. Everything was fresh and delicious. Cost was €11.30 / $13.00. On the way out we noticed a tray of freshly prepared spinach pies. We plan to try those the next time we’re there.
(Lamb Chops)
Distance walked: 7.3 miles
Saturday, December 22
This morning we took another free tour. This was a tour centered on the Mythology of Greece. We had met our guide, Dmitry, the day before because he had participated in the free tour the day before.
To start with we retraced many of the places we’d seen the day before. This time Dmitry told us many of the famous stories from mythology. The tour crossed the city and eventually came to the Roman and Greek Agouras. The Roman one includes a clock that is still standing, is covered on eight sides with personifications of the eight cardinal points of the compass and was driven by water. He also told us the story of Hephaestus while standing in sight of the temple dedicated to his honor.
The tour was a lot of fun and included too many stories to remember or re-tell. It was a fun way to get some background on the city and it’s many famous landmarks.
For lunch we headed back to Ambrosia. We were instantly recognized. They were out of spinach pies but offered us a cheese pie in its place. Deborah took the cheese pie along with a small Greek salad and I got a pork gyro plate (they didn’t have lamb!). The gyro plate was a little fatty but very tasty. The cheese pie was amazingly good. It was made from seasoned feta cheese wrapped in phyllo dough. Before leaving we got two more cheese pies to take home. The total cost was €27.80 / $32.00.
We signed up for a free tour for this morning and were told to meet at a small church on the other side of Town near the Temple of Hephaestus at 11:00 am. Unlike all of the other free tours we’ve taken this company meets in different places and different times. They don’t actually post their schedule on the Internet. You have to sign up for a specific day and then you receive an email telling you the place and time to meet. It seems very odd to us.
We were at the appointed place at 10:50 am but could not find any signs of our group. We walked around the church and the nearby square looking for the usual accoutrements: an umbrella, a brightly colored vest, a sign or even just a small crowd. We found nothing. We sent them an email and waited about 15 minutes before leaving in disgust. We eventually got an email saying that the group was there and left on time. They said that they don’t have any umbrellas, vests or even any signs but that the guide is pretty good at finding people. This one wasn’t.
Deborah had been curious about many of the things I’d seen on the day I had the camera cleaned so we went back to many of those same places together. One of the things that neither of us had seen were the agoras, more commonly known to most of us as forums. There was the smaller, Roman agora, the library of Hardrian and the very large Greek agora that included the temple of Hephaestus. We walked around the outside of all these places. We plan to come back on another day and see them all because we can get a combination ticket that will allow us entry to all these places (and more) on a single day.
Deborah really wanted to visit the TOMS Flagship Store. When we arrived we discovered that it was both a store and a cafe. It seems that, in addition to shoes, TOMS also produces coffee, sunglasses and bags and their flagship stores sell all of these. TOMS’ motto is, “With every product you purchase, TOMS will help a person in need. One for One.” It’s a great feeling knowing that your purchases help the economy and a person in need all at the same time. Unfortunately they had a limited selection of shoe sizes so we left empty handed. They said that they should be fully stocked in a few weeks so we may try back before we leave Town or before we leave for London because the prices were the best we’ve seen in Europe.
In the evening we took a taxi back in the direction we came from the airport to Christina’s home. Her apartment was just 1.6 miles from our apartment but since we’d been invited for dinner we thought it might be better to show up looking fresh instead of tired.
Christina has a lovely two-bedroom, second floor apartment in a very residential part of Town with a balcony that runs the entire length of her place. Soon after we got there her friend, Eleni, showed up with a couple of bottles of wine and stories to tell. It was going to be a fun night.
Christina had prepared enough food for ten people. We started off eating some appetizers and sampling the wine. We had small cheese pies and a dish of sautéed vegetables with shrimp. We can’t remember the names of these dishes but they were freshly prepared and quite tasty.
Christina and Eleni have known each other for many years and are great friends. They were even in New York at the same time for several years. We enjoyed hearing stories about their families and their travels. It was all so entertaining that we almost felt that we should have purchased tickets.
After all of the preliminaries we sat down to dinner. Christina was worried about what to make; she wasn’t sure about what types of things we ate. We quickly put her at ease – we eat anything and everything. We like to think of ourselves as the ideal guests. 😇
Dinner consisted of whole porgies, greek salad, zucchini flowers, mixed greens, a potato dish and more. We can’t remember the names of many of these things because with dinner we had even more wine. It was all so good. The last time we had a home cooked meal like that was over a year ago when we were back in the United States. I particularly enjoyed the zucchini flowers. I’d never had them before and thought that they were simply incredible.
(Porgies and Veggies)
Dessert didn’t disappoint. We had baklava, orange cake soaked in honey syrup, kourabiedes cookies and sesame seed wafers. We particularly enjoyed the orange cake. It was different from anything we’ve ever had.
(Dessert was Great Too!)
After dinner we got some great advice about places to see and things to do in Greece. It’s not clear that we have time for all of these places but we added them to our list. Greece is a large and varied place and three months is just not enough time to do it justice. It seems like a good excuse to come back some day.
(Eleni, Christina and Us, a Happy Dinner Party)
After lots of food, conversation and wine the evening came to an end. We enjoyed Christina’s hospitality for over five hours but it was finally time to leave. She sent us home with a large chuck of orange cake and some baklava. It had been a great evening.
We went in search of a shop that could repair my camera lens. In its present state it was worthless so I had been resorting to taking pictures with my phone, something I really hate to do.
I identified four camera shops. Three of them had good reviews and one was an official Sony repair shop. Surely one of them could help us. They were all located in the same part of Town so we visited them in order of their proximity to our apartment.
The first shop told us that they didn’t do repairs and that they didn’t carry any lenses that would fit the camera. They did offer to order a lens for us but we hoped for better elsewhere. The camera, a Sony A99, takes an A-Mount style lens which is proprietary to Sony cameras. Only camera shops that specialize in Sony cameras typically stock them.
Our second stop was the official Sony repair shop. When we entered we saw and a man and a woman bent over their desks examining some camera equipment. We waited for a few minutes for someone to recognize that we had entered. Soon the man came over to the counter. We took out the camera and demonstrated the problem. He thought about it for a minute and then exchanged a few words in Greek with the woman. She came over to us and said that the lens needed to be opened before she could tell what the problem was and asked us how long we were going to be in Town. This wasn’t the question we wanted to hear.
She said that we should leave the lens; she could get to it in about a week and then call us and tell us what the problem was. Most likely it needed some parts that would then have to be ordered. Given that it was the holiday season that would probably take some time. She wasn’t sure that she could have it ready by the time we planned to leave town.
We explained that if we had no lens we effectively had no camera. We asked if she could at least open it now and see what the problem was, then we could be better able to decide what to do. That went over like a lead balloon. She rambled on about how everyone wants everything right away, that they were busy and since it was the holidays we couldn’t expect anything to get done before sometime in January. She was infuriating. She had no intention of even trying to be helpful. We left with both camera and lens in hand and started looking for the next shop on our list.
The next shop was nestled inside a labyrinth off a small side street. We were about to give up when we found it. It was the last shop in the alley. They didn’t do repairs either but actually had a few lenses for sale that would fit our camera. Unfortunately, they were not for full-frame cameras. It would be like taking our 24 megapixel camera and turning it into a 16 megapixel format. They were very nice people and were trying very hard to be helpful. They even suggested that we visit the official Sony repair shop and were about to give us directions when we said that we’d already been there. Suddenly it occurred to them that another shop might have a lens for us and they started making phone calls. One shop had a used lens for sale that was the same model as the one we had. It was worth taking a look. We were told to ask for Marcos. We thanked them for their efforts and went in search of the next shop. It was just over half a mile away.
We found Marcos and as soon as he saw our camera he knew why we’d come. He said that he wouldn’t normally stock that lens but he had a good customer who had exchanged theirs for another one when they had bought a new camera. He said it was in excellent condition and encouraged us to try it out. The price was €750.00 / $862.00. We asked about repairing the one I had but he said that it would have to be sent out. We excused ourselves to discuss our options. The choices were…
Do Nothing. Deborah hated that option because she was already tired of hearing me complain about the camera.
Have the lens repaired. While it was out we could use our iPhones. I hated that idea. Also, we had no idea where we would be when it was ready. Besides, we had no idea how much it would cost and if it would be worth spending the money.
Buy a decent but inexpensive camera for the short term. There’s no such thing!
Buy an entirely new camera outfit. I liked that choice but neither of us wanted to spend that kind of money. That would likely cost well over $6,000.00.
After our little conference, in which we’d actually made no decisions, Marcos told us that he would sell us the lens for €700.00 / $805.00. I put the lens on my camera, went outside and put it through its paces. It really was in excellent condition and the price was very reasonable. Used versions of this lens normally sell for about $1,000 and a new one would cost about $2,200.00. We paid for the lens and left feeling pretty happy. Marcos said that we should have the old one repaired and could sell it ourselves but given the hard life it’s had it’s probably not worth it.
It hadn’t been a totally wasted day. We got to walk around parts of Town that we hadn’t seen before and had lunch in a very good place that Deborah had sussed out before. It was called Tailor Made Microroastery and was along one of the main pedestrian ways off the main square in Monastiraki,
Deborah asked about the soup of the day. The waiter said it was leek but suggested that she get the pumpkin instead. He said it was his favorite. I got a roast beef sandwich that had several sauces, some vegetables and sauerkraut. The food was delicious. The waiter was happy that Deborah really did like the soup.
(Pumpkin Soup)
We had coffee and dessert at a chain called Melilotos. Like all of the bakeries in Town they make a large variety of pastries and cookies on site. They’re always fresh and delicious. We tried a couple of the typical Christmas cookies: Melomakarona (Greek honey cookies) and Kourabiedes (Greek butter cookies covered in powdered sugar). Yeah, we’re going to get sooooo fat.
(Christmas Cookies)
After we got home I downloaded the new pictures from the camera and noticed that they all had two spots on them in the same place. I cleaned the lens and retested with the same result. I tried the long lens and found the same thing. I was going to have to go back to the camera store and see if they could help me again.😝
Distance walked: 9.2 miles
Wednesday, December 19
We took Tuesday off and since Deborah wanted to rest for another I ventured out on my own. We’d been in Athens for almost a week and felt like we hadn’t done much at all. I had a few places in mind that I wanted to explore.
The day started with a trip back to Hadrian’s Arch. The light was good so I was hoping for some decent pictures but the traffic wouldn’t cooperate. All the pictures had cars wizzing by. I did managed to put my new lens to good use by taking some high quality pictures of the Temple of Zeus that is in the same park. It’s an amazing sight. The temple was constructed by the Romans who wanted to build something even grander than the Parthenon. The columns are almost three times as tall and the temple was even larger. It was destroyed and looted after the fall of the Roman Empire. The columns you see today have not been restored; they’ve been standing that way for almost 2,000 years. I had intended to go inside the park and get a closer look but there was a €3.00 / $3.45 charge. I decided to wait until we could both see it together.
Next up was Kallimarmaro Stadium. It’s a horseshoe shaped stadium that was built on top of several other previous stadiums dating all the way back to 330 BC. The present version dates from the 6th century and can hold over 60,000 people. It was completely restored and used for the first modern Olympic games in 1896. Entry costs €5.00 / $5.75.
From there I walked across the National Garden. It has wide boulevards lined with orange trees. It must be a lovely sight in the spring time.
Now I was heading for the camera shop. Along the way I came across Constitution Square where they had a lovely Christmas Tree on display. Nearby I passed several large neo-classical buildings that looked interesting but by now I no longer had the patience to investigate.
Finally I arrived at the camera shop and found Marcos. He said that the problem had nothing to do with the lens. He said that the camera sensor needed to be cleaned. It made sense to me but I’ve owned the camera for nine years and this is the first time I’ve ever had this problem. I just don’t believe in coincidences. Marcos said that if I left the camera he could have the sensor cleaned. He suggested that I return 1.5 hours later at 2:00 pm. Given our experience with the Sony people I was amazed he could do it so quickly.
I wandered aimlessly for a while and happened on the market. It’s a very large building with stalls all around the outside where you can buy nuts and various confections. On the inside is a huge fresh fish market with just about any kind of fish you can imagine. There’s also an enormous, sprawling meat market with pork, goat, lamb, chicken, duck and goose for sale. I was surprised at how much pork was available and how little lamb. That seems to be the trend all over Town. When I think of Greece I think of lamb.
I killed some time at a bakery in Monastiraki Square. I got two little pastries that were made from phyllo dough soaked in honey syrup, stuffed with cream and covered in powdered sugar (take your insulin now). The cream was nothing to get excited about but the pastry was crisp and delicious. How do they keep the dough so crisp? I would definitely have them again.
(Delicious Pastries)
By now it was time to pick up the camera. The service cost €20.00 / $23.00. I took a few test shots and confirmed that the spots were gone. This camera shop had done right by me. If you’re ever in Athens and are in need of a camera shop I can recommend All About Digital Photo at 28is Oktovriou 19.
I took the scenic road back home and found some nice churches and the TOMS Flagship store (shoes!). I texted the address to Deborah; I knew that it would come back to bite me 😎.
I picked up a few groceries before heading home. Hopefully all of the camera issues were now behind us for good.
Yes, Americans have some odd names for a number of cities and countries. We usually refer to it as Athens but the Greeks call it Athena, after the Goddess of wisdom and war. Would it be so hard for us to call it Athena too?
We woke at the unholy hour of 4:00 am to catch a 6:30 am flight. As usual our first Uber cancelled on us but the second one whisked us away to Shönefeld Airport. At that hour there was no traffic. The trip lasted only about 25 minutes. Since we were traveling from one Schengen country to another we didn’t have to go through immigration, which saves time but means we didn’t get a stamp in our passports.
There is a fixed price for taxi rides from Athens International Airport into town so we just took the first cab we could find. Along the way our taxi driver questioned us about where we were going and what we wanted to see. He probably was hoping to engage us for some private tours. As we got closer to our apartment we came face-to-face with Kallimarmaro Stadium, the place where the modern Olympics began in 1896 and The Acropolis, which dominates the center of town. Yeah, getting up at 4:00 am was worth it!
After settling into our new apartment we went out for a quick orientation walk. We stumbled onto Hadrian’s Arch and the unfinished Temple of Zeus which we found just a few blocks away. We also found three (count them three) amazing bakeries all in a row just a stones throw from our front door. I pity our poor budget and our waistlines.
(Temple of Zeus)
The grocery store was just a block away. After a quick shop we headed back home to rest up for the next day’s adventures.
Distance walked: 4.9 miles
Sunday, December 16
My friend and longtime associate, Bill, arranged a meeting for us with someone he knew who lives in Athens. He said that she had shown him and his family the sights the last time he was here.
We met Christina at noon at one of those amazing bakeries and ordered coffee and some pastries. It turns out that she had been born in Greece but spent most of her life in New York. She returned recently to Greece when she retired. Amazingly, at one time we both worked for the same company back in New York – but we never met.
We had a great time drinking coffee and telling each other the stories of our lives. After a little while Christina offered to show us around the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum. How could we refuse a private tour from a genuine Greek?
From street level the Acropolis looks quite daunting but the reality is that getting to the top was an easy climb via a gently sloping road. From below you can see the Parthenon and many of the other temples at the summit. The area below the hilltop is a public park with many monuments and ruins. Entry cost €10.00 per person (€20.00 in the summer time). Credit cards are accepted.
(The Parthenon)
Our minds were flooded with all kinds of emotions. Seeing the Acropolis had been a lifelong dream. We were walking the same paths as Socrates, Plato and many other famous people from history. We were savoring the experience.
There are several temples up there. Christina knew the hilltop well and pointed out each building. She displayed a great knowledge of Greek history and culture and took great pride in sharing it with us. We also looked down into the city where she pointed out a great many points of interest and places for us to visit. It was great to have such a knowledgable guide. We didn’t spend too much time at the top because we wanted to get to the Acropolis Museum before it closed. We plan to go back and spend an entire day soaking it all in.
Of course, as soon as we got to the top the camera lens decided to stop working once again. It had magically fixed itself when we got to Berlin but that was short-lived. This time it was stuck in such a way as to make it virtually useless. I took a bunch of pictures using my phone but was not too happy about it. Of all places for the camera to stop working this was probably the worst.
The museum was opened in 2009 and contains over 4,000 relics in an area of 14,000 square meters. Many of the artifacts that were found on the acropolis are on display. One of the most interesting was the life-sized recreation of the Parthenon. It extended around the entire second floor. Many pieces of the original freezes and decorations were present as well as recreations of missing artifacts. A large number of missing artifacts are known to be at the British Museum. Greece wants them back.
We had a lovely dinner at the restaurant in the museum. It has a fabulous view of the Acropolis and by the time we were done the sun had gone down and the hill was all lit up. It was a magical sight.
We were only in Berlin for two weeks. The primary reason for going there was because it was the least expensive way to get from Montenegro to Athens! Still, we love big cities – there’s so much to see and do and we love the incredible diversity. Deborah was pretty sick for most of the time we were there so we didn’t do as much as we normally would but we certainly got around and got a good feel for the place. In short: Berlin is great. We loved our time there and would happily return given the opportunity.
We did, however, find one serious downside: Berliners do not eat ice cream (at least in the winter time). We couldn’t find any ice cream anywhere except for the supermarkets. That’s just not right!!!!
Pubic transportation in Berlin is simple to use, efficient, clean and timely. Google maps has complete information including real-time updates and it’s fun to ride the double-decker busses. Just remember that you’ll pay a different price based on how far you plan to travel.
(Christmas Time at the Sony Center)
Here’s our list of must do items for Berlin…
See The Brandenburg Gate. It’s the last of the old city gates.
Visit Checkpoint Charlie. It’s a tourist center now but it’s an iconic place from history.
Check out one of the many locations where portions of the Berlin Wall are still standing.
Tour Charlottenburg Palace. It’s Germany’s Versailles. You can see the old wing, the new wing, the new pavilion and the gardens in the winter time and there’s even more in the summer time.
Walk down the Unter den Linden. There are many beautiful buildings to see.
Visit the Gemäldegalerie and/or the Altes National Gallery. Two of the best art museums we’ve ever visited. There are also some great museums on Museum Island.
Tour the Reistag Dome. It’s a wonderful experience and it’s free. You can tour the interior when the parliament is not in session. Advance reservations are required for both.
If you love modern art don’t miss the Berggruen Museum. They have over 120 Picassos alone.
Attend a free chamber music concert at the Philharmonie on Tuesdays at 1:00 pm or, if you love great orchestras, see the Berlin Philharmonic in concert.
Stroll through the Großer Tiergarten. There are so many monuments to see.
Climb the Victory Column for some great views and see the exhibits on German monuments. It costs just €3.00.
Visit the Berlin Cathedral. It’s gorgeous inside and out. There’s also the museum, crypt and the viewing platform. Cost is €7.00 per person.
Attend a free organ demo / performance on Thursday or Friday at 1:30 pm at Saint Mary’s. It’s different and interesting.
Have breakfast at Steel Vintage Bikes Café & Restaurant. The food is great and you can rent a bike if you’re so inclined.
Caf-up at Balzac Coffee. It’s the German version of Starbucks. Their Carmel Macchiato is great. The medium is made with two shots!
This was our last day in Berlin and we had a lot of time to make up for. Deborah was finally feeling better. We looked through our list of things to do in town and identified a few that we could squeeze into one day. We were on a mission.
Our first stop was the Altes National Gallery or Old Museum. Ironically it contains works from the 19th century. Like the Neues Museum, it is also located on Museum Island. Built between 1823 and 180 by architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel it was constructed to house the collection of the Prussian royal family. Entry to the museum cost €10.00 / $11.50 per person and that includes an audio guide. Credit cards are accepted.
Museums in Berlin do not allow coats, backpacks or large bags inside. Sometimes you can leave your stuff at a coat check facility. They’re free to use. They also have lockers that require you to enter a one or two Euro coin. When you return you put the key in the locker, turn the key and voila – your coin is returned to you. We were shocked and delighted the first time this happened to us. (we prefer to use lockers over coat checks because we can usually get in and out much faster that way).
Upon entering the first room we were taken aback. Right in front of us were several large marble sculptures that we instantly recognized from our trip to Charlottenburg Palace. It quickly became apparent that these were much higher quality than the ones we had seen previously – these were the originals. We liked them even more. We also found two sculptures from a sculptor that we’d first discovered in Rome over a year ago: Canova. We’re always delighted to see his works.
(Pan Comforting Psyche by Begas, 1857)
The museum has a large collection of paintings. Each room holds works from a single artist. In several cases artists have several rooms allocated to themselves. Most of the works on the first floor were from little known 19th century German painters. The audio guides normally highlighted two paintings in each room. Given that we had a lot of things on our plate this day we decided to skip some of the descriptions. The funny thing is that the paintings that the audio guides highlighted were rarely the ones we favored in that room. In spite of the fact that we’d never heard of many of these artists we found quite a few that were to our liking.
(The Isle of the Dead by Böcklin, 1883)
The second floor had more of the types of works that we’d expected to see and quite a few wonderful sculptures as well. We saw a number of landscapes by Constable, sculptures by Rodin, paintings by Renoir, Monet, Manet and even a van Gogh. Fittingly, there was even a room dedicated to Schenkel, who had designed the museum building.
We spent about 2.5 hours there and had a wonderful time. It’s definitely one of the best museums we’ve seen since we started traveling over a year ago.
We had lunch at a Nordsee restaurant that was just a few blocks away. Never heard of Nordsee? We’ve seen them in Budapest and all over Germany. They’re great. They’re a cafeteria style restaurant. They have a variety of fresh fish (baked, fried, with sauces, etc.) great sides and their prices are very reasonable. We had baked salmon that came in a cheese sauce on a bed of spinach, a huge piece of fried cod and a side of pan fried potatoes and onions for €25.00 / $28.75. We usually get the fried shrimp. They’re very good.
Next we were off to Saint Mary’s Church near Alexanderplatz. Every Thursday and Friday they have free organ concerts. We’re always up for a good organ concert and, at the very least, it was a good place to rest our weary legs before our next planned activity.
The church is in the Gothic style. At 1:30 pm, when the concert should have started, we heard an announcement that said that if we wanted to we could view the concert from the organ loft. We jumped at the opportunity.
The organist had a few introductory words and then proceeded to give us some idea of how the organ sounded by improvising some Baroque style music. The sound of the organ was loud, pure and clean. It was delightful. For the next hour or so the organist went into excruciating detail on how the organ was constructed, how it creates sounds and she demonstrated every single stop one at a time. It was actually a great lecture but we thought we would be hearing a concert. Apparently this organ, which dated from 1722 and still had 30% of its original pipes, had undergone a complete restoration a few years ago. It was in perfect mechanical health and spoke instantly at the press of a key. The organist wrapped up the lecture by demonstrating some of the organ’s newer features by playing some Romantic era music. As we left she encouraged us to donate money for the maintenance of the organ and said that, “it would make the organ happy”. We love to see an organ smile. 😉
From Alexanderplatz we took a train and a bus to get back to Charlottenburg. This time we planned to see Museum Berggruen. Cost of entry was €12.00 / $13.80 per person. Credit cards are accepted.
Heinz Berggruen was an avid collector of modern art. During his lifetime he amassed a staggeringly large collection of Picassos and Klees as well as works from other famous artists. In 1990 he lent his collection to the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. In December of 2000 he sold the collection to the PCHF for the token price of 253 million marks (it was said to be worth about 1.5 billion marks at that time). He continued to support the museum by providing additional works from his personal collection and even purchased new ones at auction. After his death his family continued to support the museum in that same manner.
(In the Studio at Nice by Matisse, 1929)
Many of the works displayed in the museum were stolen from private collectors during World War II. Virtually every work has a lengthy description of its provenance and how it came to be in the possession of Mr. Berggruen. Even today German museums have been accused of displaying works that should have been repatriated and this museum seems intent on getting in front of any potential issues.
By far Picasso is the most well resented artist with numerous paintings, sketches, etchings and sculptures. The museum also has a huge number of drawings by Klee. If you love these artists’ work then you absolutely can’t miss seeing this museum.
(Man Seated at a Table by Picasso, 1916)
For dinner we jumped at our last chance to have one last bratwurst and one last glühwein at the Christmas Fair at Charlottenburg Palace. Oh well, we hear the food in Greece is pretty good too!😋
Our day started rather late. We left the apartment around 6:00 pm and took the subway over to the Potsdamer Platz Christmas Fair for a dinner of Bratwurst and thick cut, homemade potato chips. Afterwards we headed over to the Balzac Coffee shop near the square and got two of their Caramel Macchiatos. They’re made with two shots of espresso. We hoped that they would get us through the concert at the Philharmonie that started at 8:00 pm.
(Hot, Salty Potato Chips)
The inside of the main concert hall is very modern. Every section of seats butts up against its neighbor at an angle. They seem to be arranged in a haphazard way with many sections near the sides and the back of the auditorium. It seems an unusual design. Our seats were in the center of the first balcony where we were barely twenty feet above the level of the stage.
The concert started with a performance of “Lux Aeterna” for mixed choir, chime bells and vibraphone by the Latvian composer Kaija Einfelde. It was composed in 2012. This was a surprise for us because we thought that the only item on the program was to be Mahler’s Symphony No. 2.
It was essentially a piece for acapella choir. At three minutes and seventeen seconds it was over almost as soon as it started. The piece was not too memorable but the choir did a great job. We were anxious to see what they’d do with the Mahler.
Mahler’s second symphony, known as The Resurrection Symphony, was written between 1888 and 1894 and was his most successful work during his lifetime. In it he expressed his views on the afterlife and resurrection. It’s a bombastic piece that’s probably as much fun to listen to as it is to play.
When we were in school the two most popular orchestras in the world were the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Sir George Solti and the Berlin Philharmonic under Herbert von Karajan. We’d seen the Chicago Symphony play a few years back. Their string section was still outstanding but their brass did not live up our expectations. Now was our chance to see how Berlin would stack up.
(The Berlin Philharmonic)
The stage was completely filled with the oversized orchestra required for this piece. As soon as the orchestra started to play we knew it was going to be a great night. The hall’s acoustics were some of the best we’ve ever sampled. The instruments were clearly voiced and even the quietest passages were easily heard. The strings and the brass were first rate, the chorus strong and sonorous and they all performed together as well as could be expected (don’t get us started on the conductor). The only issue was the woodwinds inability to consistently play in tune.
