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• Our Greek Adventure! [added April 30, 2007] • A Little More of Delphi [added May 1, 2007] • Beautiful Nafplio [added May 1, 2007] Photos: • Athens Photos [added April 30, 2007] • Corinthians Canal and Nafplio Photos [added May 2, 2007] • Delphi Photos [added May 2, 2007] • Thesaloniki Photos [added May 2, 2007] • Samothraki Photos [added May 6, 2007] |
• More Fun with Aussies in Athens (this page) [added May 3, 2007] • Ouzeris and Other Greek Fun [added May 3, 2007] • At least it's quiet here... [added May 4, 2007] • A Strange Island Called Samothraki [added May 4, 2007] |
“More Fun with Aussies in Athens”
1 January 2007
Athens — Thessaloniki Train — Greece
As of late, we've been pretty bad about writing, so now, on this Thessaloniki-bound train, we'll try to catch up some, if the track isn't too bumpy. We spent the last nine or ten days in Athens, staying in an Australian-run hostel, called Athens Backpackers (AB). The guys at AB run a really impressive operation, and as a result they attract a really nice blend of travelers. The staff really makes the place: there is Daniel and Eddie, two Aussie brothers from Perth, who are really friendly, constantly smiling, even when they're dealing with the less pleasant aspects of the travel/hospitality business; Gareth, a witty Welch who manages to keep everyone happy even when things are a bit crazy; Bob, a giant Scotsman who serves up strong drinks at the bar and simultaneously encourages and controls the chaos; Harry, a mellow Australian photographer who welcomes travelers with his sincere kindness; and Tom, an English chef who, besides being kind and gentle beyond words, serves up food to rival top-end restaurants to hungry backpackers for only 5 Euros.
The place is really amazing and the guys made us feel so welcome that we stayed far longer than we'd expected, including Christmas and New Years'. There were good parties both these days, and we jumped, perhaps a bit too willingly, into the party scene, after the past month in North Africa.
We also got to see some great sights in Athens, which we should talk about some before going back to talk about the people we met. The first day we were in Athens we saw the Acropolis and the Parthenon, which is amazing to see, and even more so if one has some understanding of Greek history and architecture. We also got to see the Temple of Zeus, and the view from Lykavittos Hill, where you can see just how big the city of Athens is: about 4.3 million people.
We took day-trips, organized by the hostel, to Nafplio and Delphi, where there are amazing ruins. The history of the temple at Delphi is really fascinating, and worth reading about, particularly the role of the Oracle, a sort of priestess who told the future, in verse no less, while high on naturally-occurring fumes.
At Nafplio, we visited the impressive Palamidi Fortress, which along with Volubilis — in Morocco — were some of the most impressive ruins we'd ever seen, because they allow one to really envision the way things worked. The Palamidi Fortress, built by the Venetians between 1711 and 1714, show that under Venetian rule, a huge amount of people must have been imprisoned! The view from the fortress is incredible, and to get to the top, you have to climb — allegedly — 999 steps, although neither of us bothered to count.
Athens is a place where people drink quite a lot of alcohol, and while this isn't really so surprising, it was a major change of pace for us, after getting to know the Muslim culture in Egypt and Morocco. Fortunately, we met many fine people to raise our glasses with, and hopefully we'll meet them again. We want to send our love to all the friends we made in Athens: the AB crew, Kevin, Dani, Asko, Stacia, Jackie, Alex, Lyle, … there really are too many to mention! Thanks to you all; you know who you are!