Athens

Well, let’s just say that my arrival into Athens could’ve been better. After six days on Amorgos I had planned to spend a few in Athens. Frankie, another friend of mine from Munich, would be there ahead of a Greek islands cruise she was planning to take, and David and Mameaw would be there, too, overlapping my time in Athens for a couple of days. But my day of travel between Amorgos and the mainland was not fun and could be best described in the immortal words of George Constanza. “The sea was angry, my friend. Like an old man trying to send back soup at a deli.” It was ROUGH!

Due to the ferry schedules, and me wanting to maximize my time in Athens, I couldn’t take the same pleasant - and much larger - boat back that I had taken to get to Amorgos. Instead it was necessary to take a small, slow boat to Naxos and then a larger, high-speed one from there. And, all in all, my travel day would extend for 11 ½ hours. I guess I’ll work here to make a long story a little shorter, and not include all the gory details, but my day did include…waves that caused my first, small, 4-hour boat to crash up and down and list violently from side to side the entire time…a chance encounter during my seaside picnic lunch in Naxos with an older, Greek man who started doling out very bad - an very much unsolicited - marriage advice all the while exposing one of his droopy testicles out the bottom of his shorts legs to me and the world…a second ferry in a crowded, claustrophobic high-speed ferry in which passengers were forbidden from going out onto the deck…a run-in at the metro platform with the poster couple for “ugly Americans” who ranted to me about how this is the first time in Europe they’ve been told to wear masks and that they’re from Florida and they don’t roll that way and that he had connections and was going to get the lady who insisted they wear masks fired…and finally, me, splayed out on my hotel bathroom floor, feeling like absolute crap - my old friend “culture shock” paying me another visit - thinking I was going to pass out, but instead saved by several heaves into the toilet that brought a modicum of relief from the nausea, light-headedness, anxiety and overwhelming exhaustion I was feeling. I finally crawled into bed - put on MSNBC and the January 6th hearings - and drifted mercifully off to sleep.

The next morning came quickly, as Frankie and I had arranged to take an 8:00 am bus tour of Athens and the major sites. I had awoken at one point during the night, still feeling lousy, and had fired off a text telling Frankie to prepare to be alone for the tour as I might not be in a state capable of handling it. And I wasn’t. I passed on the tour. My bed became my best friend for most of this first day in Athens. I did manage to will myself into taking a short stroll around lunch time - my head and body still clouded by lingering, anxiety-inducing, culture shock - having the only food that sounded good to my stomach - two different fruit sorbets, and stopping by to see Frankie during her late lunch.

But then it was back to bed for a necessary late afternoon nap. By evening I was actually finally feeling better, good enough for a stroll with Frankie, a stop for a drink at a place along a super cute street of sidewalk cafes and dinner at a lively outdoor place in a bustling square, complete with music and much, much people watching. Twenty-four hours after arriving in Athens and I could say I was finally beginning to get my legs under me.

The next day. Athens food tour. While I was definitely ready to hit the streets the morning of my second full day in the city, let’s just say, maybe a “food” tour wasn’t the exact right fit for me just yet. But, we carried on. And, aside from my stomach not being thrilled with all the food I was sending down my gullet,  it was amazing! Frankie and I were the only two signed up for the tour that morning, so we had our own private guide in Tatialena, a Greek woman from Athens who’s spent her young life leading tours and teaching in various corners of the country.

She was super engaging, super fun and extremely knowledgeable about all things “culture, food and history” in Athens. She indulged us in tastes from more than half a dozen places - from traditional Greek coffee - that I managed to spill all over the table - to breakfast sesame bread rings to camel meat to olive oil to raki to savory and sweet pies and finally to dessert donuts drenched in cinnamon and honey. We absolutely crushed it, but definitely couldn’t eat it all.

I wrapped up my day with a visit to the Acropolis - something I hadn’t experienced yet due to the bus tour I had missed with Frankie. This ancient Greek site - and the temples there that date back 2,500 hundred years - didn’t disappoint. I went in the evening, mostly to avoid crowds, but with the added bonus of the setting sunlight giving everything a golden glow.

I spent an hour wandering throughout the sites, earbuds in, listening to a Rick Steves audio guide. I then lingered, firing off a zillion photos and just relishing the slow pace and extended time I had. No need to catch a bus or find my tour group. It was just me - and about a thousand other people to be fair - and this huge rocky outcrop that has witnessed monumental incidents that have helped shape western civilization going back as far as the 4th millennium BC. After a final picture, and a leisurely walk down into the city, I met Frankie for dinner at a restaurant with an evening view of the Acropolis. A fitting ending to the day.

My last day in Athens took Frankie and me to Lake Vouliagmeni, an ocean lagoon surrounded by cliffs and inhabited by fish that nibble at and eat the dead skin of your feet, or legs or any other other body part you’re willing to place motionless into the water. Quite a trip.

We enjoyed the peaceful day at this “private” lake that included beach loungers, umbrellas and strolling servers keeping us happy in caipirinhas and flatbread pizza. We ended our day with one of the best meals I’d had in Greece, and one that finally saw my stomach ready for whatever I gave it. We met Mameaw and David, who had arrived into the city a day earlier but who’d been equally as thrown off by a similarly rough day at sea. We had a drink one place first, then waited a bit for a table at a crowded, outdoor place around the corner.

The wait was worth it as the food was incredible - especially the saganakis (stews - one with mussels, the other with tomato and eggplant) -  and as the small ensemble playing inside kept the music going the entire meal. So great to be back with this group of friends that I had met just a couple of years earlier. It seems to me there’s nothing more special and more fun than reuniting with friends or family in exotic, far off places. Great night in Athens to cap off my first - and hopefully not last - journey to Greece!