Athens - A journey to the ancient land

The first ray of dawn fell on the barren hilltop of the Acropolis like a cloth of gold; at the base, the pearly blue waves dispersed in rhythm on the golden beach posing a brilliant contrast. The mood was sombre with the presence of all twelve Dodekatheon Gods in the sky except Posedion and Athena, despite the serene backdrop. An important decision was impending, related to the custody of the newly developed habitation at the foothill of the Acropolis. A relentless battle between Posedion and Athena remained inconclusive; hence, rest of the Dodekatheons (twelve Gods) came forward to settle the matter in a peaceful way. The important members of the habitation were also present to witness a historic moment which would determine the fate of their future. Tension was mounting up as the two deities were awaited any moment for the final verdict.

Zeus, the king of all the Gods and head of the council called for the contenders by name. In a few moments, a group of celestial dolphins bounced up the surface of water announcing the presence of their master. The magnificent figure of Posedion, the God of Sea emerged from the depth of the Ocean; his golden chlamys (cloak) swayed in the morning breeze, the silvery trident in his right hand dazzled ferociously in the Sun. The crowd cheered him a hearty welcome. Before the applause died down, the air filled with fragrance of rose, a mystic hymn started resonating. The Goddess Athena appeared in a white chiton (robe), the drape of it flowed like autumn cloud; her curly head was adorned in a golden wreath, a gentle smile reflected in her authoritative yet kind face. The crowed remained silent in awe for a long moment. ‘We have come up with an idea to settle the dispute between the two of you in a simple yet practical way; hope it is acceptable to you both’, Zeus spoke out on behalf of the council. ‘I have complete faith on the prudence of the honourable Dodekatheons and will accept their judgement unconditionally’ Posedion responded. ‘At least in this matter I agree with him’ Athena reacted smilingly, her intelligent eyes flickered in humour. ‘Very well then; we want each of you to present a gift for this habitation. The one presenting a better gift as per our judgement will gan control of the city’ Zeus declared. Posedion came forward at the signal from Zeus, ready to act; he pointed his trident towards the Acropolis and struck a blow. A fountain of water gushed forth from the hard rock in a magic moment; everyone applauded loudly. At her turn Athena came forward, she looked thoughtfully at the fountain and then opened her right palm towards it; a seed fell beside the water and the first olive tree of the earth sprouted from it on that instant. The entire jury gave standing ovation declaring Athena the protector of the habitation and the city was named ‘Athens’ after her.

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The last and final destination of our ten days Greece tour was Athens, we reached there late in the afternoon from Napflio in a pre-booked taxi; the journey took one and half hour. Our hotel was right at the Syntagma Square, near the Parliament House, hence, very happening in terms of eateries, fast food joints and branded shops along with lovely parks and squares. Most of the historical ruins and not to forget Plaka the old township with its own charm were within walking distance too. A road that opened only for pedestrians in the afternoon was full of shops from leading global brands and reminded me of Oxford Street of London. That day evening we decided to stroll around and get the feel of the place. 

The Parliament House

Syntagma Square

The shopping heaven

The street for shopping

Next day, we walked down to Plaka, took a tram ride (there are hop on- hop off tram rides available in that area) had a hearty lunch at one of the taverns; in the evening we visited the shops (an occupational hazard for parents of teenage daughter) and finally retired to bed early, as we decided to visit the Acropolis the next morning at an early hour to beat the crowd.

Plaka alleys

Plaka

Plaka

Plaka

A shop with ancient theater mask at Plaka

Hop off tram

Next morning we walked down to the Acropolis post breakfast; we were almost alone in the ticket counter, one of the perks of being early bird (we reached at 8.15). Ticket was €12 each for adults and free for children below 16 years; the same ticket included right for admission in few other places like temple of Zeus, Ancient Agora, Hardian’s library etc. to be visited within four days. 

Entrance of the Acropolis

We took the Peripatos (the road surrounding the acropolis that leads to the top), on the way visited temple of Dionysos, theatre of Dionysos, Stoa of Eumenes II, temple of Asclepios and his daughter Hygieia (Deities of health and healing). All these sites were in ruins as they date back to the late Bronze Age, but the aura was unmistakable. 

Theatre of Dionysos

There were some more interesting sites on our way like, boundary syone of the Archaic fountain, a Byzantine cistern, marble bases with honorary inscriptions and an ancient bronze foundry with the details of the molding process graphically depicted alongside. 

The Byzantine cistern

The bronze foundry

There was separate entrance for the Odeon of King Herodes Atticus, a theatre built by the king in memory of his wife in 161 AD with a capacity of 5000 seats. It was partially renovated in 1950 and ever since then had been the main venue for yearly Athens festival. 

Odeon of Herodes

Then we visited the Parthenon which was the ultimate destination and the main attraction of Acropolis along with the Popylus (entrance to the Parthenon), a sacred Olive tree (believed to be replanted in the place of the ancient one mentioned in Mythology) and a shrine for Goddess Hygieia and Athena. The ancient Parthenon with its grand columns (temple for Goddess Athena) was strategically built at the hilltop with the amazing view of the city; one could easily imagine the protector goddess watching over her beloved city from there. It took us around three hours to complete our Acropolis tour; I took longer than average tourists as I liked to feel the atmosphere more than just seeing the ruins.   

The Popylus

Shrine of Hygieia and Athena

A closer look

The Parthenon

Side view of Parthenon

Hill top view of the city

Our next destination was the Acropolis Museum opposite to the Acropolis hill where we had lunch at the cafeteria and spent a few hours viewing the wonderful statues, relics and figurines that were mainly collected from the Acropolis. A short video regarding the history of the Parthenon and how it looked in its original form added to the flavour.

Acropolis Museum

Model of Acropolis in its original form

Ritual lamp just like ours

Model of the Parthenon's front top decoration with all the prominent Gods, Athena and Zeus being in the center

Decorated pillar

Statues

Pillars from Parthenon

Next day we decided to visit the national Archaeological Museum at the Exarcheia area (the intellectual hub) of Central Athens. We took a metro to reach there; the Museum was a short walk from the metro station. The imposing building of the Museum was equally awe inspiring as its collection which included separate segments for Prehistoric antiquities, sculptures (from Archaic to roman period), Metalwork, Vases and minor art that included jewelries (Gold, silver and stone) and glass work (Greek knew how to make glasses even in 15^th cent BC) and a large section for Egyptian collections. 

National Archaeological Museum

Vase

Goddess Athena blessing mankind

A wine jar

Athenian art on jar

On our way back from the Museum (it took more than three hrs to view the collections) we noticed sale in a few shops with indigenous products like shoes and apparels on the main road only. We took the opportunity to buy few attractive shoes in equally attractive price from there. The evening was spent in leisurely strolling aided with freshly roasted corns and gelatos.

The next morning we walked down to the ruins of Hardian’s library, built by Roman Emperor Hardian in 132 AD; though called a library the place was much more than that and had been recognised as a cultural centre and Public forum by the archaeologists. Our next stop was the ancient Agora (the market square) within which was the Agoraios Kolonos hill, temple of Hephaestus at the hill top and the imposing Stoa of Attalos (a massive structure built by King Attalos II during 159 – 138 BC, reconstructed in 1950s’). The Temple of Hephaestus (Hephaestus was the God of engineering, Greek counterpart of our Viswakarma) was one of the ancient Greek temples still remaining intact, its location midst the natural forest at the hill top was mesmerising. The Stoa of Attalos housed a museum with varied collections of sculptures and artefacts that was definitely worth a visit.

Hardian's Library

Lecture rooms and Public forum

Ancient Agora

Agora

Temple of Hephaestus

Side view

View from distance

Stoa of Attalos

Artefact at Stoa of Attalos

Figurines

God Zeus with his favourite goat Amalthea

1st floor collection of statues

It was the last day of our holiday, so the evening was dedicated to last minute shopping (which later on posed a severe challenge for the packing) and fine dining.

We left the next day at noon for Athens Airport richer with wonderful memories, not only of the historical tours, but also the cordiality of the vibrant locals. I sincerely wish that the people of Greece come out of their current problem very soon and more tourists get opportunity to visit that wonderful land.  

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Napflio – the romantic capital of Greece

For me, planning for a trip is often more exciting than the actual travel, but this time it was rather confusing when we decided for our holiday destination to be Greece. We had ten full days dedicated for the trip; Athens being the historical treasure remained in the list with five days blocked for a leisurely visit. Now, we had five days for another place mainly for relaxing midst the exotic Mediterranean landscape. The islands being the obvious choice for the purpose offered too many options (Greece has 1400 islands out of which 230 are inhabited). Santorini, Mykonos and Zakynthos favourite among Indians could have been an easy choice with exotic location and useful feedback from friends, but beside the charm they are extremely touristy too. My affinity for a peaceful location with right blend of nature and city life made me zero down to Napflio after a thorough research. This Venetian Township, the old capital of modern Greece was recommended to me by a lot of my Greek friends from Trip Advisor. Its proximity to Athens (only one and half hour drive) and good bus connectivity was an added advantage, as Athens International Airport was to be our gateway to Greece.

We flew to Athens from Kolkata via Doha in Qatar Airways, unfortunately our flight to Doha (an early morning one) was two hours late, consequently leading us to miss the scheduled connecting flight and taking the next one from Doha which was scheduled for five hours later. We had a booking with Taxi Hellas for an Airport pick up, confirmed through mail. We managed to send another e-mail stating about the changed flight, though not sure whether the taxi would actually arrive at the changed time (it was a Napflio based agency). We landed at Athens finally next day evening, sleepless and haggard, with only a crisp bed in mind to crash on. None of us had enough courage to take a public transport to Napflio; we avoided eye contacts with each other while proceeding towards the arrival gate. A flashy yellow shirt and a placard with ‘PAL’ (our surname) written on it came into my vision among the cluster of foreign faces. A robust bearded man with happy face came forward, ‘Pal you are?’ he approached me, avoiding to pronounce my name (too complicated for him, as his was for me). ‘My name is Vangelis, it means good Angel’, indeed he was one for us. We started immediately for Napflio taking the Highway, giving the Athens city a miss to avoid traffic. In a few minutes, misty mountains emerged along the Highway creating an aura; an instant wellbeing engulfed my tired mind. Vangelis kept us entertained all through with his witty anecdotes and useful information enriching our ‘to do’ list. We were amazed by his knowledge not only about his own country, but also mine and his perspective towards life. On our way he took us to the historical canal at Karinthos without any additional charge.

Karinthos canal

By the time we approached the old city of Napflio, it was dusk; a glimpse of the sea and the Venetian houses looked like fairyland in the twilight with its old world charm. The city with its symmetrical floriated houses along the small lanes and old-style taverns in between was a reflection of Venice, of her younger days. We had booking in one of those houses now turned into a guest house with beautiful interior suited to the antique theme; the manager was a young lady, vivacious and helpful. Our suite had a balcony with hanging flower-bed facing a lane adorned with full bloomed Bougainvillea vines, a traditional Greek tavern was at stone throw distance. We had a quick dinner in one of those taverns before we hit the bed; a Greek salad with farm fresh vegetables, feta cheese and amazing homemade red wine was on the menu (everything was astonishingly cheap in comparison to any other EU country).

Flower bed in the balcony

Glimpse of the township

Our balcony view

The alleys with taverns 

Our first day at Napflio started with a hearty breakfast of freshly baked assorted breads, cakes, homemade jam, honey, fresh fruits and tall glasses of orange juice; breakfast was served at room only (we gradually realised later, Greek are hearty people and food has a definite role to play in that). Afterwards we started for the promenade which was two-three minutes’ walk from the guest house; an Orthodox Church (Greek are Orthodox Christians) came on our way with interesting design. It was a bright sunny morning, weather was tolerably warm; it felt like a dream the moment we reached the Promenade at the seaside. A deep blue water, crystal clear, almost like a giant swimming pool with mountains adorning it across the skyline and a pretty castle in the middle; my words would fall short to describe the trance I was in at the first sight. The serenity of the quiet township with hardly any tourist even at the promenade (though plenty of sea-facing restaurants were fully operational) made me feel like a queen. All through the morning we lazed around the promenade sitting on benches at different strategic points, even took a walk up the hill alongside the sea. At some distance across the hill there was a small sandy beach with few bathers, though we chose not to be among them (the water was cold by our standard), we satisfied ourselves sitting by a natural pool dipping our feet in it. We took lunch at a restaurant facing the sea at arm’s length with cool drinks, salads and some Greek Pizza. It seemed, time stood still at that vintage town, no was in hurry; one could even sit with a cup of coffee at a restaurant for eternity, no one would bother. The view of sea was different in the evening, with more current in the water and the colour even darker, in the twilight it transformed into a mystique blue; I felt the urge to fall in love with life afresh. We strolled around the town and its squares after sundown (at 9.30 pm.) with gelato in hand like school children, carefree, livelier than ever before, hardly speaking any word. A late dinner at a roadside tavern under candle light with some great local live music added to our boisterous mood.

The Church

Private boats

Sea side restaurants

From the promenade

The promenade

A closer look of the castle

Hilly walkway parallel to sea

The natural pool

restaurants at promenade

The city centre

Ostrich egg on sale

An interesting shop

Promenade at dusk

Twilight view

Night is young

Live music at Tavern

Next day as per Vangelis’s advice, we made a half day trip to Mycenae’s Acropolis, its museum with some wonderful 14^th century BC collections and the treasury of Atreus pertaining to the same era, discretely built at the hollow of a hill. We also visited the Epidaurus that consisted of a museum, a medicine centre, a theatre with natural acoustic sound and the temple of Asclepius (the God of medicine and healing). On our way back it started raining (a rarity in that region during summer), temperature dropped; the sky took the colour of dark grey and the sea of greyish blue. We went up to the Palamidi castle at hill top within the township; it was built by Venetian invaders during their second occupation and was an Ottoman stronghold during later part of the 400 years of Turkish rule. Finally the freedom of modern Greece was declared from this castle only in 1822; Napflio became the capital of Greece in 1829 and remained so for next 5 years, after that Athens became the new capital. The view from the castle was breath-taking; manoeuvring the steep stony stairs with an umbrella to be shared by three was breath-taking too. We came down partly drenched, both by rain and the magnetic charm. The evening, with overcast sky offered another magical view of the sea; a focus of sudden sunlight sipped through the cracks of the cloud created an angelic ring on the sea, the blessings of Almighty could be felt in the vastness.

The Acropolis

The Acropolis

Acropolis museum collections

Hidden treasury

It's beehive ceiling

The Theatre

The stage

Statues at museum

Inscription

Palamidi castle

view from castle

view from castle

view from castle

view from castle

View from Castle

His blessings

Again the day after we listened to our mascot Vangelis and took a full day cruise from nearby Tolos harbour to the Islands Hydra and Spetses. The description of the landscape during the journey would be very difficult to put in words; hence, I took help of few photographs taken by my novice hand.

View from cruise

The landscape on the way

The island Hydra posed unique because of its ravishing hilltop view; Donkey back was the only mode of conveyance there, automobiles being banned within the island. Spetses was a picturesque island township with a promenade, a small sandy beach, happening pubs and restaurants and a series of beautiful old fashioned bungalows (extremely well maintained), mostly owned by rich mainlanders as weekend abode.

Hydra

Hydra

Donkeys

Hydra

Hydra

Spetses

Spetses city centre

Beach

Alleyway

The last day of our stay at Napflio was a Saturday and posed quite a different picture of the quiet town. Like a sleeping volcano it emerged in life with sudden vivacity, as visitors from Athens and the nearby villages started pouring in for a weekend getaway. The Promenade became lively with children’s laughter, the sea more soulful with enchanted smile of young lovers. We witnessed the procession of a Greek wedding as it took place in the nearby Church, the handsome groom kissed his young bride at the Mediterranean backdrop; Napflio truly stood by its reputation ‘the romantic capital of Greece’.

Like all other days we (me and my husband) went for a long morning walk for the last time on the Sunday at the seaside, had coffee at a sea facing restaurant, did some tit bit shopping from an interesting organic shop and then said goodbye to the fairyland post breakfast. Our good Angel was ready with his chariot to escort us to our next destination Athen, the ancient jewel of Greece.  

   

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