DAY SIX: ATHENS

Today’s the big day.  From our hotel, we trek about 30 minutes uphill to the top of the Acropolis. After dinner last night, we walked about half of it just to get a taste of what to expect. Lots of climbing, hills, steps, cobblestone and cats.

Yes, cats. I’m not really sure what’s up but cats are the rats here (lol). And although I’m not a cat person…I will take them over a rat any day. The cats travel in packs…big, small…all colors…kittens…you name it. Maybe DC should take on cats to get rid of all the rats. Good news is …they seem to be tamed and friendly and almost always keep their distance. There are also lots of  “wandering” dogs (collar= pets, no collar=they run with the cat crews) but cats still run the ruins. That’s my next play, “Who gonna run the ruins”? ;-)

So anywho…we started the day with a great free breakfast with more awesome Greek food. Greece is quickly confirming what I already knew about American food: It is bullshizz. Straight up bullshizz. 

The food in Greece is so awesome because it’s simple, fresh and there are no chemicals or processes. No pasteurization, processed, canned, soy, soy lechitin, msg, corn syrup, “non-organic”, gmo’s….you get the picture.

Just salt, olive oil and lemon…ON EVERYTHING! So you take a bite into a tomato and it’s like OMG WHERETF HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?!!! And I don’t even like tomatoes! So anywho…breakfast? Tomato, feta and cucumber…on bread…salt olive oil and lemon and boom, euphoria.

The feta---stupid. Like nothing in the states….stupid delicious. And yogurt….don’t get me started. Greek Yogurt is out of control good. Bump what you heard… Chobani is a joke compared to the real thing. It is thick and dense and pure and with their fresh fruit?!!!….lawdy jeebus IT IS GOOD!

So now that Kris and I have had the breakfast of Spartans, we are ready to climb the hill. You pay 12 euros per person for access to all of the ruins in walking proximity and we bought our ticket on the North slope entrance of the hill.

We made it to the top. And it gets emotional ya’ll. You start to take in what you’re walking among and it can be overwhelming until another tourist breaks your daze rushing to the next site. We took a boatload of pics but I’ll just share a few.

Walking up, you see the Odeon Theatre first. This is still a functioning theatre with a concert later that night.

The entrance into the main sites.

The Parthenon.

Even though you’re looking at one thing, this is actually the remnants of several buildings including the Old Temple of Athena. Heeyyyyyyy Athena!

Overlooking Dionysus Theatre.

Overlooking The Olympian.

Next we went to the New Acropolis Museum. A few folks suggested we come here first because it’s so informative but we were avoiding crowds…so we did this second.

The museum is awesome. 5 euros per person. You need about 2 hours minimum. There are clear floors (because you’re standing over current excavation), and lots of artifacts, replicas and artwork from the Acropolis. 

After that we went to the theatre of Dionysus. The first documented theatre…EVER. This holds extreme significance for me as a theatre artist.  I had a “moment”. So surreal. I learned about this place in 9^th grade at the Baltimore School for the Arts and never imagined that I would finally be here.

And then I set this up. We got yelled at and almost thrown out….but this may be one of the most amazing moments of my life. This IS my performance at the Dionysus theatre.You may have to squint but this black girl from B-more is doing break dance moves at the ancient ruins. ;-) B-girls 4EVVVAA!

The Arch of Hadrian.

Olympian square.

We walked forever. We did all the sites (that we picked) and walked through Plaka in just under 5 hours. Oh and btw, it is flaming hot at the top of the Acropolis. You will sweat buckets and you will emerge two shades darker. All of this exercise can only mean one thing….GYROS!!!!

Kris (King Gyro) is a bit of a snob…ahem…I mean… a connoisseur of all things Kebab/Gyro. For him, it needs to look a certain way on the stick…with just the right amount of thickness, caramelization and moisture (See, snobbery). He’s even considered starting a Gyro blog, especially since he’s travelled to Europe repeatedly over the past ten years and has had Kebab EVERYWHERE. Anywho….Greek gyro CANNOT disappoint King Gyro. So we eyed several places before landing on this one. 

I knew nothing about Gyro so let me break it down…Shaved chicken (or whatever you want, pork, lamb, mixed) wrapped in a toasted pita with lettuce, tomato, onions, tsatziki (garlic dill yogurt ) and topped with french fries. SO much food….so fresh, so good…so cheap. This is the street food so it costs….drumroll please….2 euros. That’s it. 2 flippin euros. It could feed you for a day but it’s always just----2 euros. Amazing. If I wasn’t here, King Gyro (and anyone else young, cheap or drunk) would only eat Gyros all day long. This Gyro was amazing and King Gyro was pleased. 

He almost hugged this guy and offered him a place to stay if he ever traveled to DC. LOL!

We headed back to the graffiti –ed land of Psiri for a nap and shower. Homies….when you get back…and take a shower…after the Acropolis….the rinsed water will be BLACK. You literally have to wash the Acropolis off of your skin and out of your hair. It’s the funk of 2,000+ years (which means Thriller (funk of 40,000 years) is still funkier lol). And now it's time for Mj Graffiti in Athens ;-)

After that we trekked another 2 miles or so to dinner. I’m glad we picked "To Steki Tou Ilia" because we got to explore another side of Athens closer to Keramikos. This area is super charming. I loved every bit of this stroll and wouldn't mind staying in this area. The restaurant was known for their lamb chops, so we got that….greek salad…and lots of wine.

For the record...almost all meals start with bread, dipping olive oil/seasoning annnnnndddddd……DESSERT!

What you heard is true. Greeks start with dessert (oof.  I love this place). All of the menus list dessert on the first page and another thing….Greeks don’t eat dinner until 8pm and even 8pm is early. Most restaurants don’t open until 7 or 8p and then you eat, drink and talk until the wee hours of night. All ages. Dinner at 6 doesn’t exist and neither does snacking. So breakfast, your lunch gyro….all need to be fulfilling to get you to the next meal. You eat meal to meal here. Smart. I’ve been eating like a pig and have managed to loose weight: Lots of biking, walking, fresh food and no snacking. 

Oh and wine is so cheap that THAT encourage you to keep drinking and to keep sitting. There is more wine than water. You generally have to ask for water annnnnndddd…..the check. They expect you to be there for hours so you HAVE to ask for the check or you will never get it. Who’s on a schedule/timeline? Certainly not restaurants and their waiting staff!!!

So sit down, throw your schedule out, don’t dare use your smart phone and enjoy your meal. We stopped at a second restaurant just for Baklava (nuts honey, filo) and wine. Yup…we are on a mission to eat as many “traditional” Greek dishes as possible.

Lastly, we walked home a different way which put us back on the North slope of the Acropolis. The ruins lit up at night are a sight to see. As we crossed through the main square (Monastiraki) to get back to Psiri, there were drummers playing. 

I did a little African dance in salute to the ancient gods. I am so elated to have walked on these grounds and I decided to dance it out. Kris…bless his heart…let me dance full fervor…pretended like he didn’t know me and then held my hand walking back. Forever changed I tell ya, forever changed.

Tomorrow we head to Santorini Island, the most Southern Greek isle.