Athens - Gateway to our Heritage and the Jewels of the Aegean Sea

 

    Parthonon on top of Acropolis

Want PERFECT (mediterranean) weather - day and night, to walk/hike, eat new foods, swim in crystal clear waters, enjoy eclectic music, art, dancing, outdoor cinema, touch magnificent 2000 year old ruins, sit on ancient marble where great philosophers developed the then radical concepts of democracy and stoicism by looking to the divine spark inside man rather than groveling to the "gods"?  Then come to Greece for an extended stay in the Spring!  Start in Athens. Stay for at least 5 days to explore the Acropolis (outcropping that the Parthenon sits on), museums, Greek Riviera, nearby ancient sites at Delphi and Sounion to get a feel for a culture that cherishes life and learn the genesis of art and diplomacy.  Local guides will enhance this experience.   Book an Airbnb west of the Acropolis in the arts and techno district to enjoy a vibrant night life and local restaurants and clubs. But there is much more. Pyroliki was a favorite - serving sfakiani in an outdoor venue. 

Open air cinema with showing classic American films, outdoor dancing (traditional, Greek, modern),

Loukoumades shops (donut holes like you have never experienced) and 24 x 7 gourmet bakeries with crepes.

Dine with a local chef in his home looking down at the Acropolis,  pondering existential questions with other international travelers while drinking slushy cold Masticha (a Greek liqueur  flavored with mastic only made on the island of Chios). 

Outdoor restaurants abound in the city center with magnificent views of the Acropolis. Probably one of the best restaurants I have ever eaten at was Agora Select with its watermelon Greek salad and smoked octopus smothered with dijon flavored mashed potatoes. Molto buono!

And on my top 5 for brunch was at the terrace looking up at the Acropolis at the Brown Acropol hotel. 

I read the Stoic Seneca's letters sitting at the ancient public square of Stoa, part of the Agora just below the Acropolis in Athens.

Once you have visited the sites, go local, spending time away from the tourist spots, including meditation in a park west of the Acropolis. 

Meditating on Impermanence sitting on the "Hill of the Nymphs" with Parthenon in distance. 

There are 3 big take aways. 1) Athens is the epicenter of western heritage that outshown its same era rivals in sophistication and technology.  2) Today Athens has vibrant lifestyle fostered by its mediterranean climate, culture and antiquity offering a richer living experience than Fort Worth. 3)  Impermanence is reality.  War, tyrants, and religion made colossal marble Greek buildings and monuments chameleons or rubble degenerating under a blitz of greed and hate. It's a lesson apropos today as Americans squabble about issues that will not be remembered in a country whose short 3 century lifespan is only a footnote in the timeline of human history. These lessons are reinforced and expanded by the history of the Greek isles.  The next post on the isles of Mykonos,  Santorini and Crete will illustrate this.