From Alaska to Athens and back

It's hard to believe it's October already, the past month a blur of travel eastward across the States (Juneau, Minneapolis, Boston), and then on to Greece for the last two weeks of September.

While wandering near the Acropolis in Athens

Now, back in Juneau sporting fresh flip-flop tan lines, I feel very grateful for the time spent away with Scotty and also just as glad to be back at our Alaska home.

At Lofos Strefi, the park next to our hotel in Athens

Our trip to Greece almost feels like a dream, a portal into a very different reality. Like with most trips I tend to go through phases of "should we go or not go". And also like with other trips, I'm glad we took the leap and went anyway despite a lot of other things going on with work and life. It felt good to hit pause and disconnect in a way that only seems to happen these days when there's less internet and cell phone service available.

Greece had been on my travel list for a long time, at least a decade. Despite being part of the EU and solidly on the tourist map, Greece is a country that seemed very foreign to me- culturally, geographically, linguistically. Traveling there felt like a challenge, but with plenty of potential rewards- my kind of adventure exactly.

Syntagma Square in Central Athens

When I read this article- a long time ago now- I was even more intrigued. I loved the idea of spending time in a place where- sometimes and in some places- life still moved a little slower and the connections between people were quite literally, life-sustaining.

Our flight departed New York’s JFK airport on a Tuesday around dinnertime with an arrival into Athens mid-morning the following day. If you can choose your timeline for a transatlantic flight eastward, this is one I’d definitely recommend. There’s nothing worse than getting to your destination exhausted by a long flight and a weird time change, only to have to wait a long time to check in to your hotel.

Before the flight. Obviously.

In this case, our room was ready by the time we cleared immigration and took a cab across the city.

On a scale of 1-10 for ease of arrival at a new place, with 10 being the easiest, I’d rate Athens at about a 9. Seriously, the airport is clean, modern, and well-signed in Greek and English. Immigration lines moved quickly and efficiently and we were outside in an organized line for taxis within 30 minutes of arrival.

The cab ride from the airport to the hotel was an interesting one. Like I’ve had drilled into the very core of my being from time spent in other countries, before getting into the cab I politely inquired with the driver as to how much the ride would cost. "Ah," muttered the taxi driver and gestured at the vehicle in haste. "It's all the same, just get in," the man said, or something like that. Realizing that that was the only answer we were going to get at the moment and that options for alternative action were most likely few, I regretfully acquiesced without a clear answer.

From behind mirrored aviators, the driver's eyebrows kneaded in annoyance at me through the rear view mirror. He tucked a thick mane of curly golden hair behind his ears. "Never, NEVER ask that here. You're going to get taken advantage of anyway so you may as well sit back and enjoy the ride."

Apparently, I had just committed a major faux pas? I gave Scotty a glance of side-eyed annoyance and gritted my teeth, but being jet-lagged and in an already moving vehicle, accepted our fate.

We quickly learned that the guy was not Greek by birth, but partially by heritage, having moved to Greece later in life from Germany.

Small park right across the street from Hotel Orion & Dryades

“I have two Master’s degrees, speak six languages and must drive this cab sixteen hours a day to make ends meet,” the man informed us in perfect English with an Aussie/ South African accent (he later confirmed having lived in both places). As he delved into an interesting and informative lecture on his home and the local economy- and then, a less than flattering view of U.S. politics, complete with a few direct, yet impersonal insults- I wondered if this was only the beginning of our Greek cultural enlightenment.

View from our hotel of Mount Lycabettus in Athens

In actuality, that cab ride was the closest we got to hearing any local's candid viewpoint on what was going on in the country... or anything for that matter. (There are a lot of likely reasons for this, but those are probably best left for another time.)
  

Lofos Strefi (Strefi Hill in Athens)

At one point during the thirty-minute ride, the cab driver deemed our choice of hotels “interesting” and left it at that. When I pressed him about what he meant, he offered, well, it’s an area with a university and a lot of anarchist activity amongst the young people there. As we drove, he pointed out the shredded, dented shells of a series of electrical boxes, destroyed, he said, by Molotov cocktails thrown during protests.

“You should be fine,” he assured us, indicating several policemen in full-body armor standing watch at a street corner we passed. In the neighborhood of Exarchaeia, law enforcement and bus outposts equipped with riot gear are still a common sight, though we saw no "action" during our stay. An impressive display of colorful graffiti, encompassing a wide scale of artistic ability, adorned nearly every available surface. In our new neighborhood, 'A' was most certainly not for Apple.



Our hotel was a little diamond-in-the-rough. Perched near the top of a hill overlooking downtown Athens, it was a few miles south of the Acropolis and right next to a park. In fact, the neighborhood turned out to be one of the things we appreciated most about our stay in the city, so much so that we rebooked the hotel by simply inquiring with staff for an even better rate pre-departure from Greece.

    

I’d stay at the Dryades & Orion Hotel again in a heartbeat. The staff members were kind and helpful and the price reasonable. Though we received advice to stay near the central part of Athens, I'm actually glad we followed our intuition and stayed a bit off the beaten path. Here's why: we usually found ourselves surrounded by locals and just a few other tourists. Whenever we went out to eat (typically once a day for dinner), the restaurants were mostly frequented by locals- students and professor types. Also, we weren't surrounded by tourist shops, and instead found local grocery stores, bakeries, and a variety of home goods stores within easy walking distance.

Enjoying an Greek/ Cretian dinner on our first night in Athens

The room during our initial stay in Athens had great city views and a balcony, but was a bit noisy from dusk on with people hanging out on the steps below next to the hotel. The considerate hotel staff gave us fair warning upon check in, which actually made it easier to deal with. Apparently good views came with a small price. To deal, we simply shut the balcony doors at night and turned on the on-demand air conditioning (in the second week of September it was still in the high 70s Fahrenheit at night).

   

The hotel also has a rooftop area that reminded me of our hostel in Quito years ago, but instead of a bar at this one, a breakfast buffet is served every morning for 7 Euros per guest. During the day, the area is open to guests. The view did not disappoint.

Acropolis in upper lefthand 

Next up, more on the interesting, lively animal that is Athens itself.