Classics in Athens

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A T H E N SSTORY BY SCOTT ALEXANDER YOUNG

PHOTOGRAPHY BY TANVEER BADAL

ACROPOLIS NOW AN EASY

FAMILIARITY WITH THE CLASSICS OF


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TOP.

The Parthenon - oneof the world's most

recognized structures

and the centrepiece ofthe Acropolis

BELOW LEFT.

Downtown Athens isa mix of old and new,

with both windy narrow

alleys and widepedestrian shopping

streets dotted withhistorical ruins

BELOW RIGHT

Athens is also a cityknown for its love of

food souvlaki, pitta,

gyros and moussakahave all entered the

common lexicon ofinternational cuisine

"INCIDENTALLY, IF EXPECTING TEAR GAS AND BODY ARMOUR

ON THE STREETS OF ATHENS, ONE MIGHT BE DISAPPOINTED.

ALL I SAW IN FIVE DAYS WAS ONE PROTEST GOING ON A BLOCK

OR TWO AWAY FROM THE PARLIAMENT, BUT IT WAS CONFINED

TO HALFADOZEN PEOPLE AND A MEGAPHONE."

Location: ATHENS

How great are the dangers I face to win a good

name in Athens. Alexander the Great (Ancient

Greek King of Macedon, 356 B.C.-323 B.C.)

More than one person had said to me when I had

confessed a desire to visit the Greek capital: Oh, dont

bother with Athens; skip it and head straight for the

Greek islands. And miss the Acropolis? Well it might

have gone that way, had I not received a last minute

invite to an event called Tourism Trade Athens. It was

happening in a fortnight, and would I like to come?

The catch was, and theres always a catch, I only had

until 5pm that day to register. After careful

consideration for all of 20 seconds, it struck me this

was a case ofAcropolis Now- if you can forgive the

pun. Anyway, this story is about Athens, a city Id

gladly revisit, and for the curious, about what its like to

go on a fam a familiarisation trip.

A media fam trip is where travel writers,

photographers and bloggers are invited by a local

tourism board to sample the best of a particular

destination. Arriving on a Sunday evening, I made a

reconnaissance of the Plaka, the historic area around

my hotel the smart and perfectly welcoming Hotel

Electra Palace. The Plaka is the oldest part of Athens,

and its cobblestone streets curl around the foot of the

Acropolis. This, of course, is a 2500 year old

citadel located on a rocky hilltop that remains

home to several buildings of immense historic and

architectural importance. The most notable of these is

undoubtedly the Parthenon an astonishing sight at

any time, resonating with aeons of civilisation that

provides the physical and figurative centrepiece for

anyone staying close to the city centre.

One might be struck by how antiquity looms large,

often quite unexpectedly, when turning a corner

practically anywhere in the Plaka. There is, for

instance, the Lysikrates Monument erected by, well,

Lysikrates to showcase an award he had won for

sponsoring the most critically acclaimed plays of a

theatrical season some 2350 years ago. So much for

sic transit gloria mundi(all glory fades). A few blocksaway, the pillars of a Roman forum offer a reminder

that this most Grecian of architectural sites is also

strewn with the reminders of other civilisations,

conquerors and occupants. Particularly notable is the

Tower of the Winds, also constructed by the Romans

in the 1st century B.C. The figures on top of it once

physically revolved, as the Tower was a working

hydraulic clock.

After the Romans packed their togas and went home,

the Ottomans occupied Athens for some 300 years,

leaving traces behind such as the Hamam Abid Efendi

a Turkish bath built during the Ottoman reign, in

the 17th century. A few hundred metres away, the

Gate of the Islamic Seminary is all that is left of an 18th

century Ottoman building, its moss covered doorway

looking to my tired eyes like the portal to another

dimension. So with a drink at the pool bar of the

Electra Palace, I was ready for sleep.

The next morning was all business. After transferring

to a conference centre, we listened to a well-meaning


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BELOW.

The Erechtheion templehonoring Athena and

Poseidon, boasts the

famous "porch of thecaryatids - six draped

maidens that form thesupporting columns

speech of welcome from the Mayor of Athens

including much talk of improvements to

infrastructure, etc. This was followed a workshop at

which we media experts were invited to submit ideas

on how to bring 'millennials' to the city, that critical

18-30 demographic who have grown up online and

show no signs of leaving. All I could think of was start

a music festival or two, make the entire city a free

Wi-Fi zone, and dont be in denial about recent

turbulence." An image and slogan came to me, 'Our

future is in ruins', with a shot of the Parthenon.

Having made this 'contribution' to the proceedings, it

was time to get out into the real city again

accompanied by my local volunteer guide, a likeable

young man named Konstantinus. A winemaker and

farming smallholder who gives up his time to show

visitors around, he told me he was no history expert

and then proceeded to guide me expertly around

the Acropolis. Briefly then, without getting too

textbook about the whole thing: the word acropolis

means acro, 'edge, or extremity' and polis, 'city'.

Though there are numerous other acropoleis inGreece, the significance of the one in Athens is such

that pretty much anyone can just call it 'The Acropolis'

and its okay.

While evidence suggests that the hill was inhabited as

long ago as 4000B.C., it was Pericles, the so-called first

citizen of Athens (c. 495-429 B.C.) who was behind the

construction of the sites most important buildings. We

walked the long winding road uphill, stopping to

admire the Roman Amphitheatre in the Southwest

slope. We then ended up at the Propylaia, the steps

and monumental gateway that lead to the plateau of

the hill which provide the gateway to the Parthenon

itself, the Erechtheion and temple of Athena Nike.

Looking back from this elevated podium, the vast

white city of Athens stretches below, with its backdrop

of mountains on one side and the Aegean Sea on the

other. Even so a few features stand out within this

broad panorama, notably the Temple of Zeus, and

beyond it, the old Olympic Stadium the

Panathinaiko. It was far from peak season but there

were already plenty of tourists around. However when

the sky opened up over the Parthenon and Zeus

streaked the clouds with bolts of lightning, they were

all far too preoccupied with their i-Phones to notice.

However, I did. I may not be a particularly religious

person more a slightly confused agnostic, typical of

our era but these old Greek temples seem far more at

one with the supernatural than anything constructed

since. Whats more, the idea of many gods, constantly

at war with each other playing tricks on each other

and on humans, as Konstantinus put it somehow

seems more fitting and aligned with human behaviour

than todays monotheism. We had a nice chat, as I

took the immense splendour of the Acropolis and its

surrounds in for the first time.

Not to play favourites, but I found the Erechtheion

420-406 B.C. the most individually fascinating of the

sites buildings and structures; constructed as it was on

the place where the goddess Athena caused her most

sacred emblem, the olive tree, to grow. Its interesting

to note too that the elegant maidens that support the

roof of the south porch of the temple are all copies.

Five of the original six statues can be seen in the

beautifully designed New Acropolis Museum, and the

sixth can be viewed in the British Museum in London,

thoughtfully removed or stolen depending on your

point of view by Lord Elgin, who served as British

ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1799 to 1803.

The next day, the familiarisation trip began in earnest.

Food, shopping and sights were all promised and

delivered. This included a stop at the lemon-yellow

coloured Greek Parliament building, as seen recently

on BBC World News and CNN surrounded by

protestors and riot squads, but originally built as a

Palace for a Bavarian King. Incidentally, if expecting

tear gas and body armour on the streets of Athens, one

might be disappointed. All I saw in five days was one

protest going on a block or two away from the

Parliament, but it was confined to half-a-dozen people

- and a megaphone. On the streets of Athens we're

more likely to see public displays of affection.

Athenians are of course Mediterraneans meaning

oodles of healthy olive skin, smiles and personal

warmth to go around. Consequently, another line for

Tourism Athens occurred to me: 'Demonstrations are

a common sight in Athens', with the image of a young

couple sharing a kiss under Hadrians Gate (or some

similar relic of antiquity). As for personal safety in

Athens, be advised to keep your proverbial wallet

down the front of your trousers, especially in areas like

the food market, and count your change before

getting out of a taxi, but whats new?

Our bus that morning took us first to the Villa Illisia,

which now houses the Byzantine Museum, but was

once the former residence of the so-called Duchess of

Plaisance, one Sophie de Marbois-Lebrun. This was


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followed by a whirlwind tour through the

Museum of Cycladic Art, an incredible

collection of Greek art and antiquities, then

the neo-classical Athens Academy and

The National Library. The latter is the

largest library in Greece and we were only

allowed to file through it in small, quiet,

groups, taking as many photos of books,

pillars and so on as we liked, but none

showing the librarys denizens in shot. Its

a gorgeous temple of learning and

repository of knowledge, but by this stage I

knew I wasnt the only one building up a

healthy appetite.

Consequently, the food tour couldnt have

been better timed. Our guide was from

Dopios.com. They are a nicely run and

staffed specialist tour operator, with local

guides (Dopios means local) who for a

moderate fee, will show you the spots that

are hidden from most visitors. Franco-

Grecian Tina Kyriakis was our

indefatigable guide through the many

flavours of the city, and by the time we had

sampled pastries and yoghurts, olives,

retsina and feta cheese, I was questioning

the rationale for basing myself in Central

Europe, with its goulash, pork and

dumplings. In fact, I have never seen more

types of olive oil for sale in one place than

at Pantopoleio Mesogiakis Diatrofis (on the

corner of Sofokleous and Aristidou streets

if Im not mistaken). It has a lovely littletasting room out back, which we took full

advantage of. Moreover, carnivores werent

left out on the tour: we stopped in at one

of the most visually arresting delicatessens

Ive ever seen, The Miran, which has been

around since 1922. As an added touch, the

vegetables sold inside The Miran are

grown on a vertical garden suspended

above its entrance. Quite spectacular and

innovative.

After food, shopping. Elina

Yiannoulopoulou transmitted her

enthusiasm and excitement about local

designers to us, taking our group to the

showroom of one handbag designer who

had moved back to Athens and opened

shop in the midst of the recession. Time

and again I heard such stories, to the point

where one has to be impressed by Greek

resilience. We also admired the jewellery

and silverware at Ilias Lalaounis, famous

jewellers who have a museum in Athens

and stores in New York, Geneva and Tokyo

etc. One of the family spoke to us briefly,

before offering an assortment of small free

gifts.

Indeed, one gets the impression that the

recession is not exactly being worn on the

sleeve of this town, although it was also

nowhere near as congested with traffic or

smog as Id been led to believe. Perhaps

the volumes of visitors and customers

arent quite what they once were.

Regardless, Elina was a first class guide to

the world of Athenian fashion and

materialism, but she was also very

knowledgeable about her native city. For

example, when we passed by a tiny

church, incongruous among the high-rise

buildings around it, she casually remarked

that it was from the 16th century; there

have been many exorcisms performed in

here. The church of Agia Dynami or

Holy Power its called.

On the final day of the official part of the

fam, we were picked up again by tour

buses, which headed for the harbour and

boat cruise, which sounded like a pretty

good idea to me at the time. We sailed

around Athens coastline on the Lepanto, a

44 foot catamaran with four double beds.

After a 'second breakfast' inside, we made

our way up on deck, and as the Lepanto

reached open water I was seated at the

helm, enjoying the sea breeze and feelings

of freedom, when Alessandro, themanager of Brama Yachts & Catamarans,

came by to say hello. New Zealanders are

the best sailors in the world. They should

have won the Americas Cup, he said as

he handed me an 'elevenser', a nice glass

of Retsina. I was impressed. Brama Yachts

and Catamarans have offices in New York

and Athens, and they own and manage

luxury catamarans and crewed yachts for

charter, mainly around the Greek Islands,

but also the Eastern Mediterranean and

Caribbean.

There were ample home comforts on

board and the spring weather mild e nough

that it was a very pleasant sail. A youngish

bloke with dreadlocks named Laurence

Norah, a British photographer, decided this

was his moment to try climbing up the

mast for the first time in his life. We

watched as he scaled the mast, and even

worked up the additional gumption to take

some photos with the very serious camera

he had slung around his neck. Our final

port of call under the guidance of Tourism

Trade Athens was the Flisvos luxury

marina, crammed with an unbelievable

array of multi-million dollar yachts and

launches. Just enough time to say

goodbyes and exchange business cards

while some super cool and expensively

groomed, young Athenians completely

flouted the non-smoking rule in the

Flisvos caf where we had stopped for last

coffees. I was vaguely envious of their gall.

Having completed my official tours of

Athens, I nevertheless decided to keep on

being a tourist and tick off as many of

Athens sites as possible. I have been going

on familiarisation trips for 20 years, and

they frequently seem to bring out the

desire to see even more of the places that

Ive been introduced to; in fact as much as

possible. In the case of Athens, this drive

was even more marked, perhaps because

of the sheer antiquity of its many sights: a

leftover bit of the old city wall here, the

Temple of Zeus with Hadrians Arch in

the background there. One sight that

struck me as unmissable was the

Panathenaikon Stadium, the original

Olympic Stadium. Although its design is

2570 years old, the stadium is so

streamlined and minimal that it looks

futuristic. First built out of wood in

566B.C., the Panathenaikon was

reconstructed in marble in 329B.C. due to

popular demand, and finally made over

again for the 1896 Olympics, the first

modern Olympic Games.

Of course, I also went out for drinks at

night, and did some shopping along, and

around, Ermou street. Indeed, one

morning I went for a long walk down

Ermou to find that it also has a much lessfashionable, but quaintly picturesque, side;

a world away of little side streets and back

alleys filled with the workshops of trades

and craftspeople.

On my very last day in Athens I went

searching for The Temple of Hephaestus,

the last major site of the Acropolis and its

surrounds that I had yet to cross off my

wish list. It was Good Friday as I was soon

reminded, and the gates were closed. Even

so, I craned my neck and my camera, to

get some shots through the trees of the

best preserved of all ancient Greek temples

in Athens. Less than satisfied with the

resulting pictures, I at least have a very

good reason to return to this wondrous

city of new and old:

Maid of Athens, ere we part, Give, oh, give

back my heart!

Or, since that has left my breast, keep it

now, and take the rest!

Hear my vow before I go, my life, I

love you." Lord Byron, Maid of Athens

BELOW.

Visitors and locals alikeatop the rock promonto-

ries below the Acropolis settling in to watch

the sun set over Athens

Getting here

Options abound take a cruise ship, ferry, bus, or

rental car from elsewhere in Greece or neighbouring

countries, or fly in from Europe or New York

Transport

The network of buses, metro and trams is well

integrated and reasonably priced, so its not worth

driving or attempting to hail a cab

Language

Greek

Currency

Euro

Climate

Athens does see clear seasons, with the hot summer

months of July and August morphing into rainy, and

even snowy winters from November to February. May,

June, September and October provide a happy

medium

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Classics in Athens