Mike and I flew in a day early so we could have an absolutely amazing dinner at Aleria...
...but not before cashing in on our free welcome drink from the hotel, whose rooftop bar had this view.
And then I made the mistake of walking across the city to dinner in newish boots that had served me just fine when traipsing about in New York, but, as it turned out, did not fit as well in the Greek heat and humidity. Lesson hard-learned. At least there was some fine, fine dining at the end of it all. (Here, the utterly decadent and delicious chocolate/giandujia/caramel/passionfruit dessert at the end of our Aleria tasting menu.)
The next day, we decided to devote our time to exploring a little more of the area around the Acropolis, starting with the short trek up Philopappou hill...
...where we passed the so-called "Prison of Socrates," which was probably actually a private dwelling, but took on its assuredly-incorrect moniker due to its proximity to the Ancient Agora and the simple fact that it's a cave. (More interesting, I think, is the fact that these caves were used to hide antiquities from the Acropolis and the National Archaeological Museum during WWII.)
The easier path one takes up Philopappou hill was created in the 1950s by Dimitris Pikionis, who tucked all of these whimsical little shapes into the stonework on the ground. Hee.
Really, though, all other sights aside, the reason you climb Philopappou hill is this.
Actually, the thing that led me to want to climb this hill is the rather imposing, 10-m-tall remnant of the Monument to Philopappos, built at the top in around 116 AD to honor an exiled Roman prince who became an important political figure in, and benefactor to, Athens. You can see this thing from the Acropolis, as well as from down on the ground at night, when it's all lit up. (And we all know that far-away ruins call to me, so this was, eventually, a done deal.)
This, however, makes for a nice side perk.
Next, we headed back downhill into the Agora area, passing by some of the most beautifully-restored neoclassical buildings. (There are so many of these in Athens, in various stages of repair. Sadly, these buildings are protected as heritage monuments, which is ordinarily something I'd cheer about, but in many cases, no one can afford to fix them up, so they just slooooowly crumble. Want to wave a magic wand and make them all pretty and safe and usable again.)
Made an unplanned stop at the Roman Agora, just so I could go in and see the Tower of the Winds, which was under scaffolding last time. This isn't that, but it's a lovely bit of random carving, one of many scattered about the smallish site.
Another one. (I love these palmette designs, which are all over Athens' architecture.)
This octagonal beauty is the Tower of the Winds, or, more correctly, the Horologion of Andronikos. Built sometime during the first or second century BC, it functioned as essentially a weather station, featuring a sundial, a water clock, and a weather vane.
The extraordinary carvings around the top are the 8 ancient Greek gods of the winds. Neat.
Then, we tried to go have lunch at a place in Monastiraki that turned out not to be open for lunch, so we settled instead for this view and then a really good, traditional lunch at the nearby To Krasopouliou tou Kokkora. (Of course we ate too much, but the menu was fantastic and the service super nice. The guy even gave us free dessert and an aperitif!)
Next stop, the Stoa of Attalos in the Ancient Agora. We'd skipped this last time, for some reason, and I'd read that there was a small archaeological museum inside (yes, please!), so in we went.
For being a cozy little place, this museum had some absolutely glorious artifacts in it, like this stunning cremation urn from about 850 BC.
And this insanely-detailed (and remarkably reconstructed) krater from 530 BC.
And these amazing little pot sherds from 482 BC, which were used as voting slips during an ostracism--a vote on which political candidate to throw out of the city for 10 years! (An ostracism required a quorum of 6,000 people, and was intended to protect Athens against potential despots. Fascinating.)
There was also this kleroterion, or selection machine. Potential jurors or council members put tickets inscribed with their names into the slots on the front, and then black and white brass balls dropped into an interior funnel on the left-hand side would select randomly which rows of names were accepted (white) or dismissed (black).
Mike found Ancient Greece's Voldemort...
...and outside the museum, there's a sculpture gallery, where I found this magnificent winged Victory, from about 400 BC.
Then, having a little time to kill before meeting my aunt and uncle for dinner, we traipsed around in the Ancient Agora for a bit. (This city, at its architectural zenith, must have been an absolute wonder.)
Along a wall behind the Church of the Holy Apostles, we came upon a massive pile of random carved bits...
...amongst which was this little piece with Arabic script. Don't you just wonder what its story was.
Post-Agora, we headed to the absolutely delightful Mani Mani to meet up with my aunt and uncle (and their friends Jane and Margo) for dinner. They had all just arrived in the city that morning--all the way from Oklahoma!--and were somehow still standing, after having traipsed all over the Acropolis. They were also all brave enough to let me order for the table, so we tried out the fava dip with smoked pork and caramelized onions; balsamic-glazed octopus; phyllo pastries filled with manouri cheese, pastrami, red peppers, and goat cheese; lentil salad with sun-dried tomatoes, capers, smoked pork, and orange dressing; cheese ravioli in veggie sauce; hilopites pasta with pork and veggies in a mushroom sauce; and a mixed seafood pasta. All of which was marvelous, and the wait staff lovely to boot. (They were very patient with our large, slightly dithery group.)
The next day, we all rendezvoused again for the downtown-Athens food tour, the same tour Mike and I took there a few years ago--and we even had the same magnificent guide, Constantine, whose love of his city and its food are positively infectious. With two exceptions, the tour was identical: unfortunately, the family-run feta shop is no longer in business (the dad retired, and the kids weren't interested in taking over--a culinary loss of global proportions), and we went to a different souvlaki stand because the one we'd visited last time had gotten "too touristy" (heh...as though we aren't the pinnacle of that ourselves...). So, we started at Stani for the best yogurt of our lives (with honey and walnuts, of course); a slice of spanakopita (for a lifelong spinach hater such as myself, spanakopita is a revelation); a piece of galatoboureko (custard/phyllo pie); and a few bites of this jello-ish thing made with molasses from the remnants of wine-making grapes.
Yummmmmmmmmmmm.
Next came loukoumades (Greek doughnut hole/sugar syrup bombs) at Ktistakis;
a snackie plate of fried cheese, a wee sausage, a pickled pepper, and an exquisite lamb meatball, with a shot of tsipouro, at the central market;
(...and then my aunt made a new slimy friend, whom we did not eat...)
a shot of Greek coffee (and some spoon sweets) at Mokka;
a sampling of some shockingly good olives (another food I've detested for most of my life but am very slowly coming around to--especially the ones with herbs or citrus, yum);
exquisite vegetarian dolmades (rice, lemon, dill), phyllo rolls stuffed with pastrami and peppers, and this insane tray of meats and cheeses at the wonderland that is Karamanlidika;
pork souvlaki with tzatziki at Ταχυφαγείον Ελληνικόν (that's "Tachyfageíon Ellinikón" transliterated, and it simply means "Greek Fast Food" [but "fast" as in service, not quality!]);
and, finally, our grand-finale ending at To Triantafilo tis Nostimias, where Constantine ordered us a table full: fava, "married" sardines, lemon/vinegar-marinated anchovies (gahhhhh, my favorite!!), cooked greens, fried zucchini-and-cheese patties (insanely tasty), calamari, fried cod with skordalia (garlicky mashed potatoes), and a plate full of whole fried smelt. All marvelous, and just a tremendous way to end the tour.
Afterwards, Constantine was kind enough to lead us all back to the Syntagma metro station (where they have this remarkable wall showcasing historical strata of Athens' soil [i.e., from the Ottoman era at the top, all the way down to prehistoric at the bottom]), where we said goodbye to everyone. And when I asked Constantine about a good place to buy olive oil, that marvelous guy took us, on his own time, for a quick bonus olive-oil/sea fennel/caper leaves/tsipouro tasting at Malotira! (Which I failed entirely to document in any way, unfortunately, but trust me when I say that that darling little shop is worth a visit and full of high-quality culinary goodies. And has a very nice proprietress.)
Because it was still relatively early in the evening, Mike and I next took a quick spin through the Acropolis Museum, which was quite close to our hotel. Here, a magic sphere used in rituals to achieve victories in duels and various other contests, from about the 2nd or 3rd century AD.
A tantalizing panel just barely showing the wings on Nike, from a balustrade built around 410 BC at the Temple of Athena Nike. (These carvings must have been outrageously detailed when they were intact. So gorgeous.)
And of course, this museum doesn't have the worst view, either.
Post-museum, we grabbed some snacks at our hotel's rooftop bar, and then the next morning, got breakfast yogurts at Fresko before traipsing out to Keramikos for a visit to the funerary-monument/grave-marker museum and ancient cemetery there. The cemetery itself is vast (if a little underwhelming in terms of standing structures), but the museum is small and high-quality.
Overview of the main portion of the cemetery.
Just outside the museum are actual hundreds of these round grave stele...
...as well as a few pedestals with models of the grave markers that are found in the museum...
...like this one, from the 4th century BC.
For me, this one was the most striking: the grave monument of sisters Demetria and Pamphile, created sometime around 325-310 BC.
Kantharos found in a grave in the Kerameikos cemetery, 330-300 BC.
I am always drawn to anything ancient with an octopus painted on it. Here a grave find from 500-450 BC.
Sadly, we didn't have much time to explore around outside--the fact that our flight was delayed a few hours was the reason we'd even been able to visit Kerameikos at all, and we figured we'd better not miss the new flight time!--and so we packed up and headed to the airport, with another amazing long weekend in Athens well in hand. What... a remarkable place, full of nice people, unbelievable archaeology, and overwhelmingly great food!
And speaking of. Upon our arrival home, it was time for:
a "modern Polish" pop-up--here, pierogi filled with black pudding in a raspberry, red onion, and thyme marmalade (murdery-looking, sure, but ohhhh, so tasty);
Afghan food at a temporary restaurant I deeply, deeply wish were permanent (ugh, I'm an idiot and didn't take any photos of the gorgeous and extraordinary sampler plate of dumplings, veggies, lentil salads, hummus, etc., etc., etc., that we had there, so here's their pretty logo instead--and at least they have a booth at the Christmas market, woooohoooooo!);
our first Herzbaracke concert of the season, the Dave Ruosch (a.k.a. PIANO GOD) Trio;
an outstanding Indian pop-up with cocktail pairing by our amazing and talented friends who run Kaffeepur (and are extremely great at food-and-drink in addition to coffee);
...and a ridiculous evening full of oversized beers, dirndls, lederhosen, goofy music, and, yes, champagne (what...I don't like beer) at Zürich's Oktoberfest.
It's potentially (but probably not) the last one of these ever, so we decided to get a big table...
...and ended up with a really good group. Prost.
And with that, people, it was nearly time for my surprise birthday trip, which turned out to be a doozy this year. Stay tuned.
