After our highlights tour, we had four more full days in Athens. You might wonder what we did. After checking into the Ava Hotel, a boutique hotel nicely located in the Plaka neighborhood, we just wandered the neighborhood enjoying lunch at Yiosemi, a nearby café where the cheese pie and the orange pie (really cake) were yummy. Then we dined on an outside upper level terrace with a marvelous view of the Acropolis. It’s stunning at night and the Parthenon especially, lit from within with a golden light while the other lights are whiter.
The next day we had the morning free for catching up on paperwork, as the Chief Penguin would say, or for me writing my latest blog post. That afternoon after lunch at Adrianos (another Greek salad and some meatballs) we went to Cape Sounio, about an hour and a quarter south, to see the Temple of Poseidon. Poseidon was the god of the sea.
Our driver was again the marvelous Kostas. Kostas had been with us on our all day highlights tour and is both a skilled driver and a warm and friendly guy who shared comments on the scenery and Greek life. Our tour guide this day was Helen, who like all our guides, completed the three year Greek guide training course, and was very well versed in the history and importance of the ancient sites.
The Temple of Poseidon commands a spectacular location high above Sounio Bay looking out over several islands. This site has had little restoration and much of the temple is missing, but it is worth visiting. Flightless birds, a turtle and other wildlife added interest. And again, as we were up high, it was exceedingly windy! Helen told us that the waters below in this area are especially challenging for mariners.
Our son, Tim, and his good friend, Dino, had both recommended that we visit Sounio and also that we make the trek to Delphi. Delphi is the site of the temple to Apollo, god of the sun, and also where the Oracle at Delphi delivered prophecies and answers to questions. I well remember first learning about the oracle when I studied Latin in high school. At Delphi there is both the site which includes remains of the temple, but also a stadium, a theater, and treasure houses. There was a series of treasure houses, each one for the elaborate gifts to Apollo from a particular city. Once these treasures were handed over, they were not given back nor were they visitable.
Kostas was our driver once more, and this time, Georgia was our guide. She took us first to the Delphi Museum which contains a comprehensive collection of statues, sculptures and the like from all the historical periods in Ancient Greece. Some of them are in great condition, others less so, but the lighting is just right, and it was a great way to start our tour.
With Georgia’s commentary in the museum in mind, we were better able to visualize Delphi as it might have looked thousands of years ago.
The trip to Delphi is long, 2 ½ hours by car each way, but along the way we saw lots of greenery, agricultural fields, and then we began climbing into the mountains. Delphi is gorgeous with the mountains around it and the setting only adds to the experience. Kostas introduced us to a great little family restaurant in the town, To Patriko Mas, where we enjoyed another Greek salad and some grilled shrimp (langoustines, really, with their heads).
On our last full day, we walked, and I mean WALKED! The Chief Penguin and I logged more than 20,000 steps or 7+ miles! Our morning walk was to the National Garden and then on to view the Academy of Athens, a magnificent structure with gold and other colors on the pediment—gave us an appreciation of what the ancient temples must have looked like!
Back to the hotel before a 40 minute walk, partly uphill, to lunch in a small restaurant in a courtyard called Ama Lachei. Here we had our best meal in Athens. After this indulgent lunch of lamb, chicken, Greek salad, and cheese croquettes plus wine, we walked through the local farmers’ market (what a colorful array of tomatoes, eggplants, lettuces and peppers) and then meandered the long way back taking in some of the sights in the Monastiraki district.
We were booked at another fine restaurant farther away for the evening, but opted to return to To Kafeneio where we had had dinner previously. This time we ordered just a few snacks including the lemony dolmades (stuffed grape leaves). We changed the clocks back an hour, slept longer than usual, and arose to begin a very long day which will end in our arrival at Newark Airport late tonight!
I should note that all but one of the restaurants we sampled were recommended by and booked for us by the folks at Journy.com. This online travel specialist provided us with a daily plan of suggested activities as well as restaurants for both here and Rome. We highly recommend them!
Note: All text and photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved). Header photo is the mountainside town of Arachova, on the way to Delphi.
