45 Blog Post Monday, October 21, 2024 “Attika”
A hot mug of fennel tea and a small piece of honey-soaked pastry with nuts—something in the baklava family, but not quite—have capped off two days of challenging travel, especially with the illness that still has a strong grip on me. Hopefully the tea will help.
We left Italy yesterday, flying first to Rome and then to Athens. It was an all-day experience, and we have learned, finally, that we should not plan anything the day after we travel because it takes so much out of us, and we need to resettle in our new place. Why is it stressful? Leaving the apartment in Monopoli, packing up and cleaning the apartment after living there for 10 days, driving the rental car to the airport and returning it, finding our way to the actual airport, getting on line to check in—the line was incredibly long, then security, then the bus to the plane…you get the picture.
That all happened again when we got to Rome, minus the apartment cleaning. But a quick note about the Rome airport—we were very impressed with our wing, terminal A, because there were so many enrichments in the airport. There were children’s play areas, a giant chess board that you had to play while standing, a free foosball table—my personal favorite, although my skills have suffered since college where I reigned as unofficial women’s champ at a local bar. Alistair whomped me in foosball. So disappointing.
Our plane finally landed in Athens around 7 pm, so it was dark when we left the airport, found the metro station, crammed into the subway with the Big Suitcases, hopped out at Syntagma Square, which was absolutely full of activity, musicians, young people hanging out. One other charming thing: when we were leaving the Metro station, we heard Greek music and stumbled on a room full of Greek dancers, performing for free. The women wore jewel toned long skirts in red, purple and blue with white blouses with their hair pulled back into a knot. The men wore fitted black vests, black pants and white shirts. People of all ages danced—13 year old boys danced with 50 year old women; young couples danced together, and everyone looked so happy, grinning and spinning around. Great beginning to our trip!
Our hotel, which will remain nameless, was about 3 blocks from the station in the middle of a very, very busy area, even on a Sunday night. And when we got to our room after 8 pm, it was the tiniest room I have ever seen. The Big Suitcases didn’t really fit anywhere. There were other issues as well—the stairwells to get to our room were pitch black dark—no lights--and I knew there was no way we could spend the next four days and nights in that room. We did have to stay at least overnight and then leave for our tour of the Acropolis scheduled for early this morning, which we did.
So why don’t I just stop there for now and talk about that incredible 4-hour tour? The weather today was perfect with cool temps (60’s) and the bluest skies. Our guide’s name was Artemis (seriously!) and she had a giant head of bright maroon hair that made it easy to find her in a crowd. Her commitment to Athens and to her Greek heritage was contagious. She wanted us to feel the spirit of Athens, learn about the strength of the people over the centuries; to see and learn about architecturally perfect buildings like the Parthenon. We learned about how the majority of the artifacts from the Parthenon ended up in the British Museum rather than in Greece. We saw an excavation site of an entire neighborhood, located under the Acropolis Museum that dated to 500 BC that reminded me of Pompeii. Pottery, tools and mosaics from the period were discovered and displayed. Sewing needles made out of stone, children’s toys, cooking vessels; it was hard for me to wrap my head around all the displayed items. And in a visionary stroke, the Museum is built right over the excavation site with a clear floor so it is easy to look down and see the small village as you walked into the Museum, with the opportunity to go down and tour it after seeing the museum exhibits.
I’d been a bit unsettled as Christians were getting a pretty bad name on this tour focused on artifacts because when Constantine became ruler of the Roman Empire in the 4th Century, some of the church leaders in Greece began to destroy the sculptures and artifacts associated with the Acropolis, which was clearly the site of pagan worship. The Christians had a strange habit of just knocking the heads off the statues and leaving the bodies intact, so many of the sculptures we saw were headless, and this was attributed to Christians who wanted to combat idol worship. I can't really explain why this bothered me, but it did. Would I have felt better if they destroyed the whole sculpture? No. At least a portion of the sculpture survived, but the pointed nature of the destruction seems strange to me.
Shortly after that, however, our guide also pointed out another artifact off in the distance—Mars Hills, a huge stone located a short distance down the hill from the Acropolis. Mars Hill is where the Apostle Paul spoke to the people of Greece to compare their ‘unknown gods’ of wood and stone to the all-powerful and just God of all people that Christians believe in. Read Acts 17: 16 – 34 which specifically references this event. We still have Paul’s words from that day to remember: “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.” Looking down at the place where Christianity began to take root in the Greek culture brought tears to my eyes, and I remember what it felt like to tour Israel in 2016 and see remnants of buildings where Jesus would have worshiped and taught, where John baptized people in the Jordan River. Today, as Artemis, our guide, made the very offhand comment about Mars Hill, I found myself tearing up and knew that one part of my sabbatical would be to stand where Paul stood, with all his courage and commitment and faith. Tomorrow will probably be the day we can do that.
After our Acropolis adventures, we made the decision to move out of the hotel and I managed to find a beautiful studio apartment in Athens that is perfectly suited for our needs, and only $50/day. So after hiking around archeological ruins, we had to hike some more with the Big Suitcases, but we are both thrilled with the decision to make the change and it has given us even more familiarity with the city of Athens.
But just maybe, for a moment, I can talk about the food? Greek food is delicious. What is it about actual Greek yogurt, for example? I really don’t like yogurt very much, but this yogurt is so rich and creamy, not chalky and overly tangy. Tzatziki is a simple Greek dish of yogurt with cucumber, garlic and dill that tastes completely different when I make it. By the way—yes, they do sell Fage Yogurt in every store here, but it is made in Luxemborg, not Johnstown. Restaurants are also keenly aware of vegetarian diners and I had a spectacular vegetarian moussaka last night and a delicious mushroom soup tonight. Alistair has been eating gyros and souvlaki, and I have had soups and salads with some of the best cheeses. And then there are the pastries…!! Greek bakeries are common and the pans of baklava and other sweet, honey-soaked cakes and pastries are beautiful to look at, and delicious in small doses. They have an intensity of flavor that doesn’t allow us to eat much, but the pastry crackles in your mouth, and the honey and nuts are rich and sweet. I’ve never seen so many varieties of baklava, and the pastry is often creatively folded or wrapped around a variety of fillings.
We are clearly NOT in Italy anymore, and I was right about the language. It has been difficult for me to communicate in Greek since it uses a totally different alphabet. Alistair has some Greek skills, so that’s a help, but mostly we rely on Google Translate or people who can speak English. I have to stop saying “Grazie”, which has become automatic, and remind myself to say “Efcharisto.”
Hmmm…does that look at all familiar to anyone? Efcharisto? Yup. Same word as our Eucharist. Can you imagine that every single day, I am saying this word over and over again as part of normal conversation? Do you think God might be getting me ready for re-entry into my life of serving others once again?
Yes, we are being nourished in so many ways. I feel nourished in being able to make a good decision about leaving one hotel and settling into another living space that is so much better suited to both of us. I feel nourished as I learn more about ancient Greece and their extraordinary gifts of architecture, design and artistry. I feel hungry to learn more about the place where Paul stood and spoke, hungry to learn more about Athens itself, and of course hungry for more great Greek food as our time here unfolds. And for all of it, I am evgnomon, or thankful.
For what are you evgnomon (thankful) today?
Blessings and grace,
ML+
