Visiting Athens and the Greek islands were at the top of our "places to visit" for this trip. With all of the traveling we've done in Europe to date, we had never been to either location. Last Summer we did stop in Olympia, Greece on our cruise and loved the city. What's not to love about Greece?! Succulent seafood, delicious cheese, beautiful architecture and the cradle of modern civilization as we know it are all in abundance here. Taking in all the history, we were amazed at how much has been discovered and how much took place in Greece. Such a proud set of accomplishments.
It's was almost sad to know this once strong country, now has such a poor and difficult future ahead of it. While news back in the states was centered around the U.S. debt ceiling, the world news was focused firmly Greece's sovereign debt crisis (along with the other four countries in the EU with financial trouble, of which we would ultimately visit four of the five: Greece, Spain, Ireland, Italy, excluding only Portugal.) When news of the severity of Greece's solvency problem broke, the people of Greece were very upset (as most of the country worked for government-owned companies and many lost their jobs). Riots and strikes broke out in Athens. Even though the riots were contained near parliament (away from the touristy areas), this was obviously not an ideal time to visit Athens. In addition, there was a lot of "anarchy" graffiti (you would've thought the Sex Pistols were in town!), but we don't know if this was a "new" phenomenon in Athens. There wasn't much impact on the islands - arguably Greece's most profitable business is tourism, especially in the islands. Our main concern was using the public transportation, cabs, and ferries to Mykonos from the airport. Playing it safe, we took a flight to Mykonos but were able to take the ferry back.
Mykonos was absolutely amazing. One of the top, if not the top, beach that we've ever been to. The water is a clear teal blue, the sandy beaches are soft and clean. Mykonos is one of many Greek islands. We would've liked to island hop but we really wanted to use these four days to relax. We will have to go back and visit the other islands at a later time. Mykonos is apparently known for being very vibrant, trendy and almost club-like. We visited the party beach, Paradise, one day and a calmer beach by our hotel another day. We prefer the less crowed, calmer beaches for the daytime and heading out to the town center at night. Even though the island had cabs, we took the public bus. It was cheap, safe and reliable. July is a busy time at the islands and it was difficult to get a cab. We mentioned this on an earlier post but we would highly recommend the hotel we stayed at: Artemis Hotel. It's a small, family-owned place that's right on the beach and across from a bus stop. They had free breakfast, wi-fi internet, and airport pick-up/drop-off service. Getting all these things for free is very hard to find!
Athens. We really wish we had more time to stay in Athens. Going off the advice of friends, we only stayed in Athens for two days. However, after we arrived we realized all there is to see - especially for those history lovers like Chris. Again, we stayed at a great hotel here in Athens: Athens Center Square Hotel. It was walking distance from the metro and was very easy to find (there were even signs pointing to it along the walk). The hotel felt trendy without being expensive and had an amazing rooftop bar with a view of the Acropolis. I wish we hadn't been so exhausted our only night there, otherwise we would've definitely partied on the roof! Chris did go up and take some amazing pics (which you can see on the blog post before this). The staff at the front was very helpful in recommending which sites to see and which restaurants to dine at. Staying true to it's Greek roots, the restaurants in Athens were so delicious! And the weather was nice enough for us to eat outdoors.
Athens and Mykonos were two more successful and amazing stops on this trip that we'd highly recommend visiting!
Thoughts on the history and monuments: While touring through Athens several particular discussions came up between us as we visited the sites, observed the monuments and learned more about the history. We thought it might be interesting to some of you (though probably not everyone which is why this part is going at the end of the post... if you don't want to hear about the evolution of modern democratic society or the rise and fall of the eminence of the Acropolis,
stop now.)
The golden age of Greece occurred shortly after the Greeks led by the Athenians and Spartans defeated the Persians. In order to achieve this victory, the once separate city-states of Greece had joined together in an alliance known as the Delian League to which they committed their soldiers and their tax revenues to support the war. At the war's end, the treasury at Delos (the island for which the alliance was named and where these funds were kept) was moved to Athens on the decision of Pericles, the leader of the Athenians. It is no coincidence that the massive and unrivaled construction followed shortly thereafter on plans also conceived by Pericles.
Contributing to this outburst of artistic and philosophic brilliance was a series of political reformations made by Solon, a former king of Athens who later abandoned the city to avoid having to interpret the laws he put in place. Solon, established the first most complete democracy the world has ever seen. Unlike the representative forms of government we are accustomed to today, the Athenian democracy was pure. Everyone could become a citizen of Athens and every citizen voted directly their own conscience.
The Greeks are, justifiably, proud of this heritage, but it does not come without its flaws. This system of government led to systemic injustice. The majority rule often crushed the rights of the minority and led to factions within the society that bred violence and distrust. Ultimately, the Greek experiment in democracy only lasted a few decades before strife across the peninsula reduced Athens to a shell of its former self.
The monuments themselves, while still obviously grandiose in their scale, are only a shadow of the greatness they clearly once were. Almost 2 and a half millennia have passed since their construction, and during that time they have been ransacked for spare parts or demolished in religious fervor. The Christians and Muslims destroyed many of most remarkable sculptures ever created for the Parthenon because they were pagan as they converted the historic temples to churches and mosques. Looking over the shells of these iconic buildings often served as a sad reminder of much of the greatness that has been lost to time and human destructiveness.
