Mythology and the Ancient past - Travels in Greece Part-I

Flying to Athens via Dubai is a long and tiring flight. But a morning arrival gave me time to tackle my first day. I do not have bookings yet, and so arriving at the airport - I started making real plans, got a good city map, and headed out to ride the trains to downtown. Tour websites (my source of pre-trip info) lured me to stay in downtown area, very close to the Acropolis (4th picture here). It is supposed to offer budget rooms, but for Pinoys – 45-60euro rooms is already 3-star!

FOOD
My best Grilled Lamb EVER is still in Greece – anywhere in Greece! 10-15euro per meal is expensive – but f* it, I may not go back here anyway so I might as well splurge a bit!

I also like their calamari, it’s cuttlefish quickly cooked in an open fire/griller, not like our boring and unhealthy battered and fried version. Eaten with beer is better.

If Pinoy have roasted pig cooked traditionally with a long pole, Greeks do the same – but for roasted sheep. They cook the thing for 3-4 (maybe more) hours, Mind you, they still manually rotate the griller-pole as we do in the provinces. I was not well aware the sheep have lots of fatty substance, the oil kept on flowing and dripping while the meat is rotated, amber burning beneath it.


MUSEUM
What’s a tour without a knowledge of the country’s history and culture, or a sight of its treasures. Several museums in Athens housed a thousand treasures, and speak of a thousand stories. You’ll need several days if you want to visit all of them!
The first time that I was overwhelmed by the site of too much gold, was during my Museum visit in Cairo (re: Tutankemun’s treasure). But here in Athens, there’s sooo much more (see pic 3).


ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES
There are many around Athens, you don’t need to go far.
The most popular of course is the Acropolis. It’s nice to see at night (from down below). Hoards of tourist frequent the place, hard to click a cam w/ no people in your frame.
This is just above the downtown area, and the downtown is a good place to stay with lots of busy shops selling souvenirs, maps, paintings, you name it. Lots of very good restos, too.
Temple of Zeus is very near this area.


Pictures:
1. The Temple of Zeus in Athens, I merely bumped into this place, half a kilometer from my hotel. The ancient Greek engineers are credited for their skills and talent in designing and building columns, these are made of several pieces, placed a top of each other, perfectly aligned and able to stand the test of time (well at least some hehe, tumba na karamihan e). The funny part was that, several guys called my name from a far – shocking me for a little while (who the hell would know me in here?) Leche- mga Pinoy pala from Nestle haha!
2. I forgot to flip the image haha! Nice sculpture at the museum entrance. There's a lot more, lahat magaganda. Galing!
3. GOLD! The museum has loads of it. Now if I can only get some for souvenir… ;)
4. The PARTHENON inside the Acropolis complex, where the ruler used to sit. The complex is like a castle (w/ big walls), built on top of a hill, with great views of the great city. This particular building is being reconsructed, I just tried to make a little art in this photography.
5. EVEREST is in Greece? Nope, it’s just a fastfood shop, maybe the food is cold and staff, windy? Hehe jk. Why Everest, and not Olympus. Tsk tsk.