Around Athens

Traveling Classroom^™

Around Athens

If we want to go into Athens, we have to know precisely where we wish to go in order to choose the best mode of transportation. Our friend Nikos Perrakis carefully informs us that, to get to the offices we want to reach at Messogion we must take the green bus (not the blue bus or the yellow bus) from Faliro to Syntagma Square in Athens. From there we must catch the yellow trolley on Vasilissis Sofias, and that will intersect with Messogion, the street we want to reach.

The Farilo bus station is next to the electric train station, so we have no trouble finding it. But it is a fair walk in the morning along the quay and the canal, past all the moored boats to the park near the soccer stadium. The green bus is just as crowded as the train, so we must stand for most of the half-hour ride into Athens. The bus goes whizzing into Athens, down narrow streets, past cars and other buses as well. I guess this is an express bus. To follow our travels in the city, click on Map.

As we travel into town we catch brief glimpses of the Acropolis between buildings on our left. Then we pass the National Gardens on the right. There are huge columns and other parts of an ancient monument. We decide that it must be the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Just north of the temple is the famous Zappeion Hall, built in the late 19th century to host exhibitions and other events. This hall was the central administration building for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. Over the years it has served as the offices of the Greek Presidency of the European Union, as a press center during national elections, and as a public meeting place for important events.

Continuing along Leoforos Amalias and the edge of the National Gardens (Ethnikos Kipos), we know Syntagma Square cannot be far away. However, we cannot find our destination on the map. I must look confused as we ride. The young woman sitting next to me offers information about the bus stop and also tells us where we can find the yellow trolley that will take us to Messogion.

As we exit the bus at Syntagma Square, we find ourselves in an interesting section of the city. Most of the buildings here are of the bland, modern style, but there are several respectable facades from an older age, such as the Hotel Grande Bretagne, which provide some style. Across the street is the public square itself, and on the far side is the Greek Parliament, a golden hued building which was once the royal palace of the first monarchs after Greece won its independence. "Syntagma" means "constitution" and the square is so-named because the first Greek constitution was proclaimed by a reluctant King Otto from a palace balcony in 1843.

We cross the square and walk by the Monument of the Unknown Soldier, which stands in front of the Parliament building. On guard at the monument are the high-stepping Evzones, dressed in their tasseled hats, vests, pleated skirts and hobnailed shoes with pom-poms. Their uniforms look rather comical to outsiders, but are based on the folk costume of Greek mountain people. The soldiers themselves are not comical at all. They are highly-trained members of an elite fighting corps, and they never crack a smile (rather like the guards at Buckingham Palace in London). When we cross the street to Vasilissas Sofias, a trio of Evzones with rifles on their shoulders pass us going the opposite direction, probably on their way to the monument for the changing of the guard. All the pedestrians move aside as they march along the sidewalk.

Searching for the place where the yellow trolley stops on Vasilissis Sofias, we ask several people. One who speaks English points the way and tells us where to buy the tickets. We learn that the tickets are sold at a certain kiosk. These little kiosks are located right on the sidewalk, so that you almost have to walk through them in order to continue on the sidewalk. They sell everything from ice cream to magazines to OTE cards and, of course, bus tickets. We purchase our tickets and wait for the trolley.

After several buses come and go, the yellow trolley finally arrives and we get on. The beautiful buildings we pass are decorated with flags of various countries. This seems to be embassy row. We pass the embassies of France, Italy, Brazil, Germany and others, many with circular drives and black cars in front. It is an interesting ride. When we pass the huge Hilton Hotel, the scenery changes to a business area with modern high-rise buildings. We ask the driver to let us know when we reach Messogion. "No problem," he says, and a fellow passenger asks us where we are going. We explain that we are trying to reach Athens Tower and the offices of Panafon, a mobile phone provider. She gives us directions and even points out the tall building as we near our stop.

Following her instructions, we have no problem finding Panafon. We are here to see if they can provide the data phone service we need to send messages to the Internet from our boat. Unfortunately, we discover that a mobile phone cannot transmit data at the speed necessary for Internet communications. Also, it turns out to be more expensive than we were led to believe. However, we are told that the modem in our laptop computer can be connected to any hardwired telephone. That’s good news!

Later, on the bus back to Mikrolimano, we decide that we must talk with the people who provide the Internet service in Athens before we can move forward with our plans. The one thing we have discovered since we arrived in Athens is that we can travel around the city and find things that we need to find, even without much knowledge of the language. A lot of Greek people speak some English (many of them have relatives in the United States), and they always seem pleased to help us find our way. In fact, everyone has been very nice to us.

After we get back to Zoe Zoe, Nikos shows up and invites on a sailing trip to Eyina (also spelled Aegina) tomorrow. He is teaching a sailing class and thinks that we will enjoy going along. He tells us that it will be a night passage (so we should wear warm clothes) and that we will be returning to Mikrolimano on Sunday. We are happy to be invited.

We ask Nikos about the best places to eat along the waterfront near here. He suggests a few tavernas owned by friends of his. A taverna (spelled tabepna in Greek) is a sort of traditional restaurant operated by one family. They are not as fancy as places called restaurant or café, and prices are lower, but traditional Greek dishes are supposed to be best in tavernas.

Tonight we go to a small taverna whose name means The Sailor. The owner and his wife bring out fresh fish, shrimp, octopus and squid to choose from. We decide on shrimp in a wonderful tomato sauce with feta cheese. It is a quiet evening, we are the only customers. After dinner we walk along the waterfront and talk about the voyage we will take tomorrow. It should be great fun!

Special thanks to our friend Christoforos Polydorou at the University of Athens for the loan of his excellent photographs.