It’s a concrete jungle, baby

I could have spent weeks wandering around the island of Santorini, but on the fourth day, mom and I took a ferry back to Athens. We arrived in the wee hours of the morning, and had one day to see everything the historic city has to offer. For us, there were two places we wanted to visit, and the first of which was the Acropolis.

The Parthenon. It's simply magnificent.

The maître’d at our hotel gave us an important piece of advice that I must pass on. He advised us to either visit the Acropolis early in the morning or late in the day. Especially during August, Greece’s hottest month of the year. We accepted his advice gratefully, and left the hotel as early as possible. But, we arrived at the Acropolis at about 11 a.m., and I could already feel the sun beginning to burn a hole into the back of my shirt. I believe it was about 43 degrees that day, and I started to wilt early in the afternoon.

The term acropolis means upper city. It is a large mountain in the middle of the city on which a number of historical buildings are situated.The Parthenon, naturally, is the most famous landmark. It is also the structure that is lit up and visible around Athens at night. The Erecthion is also located on the top of the mountain - adjacent to the Parthenon – on the site where Poseidon and Athena had their contest to decide who would be the Patron of the city. Athena touched the ground with a spear, and an olive tree grew. She was declared the victor, and the city was named after her.

The Erectheon

From the top of the mountain, you can see a number of additional historic sites below. The Plaka, Olympic Stadium, the Thission, and the ruins of the Temple of Olympian Zeus are by far the most popular.

Just so you know, there are multiple entrances to the Acropolis. The Propylaea is the main entrance, and unfortunately, it was located on the opposite side from where we entered. This made it quite difficult to find our way to the top. I would suggest carefully consulting a map of the area before embarking up the mountain. It gets very, very hot, and wasting energy by going in the wrong direction is quite disheartening.

View from the top of the Acropolis, looking down on Athens.

The second place we wanted to visit was the Athens Flea Market.


It is located in Monastiraki, the most visited area of the city. It is also directly in front of the back entrance to the Acropolis, so there is quite a number of tourists milling about at all times.

A view down one of the many, winding streets of the Flea Market.

We wanted to visit the flea market because we had heard that it was quite an experience. The most memorable moment for me was when we turned a corner and found a young boy selling old WWII Nazi paraphernalia. Yes, I know this will alarm most people, but the historian inside me was instantly fascinated. There were medals, eagle pendants, and a swastika arm band. The items were too expensive to purchase, but at least I was able to touch them and take a few photos.

An armband, a medal of valour, and something that was probably on a building.

There is so much more to tell about Athens, so here are the highlights:

Concrete jungle: Athens had 4.5 million residents. Most of them live in high rise apartments. As we drove through the city in a taxi, I looked around in awe. The entire city looked like a huge apartment complex. Building after building made of the same, colourless cement spanned as far as the eye could see.

Bootlegged merchandise: Occasionally, mom and I would see a young man carrying a huge bed sheet filled with merchandise running from the police. We didn’t understand what was happening until we received a live demonstration. Men will sell purses, belts, and sunglasses illegally to tourists throughout the city. They have all of the items arranged strategically on a bed sheet or trifold. If they are caught by police, they pick up the sheet/trifold in one, quick swoop, and take off running to avoid being arrested.

To-stay and to-go food prices: When you purchase food from a street vendor, decide if you want to sit down or not ahead of time. We learned this the hard way. You must pay more if you wish to sit and eat. Crazy, but true.

Athens meat market: Mom wanted to walk through it, and I agreed to come along. Bad decision. Picture row after row of giant pieces of meat being butchered by men covered in blood and wielding giant cleavers. After a few moments, I turned to mom and told her I would meet her outside. I half walked, half ran for the exit while not to throw up. Ugh. It was awful.

The Meat Market. It's huge. If you're squeamish - like me - stay away!

Wildfires: We were there in August of 2009, which was during the wildfires that forced thousands of residents to flee their homes. As we drove to the airport the morning of August 24 to catch our plane home, we could see massive flames engulfing the hills in the distance. Sometimes you can’t avoid a natural disaster, but it’s always good to check the status of each country you’re visiting before getting on the plane.

The Parthenon. This is actually smoke in the background. At first, we thought it was just pollution. We were very wrong.

I have one Greece post left, and I promise it will be good...