Favorite Places Series, part two: Areios Pagos

Not quite as much effort is required to enjoy Areios Pagos as Sounio.  More commonly known as Mars Hill - it will be familiar to Biblical scholars as the site from which Paul adressed the Athenians in Acts.  It is also the spot where the ancient Greek senate and other important councils met.  (See more here)

I love it because the hill offers an incredible view of the city - and it is "open" 24 hours a day.  On days visiting the Acropolis, stop by a local bakery or sandwhich shop, pick up lunch to go, and climb up to the Areopagus to eat and enjoy the scenery.  It offers a spectacular spot to watch the sun set, and when the city lights up at night, the hill is a perfect place to take in the city's sparkle.  Take a few friends and a bottle of wine, and enjoy.

The view is not quite as magnificent as the panoramas available from Filopappou or Lykavitos, but it is a much easier climb and usually more of a local hangout.

To get there:
Walk up Dionysou Areopagitou as if you are going to the Acropolis, if you are facing the side of the Acropolis with the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in front, the Areopagus will be to your left.  My advice, use the metal staircase instead of the incredibly slippery ancient stone path - it's hard enough to walk once on top of the hill, you might as well save yourself some trouble.

~RLM

Favorite Places Series, part one: Sounio

In the midst of our crazy chaotic planning process for this trip, I'm cataloguing reasons I love certain places - justifications for why they must see these sights, why I care to go a third and fourth time. Cape Sounio, and the Temple of Poseidon situated there, is up first in my favorite places series.

Located at the southernmost tip of the Attica peninsula (aka, the tiny tip at the bottom of Greece), it is, according to legend, the spot where Aegeus, King of Athens, lept to his death when he mistakenly thought his son Theseus had died fighting the Minotaur.  The Aegean sea is therefore named after Aegeus.  Read more about that here.

Sounio is a favored place for many reasons.  Under two hours from Athens by bus (depending on traffic), it is a perfect place to spend a late afternoon and evening.  Take the bus along the coast road and the scenery is stunning, all views of staggering cliffs and bright blue waters.  (The inland bus route is not so pleasant - and stops more for traffic - should generally be avoided if possible.)  Bus fare is relatively cheap, which is also a plus, and entry to the Temple site is also inexpensive.

And it is my favorite spot in all of Greece to watch the sun set - and is rightfully famous for the view.  Arrive early enough to explore the Temple of Poseidon, get dinner at one of the tiny seaside tavernas, then clamber back up the hill to watch the sun's descent from the Temple ruins.  It is simply breathtaking.

~RLM

Getting there:
Athens Suburban Bus Schedule (via Matt Barrett) (p.s. fares are paid on the bus)
Very important: the last bus to Athens leaves Sounio at 8pm so don't miss it!
the buses line up around Areos Park - take the Metro to Victoria Square, exit to 3rd September, and walk up Heiden to Areos Park
Hellenic Ministry of Culture: ticket information

hellasgreat

Sonia and I (finally) bought our cruise tickets yesterday, and let me say now, as I probably will a million more times, that EasyCruise is the greatest invention ever.  Seriously.  We are going on a 9 day cruise for $120 a person.  The beauty of EasyCruise is that you are responsible for your own food and entertainment - which is just how I like it.  I'm going to feast on yogurt & honey, fresh bread, feta, and gyros.  And it is going to be awesome.

We also decided against our trip to Crete, as just getting there was going to cost more than the entirety of the 9 day cruise.  And that didn't include places to stay or bus fare to get around so it seemed kind of ridiculous.  We opted to stay in the apartment in Athens until we leave for our cruise and to take a few day trips - I'm dreaming up train rides to Livadia in the mountains and early morning ferries to Hydra.  

So here is our updated itinerary:

May 6 - Dylan & Andy fly to Greece (have week on own)
May 12 - Sonia & Rachel fly to Greece
May 13 - girls meet up with boys in Athens and either fly or take overnight ferry to Rhodes
    Rhodes for 3 days (Esmeralda Hotel in Kremasti)
May 16 - night ferry to Kalymnos
    Kalymnos for 3 days (Melina's Apartments near Myrties)
May 19 - night ferry back to Athens
May 20 - spend day in Athens, night ferry to Santorini
    3 days in Santorini (Villa Manos in Karterados)
May 24 - night boat back to Athens
    11 days in Athens (Backpackers Dioskouros Guesthouse in Plaka)
        possible day trip to Hydra (hotels are too expensive to spend the night, fyi)
May 29 - Dylan & Andy leave
June 4 - 2pm board EasyCruise
EasyCruise - Around the Ionian Sea - 9 days

June 5 - Itea/Delphi
June 6 - Ithaki
June 7 - Paxos
June 8 - Butrint (Albania)
June 9 - Corfu
June 10 - Preveza
June 11 - Kefallonia
June 12 - Kiato/Corinth/Mycenae

June 13 - disembark EasyCruise, last day in Athens
June 14 - Rachel's flight back to US, Sonia's flight to Poland

Hopefully we'll start making hotel reservations next week; if not, I may have a panic attack and cease functioning normally.

~RLM

P.S. The backpack I need to buy for the trip is also going to be more expensive than the 9 day cruise - so not cool.  Am now trying to figure out how to pay for $180 backpack. 

plans

Welcome to the blog portion of hellasgood08, where I will ramble nonsensically about going back to Greece for the fourth time.  This year I'm heading back to Hellas with the best friend, a boy, and his best friend - and I think it's going to be pretty awesome.  My goal is to really document the planning process for this trip, as I have learned SO much over the past three years of living in Athens and traveling throughout Greece (and the rest of Europe).  I'm planning on posts about finding hotels, the magic of Matt Barrett, the sheer awesomeness of EasyCruise, and how to (try to) plan/book ferries.  At least my thesis procrastination is productive.

Sonia and I are very much alike in that we are semi-neurotic as travelers.  If I'm going to spend close to $3000 on a trip - I'm going to make sure I utilize every last cent - and second.  We've been planning this trip to Greece rather like crazy people - with lists of possible hotels, sites to see, and ferry schedules slowly taking over our free time.  Thankfully I think we have finally nailed down our itinerary, and now that we have plane tickets, we can focus on all the ferry passes and hotel rooms still to be reserved.  There's no rest for the control freaks planning a five week Greek extravaganza.

Barring any sort of disaster with making reservations (knock on wood), this should be our plan:

May 6 - Dylan & Andy fly to Greece (have week on own)
May 12 - Sonia & Rachel fly to Greece
May 13 - girls meet up with boys in Athens and either fly or take overnight ferry to Rhodes
    Rhodes for 3 days (Esmeralda Hotel in Kremasti)
May 16 - night ferry to Kalymnos
    Kalymnos for 3 days (Melina's Apartments near Myrties)
May 19 - night ferry back to Athens
May 20 - spend day in Athens, night ferry to Santorini
    3 days in Santorini (Villa Manos in Karterados)
May 23 - night boat back to Athens
    7 days in Athens (Athens Studios in Kolonaki)
        possible day trip to Hydra (hotels are too expensive to spend the night, fyi)
May 29 - Dylan & Andy leave
May 31 - Sonia & Rachel fly to Heraklion, Crete (no hotel yet)
June 1- tour Palace of Knossos, bus to Rethymno (Youth Hostel Rethymno)
June 2 - Rethymno (again, Rethymno Youth Hostel as Crete is expensive)
June 3 - Chania (Villa Venezia)
June 4 - very early flight back to Athens, 2pm board EasyCruise
EasyCruise - Around the Ionian Sea - 9 days

June 5 - Itea/Delphi
June 6 - Ithaki
June 7 - Paxos
June 8 - Butrint (Albania)
June 9 - Corfu
June 10 - Preveza
June 11 - Kefallonia
June 12 - Kiato/Corinth/Mycenae

June 13 - disembark EasyCruise, last day in Athens
June 14 - Rachel's flight back to US, Sonia's flight to Poland

I get simultaneously exhausted and way too excited every time I think about this trip, which could be why I barely wrote a coherent sentence all weekend.

~RLM