Jun 2007

Athens - a city that comes alive at night.

This City is really a mixture of the ancient times and modern civilization. Walk around central Athens and you'll see ruins randomly scattered everywhere -at the ground floor of a building, right next to a bus stop, or even within a flea market itself. City renovations in the past have unveiled more and more ancient ruins, like the Roman bath near Syntagma Square, which has a water system connected all the way to the temple of Zeus! As Jespar said the first day we met him, we gotta use our imagination when visiting Athens. It definitely helped our imagination run wild!

Probably because the few days we stayed here are the hottest days ever here, everything during the day was quiet. Alot of the ruins were closed because of the heat, and there weren't much people on the streets except for wandering sweaty tourists like us. However, when the sun started going down, Athens started to wake up from it's slumber. People begin to flood the streets, and restaurants start to fill with people looking for good food. One night after an exceptionally good dinner at Monastaraki, i looked over to the Acropolis and it was a breathtaking sight. Amist a dark sky, the Parthenon was lit up from the inside, making the Acropolis glow - it was as if the ancient gods were emitting their powers.

After visiting most of the touristy places in Athens, we bused to Epidauros to look at the ancient Epidaurus theatre, which has been preserved so well they still have festivals there every summer. Too bad we left one day before the festival started, or else we would've been able to watch a greek play inside the ancient Epidaurus theatre! After Epidauros, we caught a bus to Nafplio, a small city that used to be the first capital city of Greece. It was already pretty late when we arrived, but we wanted to see the Akronafplia fortress although it already closed. The 888 steps (says so in lonely planet) it took to get up the mountain to the fortress were definitely not wasted. The view up there is stunning - a birds eye view of the entire city, in between two masses of cobalt blue sea.

The Greek people are very friendly and are always happy to help you out when you look lost. They're nice until they get behind wheels. Then they turn into something scary, especially people who drive motorcycles. Motocyclists (if there's such a word) seem not to care about traffic regulations at all. they run through red lights, drive up on pedestrian sidewalks, weave crazily in between other crazy greek drivers. when they're supposed to stop at a red light, they still make a left turn and fight with other pedestrians to see who chickens out at the last second. Transportation in Greece is so cheap! The best example is 35 euros for a 14 hour ferry ride from Piraeus in Athens to Mytillini in Lesvos.

Overall, Athens is mind blowing and a gastronomical delight. I'd love to come again in a few years, when more ruins would be restored. The ancient Greek are very impressive people - pure geniuses! But we all wonder "What happened?"

Special thanks to Jesper (we met on the bus from the airport) who gave us a guided tour of the Acropolis. It was fascinating and definitely much more interesting to walk around with someone who is so enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the whole area (cuz he's doing his phd on the Acropolis!). Also thanks to Paul at the Pagration Youth hostel in Pangrati, who was so full of wisdom and made my first hostel experience such a wonderful one!

Four days in London and it's now time again to head on to my next destination. London is an extremely easy place to get around, even for the direction-challenged like me. My first impression of London as i stepped into the tube was FILTHY. the subway walls were black, empty coffee cups and dirty tissues litter the station, on escalators, everywhere on the floor and there was no garbage can anywhere in sight (later lily told me it was becuz they were scared of terrorist bombings). Everything in London is so freaking expensive as well - ever heard of CDN$4 FOR a piece of sushi? not even a piece of sushi with fancy fish, but only a piece of california. Despite of all the filth and feeling immensely ripped off everywhere i go (especially the food!), it's hard not to fall in love with london.

Like Paris, the streets of downtown London are surrounded by Victorian style architecture and significant historical landmarks. Walk through any road north of the Thames River and you can definitely feel the grandeur of this city and how powerful it was in the past. To me, the Brits also seem to be more "cultured" than the average North American. Cultured in the sense of appreciating and being more open to many types of the visual arts, music, and theatre, not just popular culture as in N. America. And i must say, British guys are HOT! Great sense of style, sexy British accent and they're tall and lean. Well, maybe i should wait until i see their teeth then make my final judgement.

Highlights in London:

Westminister Abbey

any photo, especially this photo, doesn't give justice to the grandeur and scope of Westminister Abbey. you hafta be there to appreciate its beauty! due to awful planning on my part it already closed when i got there... shit dammit!!

Harrod's

the most amazing department store i've ever been in. the theme for the escalators is egyptian pharoahs and there's a women singing operas on the balcony. absolutley scrumptious

amazing looking marzipans at Harrods

Harrod's has the greatest food section ever - they sell every type of cuisine, cheeses, they have over 20 types of pate and ooooh so much more.

King's Cross Platform 9

being a big harry potter fan in the land of harry potter, of course i had to go. i tried leaning on every wall possible, didnt materialize somewhere else...

Protest exhibition at Tate Britain

there's a whole story to why the protest displays moved to this museum. The British government passed a law stating there could be no protest on parliament square and now the exhibition is at the tate museum. protestors, i totally agree with wat you're protesting against. but are you spelling his name wrong on purpose?

Avenue Q

the funniest musical i've ever seen!! americans making fun of themselves, and yes, they're anti bush. go watch it if they have it near you!

as i had to upload my pics one by one, there were too many pics i couldn't post up. tate modern, covent garden, st paul's cathedral are all amazing places. Special thanks to lily for letting me stay at her place for the past few days and thanks mary for wanting to drive me home that night but ended up as a road trip.

that's it for now! i'm heading to athens tomorrow and will update more later