Athens and Mykonos, Greece October 21, 2001
Our week in Greece was split, listening to the news of America's war on terrorism in Afghanistan, wandering around downtown Athens, and visiting the world-famous island of Mykonos. As my camera was "accidentally" left behind in Munich (apparently I didn't really want to leave,) you'll have to imagine Greece...
Sunny Athens
The Parthenon sits atop a large, mostly-barren hill -- the Acropolis --
preserved high above
the sprawling traffic-congested capital city of Athens. This ancient
monument to the
goddess Athena was built by Pericles almost 2500 years ago, at the time when Sophocles and
Euripides were writing their plays, and Plato and Socrates were teaching. The 2004 Olympics are coming
to Athens, and one can already see the gussying up the park (new plantings, new
pavement) and the Parthenon, which is currently being fixed? renovated? with scaffolding
everywhere. There are also column pieces and other archeological
"rock" scattered all over. Not really worth a picture, even if I had my camera.
Yet imagining this beautiful monument in its day is mind-boggling, such an
accomplishment: a huge structure with ornate
white-marble columns, enormous statues, carved reliefs. Even with reduced tourism
after the September 11attacks, the steps leading to and from the summit were crowded.
Then again, this is THE sight in Athens.
At night the Acropolis is illuminated by yellow-white light, and the Parthenon's many intact columns and facade are visible from parts of Athens. Below are the Dionysus Theater (performances in Greek most nights) and the Plaka, the oldest residential district in Athens (though merely a couple of hundred years old.) The Plaka, full of small shops and narrow cobble-stoned streets, is particularly enchanting after dark. Evenings here are often balmy, the shops, aglow, are open late; later the restaurants and tavernas, hidden in outdoor nooks, balconies and corners, fill up. These eateries have Ambiance (with a capital A) -- subdued lighting, tables topped with starched tablecloths peeking out from around a bend in the path or from a vine-covered terrace overhead, aromatic Greek dishes wafting past one's nose, live Greek music and, at some spots, folk dancers.
During the day, Athens offers archeological museums to peruse and downtown shopping to enjoy. The window dressing in the shops was unusual, though all much the same: two to four dozen well-dressed manikins, arranged into an almost-crowd, seemingly trying to walk out of the displays. So different from the minimalist windows seen in most big cities. Wander the narrow streets (always listening for and thereby avoiding getting run-over by the ever-present motorcyclists) and you're sure to encounter at least one of the ubiquitous small, red-brick, dome-shaped Byzantine churches. They're secure in their own little squares, while the plain, drab 4 or 5-story rectangular buildings that make up most of Athens surround them.
The Athens subway is cool. At the new Acropolis stop there's a display showing artifacts -- pottery, statues, oil lamps, etc. -- that were found when the station was excavated. We rode the subway to the nearby town of Piraeus, ferry central for the Greek Islands, and terminus for our trip to Mykonos. In 25 minutes we were at the port, less than half the time a taxi would have taken. The voyage to Mykonos takes between 2 and 6 hours, depending on which ferry you catch . Unfortunately, the fastest ferries don't always run; they stay in port on really windy days, too unsteady in the rolling seas.
Sunny Mykonos
Mykonos is featured on numerous Greek Island posters -- a cloudless,
perfect blue sky
overhead; a jigsaw puzzle of a bay below, interlocking odd-shaped aquamarine and turquoise
pieces reflecting the yellow sunlight; bright white adobe-like houses, small, round-edged rectangles stacked on
the hills; inviting patios; the whiteness broken up by
brilliant warm-blue doorways and window shutters; an occasional
red- or blue-tiled dome
or round table adding a strong curve to the otherwise
rectangular regularity. Nice. But not as nice as I'd expected, one of those "looks better in the postcard" sort of places.
Mykonos (like most of the Greek islands) is hilly, rocky, arid, barren, dusty and for the most part boringly brown. There's not much besides rocks (large boulders, outcroppings, small stones, stacked into retaining walls, strewn about, used as decoration...) and whitewashed houses to distract the eye. Very little greenery. Mykonos does have some golden sandy beaches, but the ones we stopped at had a coarse, pebbly sand. OK, but not special.
All 5 days we were on Mykonos the winds blew from the northwest with gusto. (There are several defunct antique windmills in town, so I expect this was not unusual.) As we hiked on the roads, along the coastline or among the hills, we'd have to remove our visors whenever we neared the summit of a rise. Otherwise, they'd be blown away. Our hotel, the Grecotel Mykonos Blu, was protected from the wind; it faced south and was in a valley. Here, in sheltered spots like our room's small terrace overlooking the Aegean or the hotel's well-designed pool or beach areas, the wind was abated, now merely cool and refreshing.
I read that there are more than 350 churches on Mykonos' 23 square miles, but I think that's an old estimate, likely to be too low. There are small (e.g., 12 ft by 16 ft) simple, white-washed churches everywhere. Many of the ones outside the small "city-center" were built recently. Having a church on one's property significantly reduces the tax burden, saving homeowners money.
The many small churches inside town are older. They were built to confuse pirates who too-often landed on Mykonos in days gone by. The town's narrow, windy, pedestrian-only streets include some that are staired and others that are no wider than 18 inches! With the occasional small church, the streets all look similar, laid out in a curvy maze. I never was clear where we'd been or where the street was heading. The town's design and architecture also made it difficult for pirates to identify landmarks and find their way, giving the villagers time to get to safety.
Mykonos is the most cosmopolitan of the Greek Islands. It's known as a bustling, chic, fashionable, upscale resort community. There are all sorts of fancy jewelry stores and pricey restaurants in town, there's even a Hard Rock Cafe on Mykonos. And in the height of summer, this is quite a happening place. In October, however, Mykonos seemed rather sleepy and relaxed. (I did mention it was also quite windy?)
Mykonos was a pleasant stop but not one we're likely to make again. Not unless we undertake a REAL adventure: like chartering a sailboat and roaming between the islands of the breezy Aegean.