Clearly I am some sort of blog-wizard.. My last post ended with the track Goodbye England (When covered in snow) by Laura Marling, and a few days later much of the UK was indeed covered in a decent level of snow, some even sticking aorund in Cornwall which is pretty rare… You’re welcome.
When we first started planning all of this, our first thought was to start in South East Asia, but the idea of taking two very blonde, very pale skinned children from their shire-like mizzly bubble and dropping them into plus-30 degree heat and extreme humidity soon got scrapped. We obviously want them to experience different cultures, environments and ways of life, but we decided to ease them into it by sticking to Europe for the first leg. They’re dealing with enough change to normal life as it is, so having a slightly familiar feel seemed the way to go.
Therefore we took them to one of the busiest cities in Europe crammed with over 3 million people… for a laugh.
Trying to explain that there is more than 6 times as many people here as there are in the whole of Cornwall started to make even my head wobble!
Kalimera!
Flying into Athens is when me and Nikki started to both relax, and at the same time low-key panic. We looked at each other and said “What are we doing?”… Too late now, no going back.
I’ve always loved flying, the sense of perspective on how small we truely are in a vast world is one that is only surpassed by looking up at a star laden sky on a clear night. I actually find that feeling of insignificance on a universal scale comforting and awe inspiring. Luckily, both kids have no problems flying either (bar the occasional bout of boredom when theres nothing to see out of the window). So we landed with no problems, and made our way out of the Airport on what seemed like the longest collection of travelators I’ve ever seen, it felt like some sort of Matrix glitch or Groundhog day. Even the kids who usually find them more exciting than seems healthy… Began to get tired of them. Heres our first glimpse of Athens.
So we finally left endless travelator land and got into a Taxi to take us to the Centre of Athens and our apartment. Now, I grew up in the 2nd biggest city in England and I’m pretty comfortable with city traffic, but nothing could prepare me for Athens driving. It’s just bonkers. I’ve driven through Paris once, which I thought was bad enough… But Athenian drivers, whilst not neccassarily aggresive, don’t seem to care too much for speed limits, crossings, stopping distances and I’m fairly sure that indicators are an optional extra on Greek cars… which nobody seems to have chosen. Having said this, I wouldn’t say we felt unsafe; it was just that I knew straight away I didn’t want to be hiring a car from the centre and driving out of it for the next leg of our trip. I know my limits, and getting used to driving in Europe was going to be hard enough without putting us through that… I’d get one out of the city and go from there.
These weren’t our only first impressions of Athens though. It’s immediately a really interesting and beautiful city (as much as cities can be). Everyone we dealt with in those first few days was incredibly friendly, helpful and kind.
What Athens had absolutely no part in was the chaotic nature in how we arrived in it’s centre. Remember from my last post how me and Nikki had both started to come down with Strep throat from Senaras Scarlet Fever, and that poorly tummy Roscoe was complaining about?? Well, 5 minutes from our apartment Roscoe announced he needed the toilet,
“Ok mate, no problem we’re only 5 minutes away”
“No… I need one, NOW!”
We then had to try and quickly explain to our Greek taxi driver that we needed to stop and find a bathroom, to which I don’t think he quite understood the urgency of the situation and that if a bathroom wasn’t located immediately, the consequences for the state of his immaculately clean cab could be dire(rea).
So like a scene out of some sort of comedy (or horror depending on your view). Nikki grabbed Roscoe and ‘did a runner’ out of the taxi when it next stopped in Traffic and dissappeared into a packed Athens street, leaving me with Senara trying to explain to the Driver we weren’t trying to dodge the fare… Just the potential car cleaning bill! Luckily our apartment was just ahead so me and Senara paid the driver, apologised and got out wondering if we’d ever see the other half of our family again. Nikki and Roscoe did eventually manage to find us and we hurriedly got us and our luggage inside. A rather large collective sigh of relief was breathed.
Halloween!
We’d arrived in Athens on the 31st October and our kids absolutely love Halloween, probably more than xmas. Nikki had already done her homework and found a place that was literally round the corner from our apartment called ‘Little Kook’, which is quite simply awesome. It’s a themed eatery that changes it’s appearance seasonally… and my word do they go to town. Words won’t do it justice so heres a few pics to get the idea, but if you’re ever in Athens around Halloween or xmas – just go there and enjoy the madness.
It was the perfect first night activity and to combat the sugar rush from the epic desserts they serve we went on our first full walk around the area of Athens we were staying in. We were in the Monasteraki/Plaka neighbourhood and it’s a really cool place with traditional tavernas, clubs, bars, late night art markets and quirky ornanmental Duck shops (yes, ducks). It has a really busy but relaxed, almost festival-like vibe to the area. We felt really safe walking round at night with the kids… As we did everywhere in Athens to be honest, it’s a great city to go to as a family.
Cats cats cats… And a Tortoise?
One thing you immediately notice about Athens is that there is loads of cats, and this seems to go for mainland Greece in general. However, unlike some places I’ve been in Europe, they are embraced by the Athenians rather than seen as a pest to be chased away from under tables or out of shop fronts. They all looked healthy and cared for even though it was clear they weren’t ‘owned’ by anyone. We started to notice that shops would often have little bowls of cat food tucked away somewhere and we saw, more than once, groups of friendly felines turn up just as a shopowner was opening up for the day. Whereupon the Human side of this interaction seemed genuinely pleased to see them and have little conversations with his cat coworkers before unlocking his shop door. The first order of business was then to feed the cats.
Leaving Athens.. So soon?
We had an amazing 5 days in Athens, we managed to fit in loads but we still barely scratched the surface. We learnt a valuable lesson that we probably should’ve already known – You can write a list of all the things you want to see and do in a place, but make no mistake, you will be lucky to do half of them! We visited the beautiful Athens national gardens and park, a little Oasis of nature in the middle of this vast and ancient city complete with its own Terrapin island!
We went to the Niarchos which houses the national library, water fountains to play in and a glass elevator giving you a view across the city and beyond.
The museum for Ancient Greek Technology is a great interactive trip as is the museum of Illusions.
We also managed to see and take in loads of ancient historical sites, it’s almost impossible not to, it’s everywhere. We didn’t however manage to get into the Acropolis as we went on the hottest day and the queue was 4hrs long… even in early november, but we will come back! That being said, you can see so much without having to wait in a line and pay, all around the area of the acropolis are old temples, ruins and amphitheatres that you can just walk right up to and experience.
Then one minute you’ll walk around a corner and suddenly theres an ancient roman bathhouse thats been uncovered next to a bus stop, it’s that kind of a place.
So thank you Athens, you were the perfect little start to our journey, we would definately return… but for now, we must away to the Southern Peloponnese and the relative calm of the Olive harvest. This will be our first lengthy stay, 5 weeks in Koroni, an hour south of Kalamata. Before that can start though, I need to get to grips with Driving a car on the wrong side (to me) and not accidentally opening the door everytime I go to change gear. As is so often the case with life; occasionally theres nothing wrong with staying in the slow lane and avoiding all the traffic.
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