Greece is so much fun! I spent just over three weeks there, mostly in Athens, Mykonos and Santorini. I also got to spend some time in Delos and Naxos, which are also a part of the Cycladic group of islands. I don’t even know where to begin, but I like the idea of being able to read this again a few years from now..
There were protests in Athens during the days I was there. On my return to Athens after the islands, people have started camping out in front of the parliament at Syntagma Square, but all the protests that I witnessed were peaceful ones despite heavy police and military presence.
I loved Athens for it’s unpretentious big city vibe; some parts of Athens reminded me a lot of KL’s Petaling Street, especially the area around Monastiraki and Athinas Street. You can find just about any type of local produce, spices and meat at the Varvakios Agora, which is the central market of Athens a few blocks from Omonia Square where the top of Athinas Street starts. The streets and laneways are brimming with all walks of life, the little restaurants scattered around the area are full of working-class Athenians and the food is absolutely amazing.
There were a couple of places on my list to check out in that area and I only managed to go to Epeiros (H ΗΠΕΙΡΟΣ) which is located at the back of the meat market where I had one of the most memorable meals of my trip.. consisting of mayeritsa, podi, patsa (of which I will only describe are made from ‘spare parts’ of cows and lamb) and an assortment of vegetable dishes. It was so good that I went back there again at dawn before my flight out - it was a 24 hour joint - the podi (which is made of cow’s feet) is a collagen-laden bowl of heaven.. never thought I’d feel this way about cow’s feet! One of the other places I really liked was Strofi - I went there on my return trip and had a bit of a feast. The menu was simple and the flavours were clean, not overly complicated and absolutely brilliant! And the views from the rooftop are of the Acropolis at night which you can imagine is quite spectacular..
Around Kolonaki and Syntagma Square are where the main shopping areas were located.. Ermou is a lovely pedestrian street that I walked many times - it leads to Monastiraki where the Athen’s Flea Market is located and from Monastiraki it’s only a short walk to Plaka, an old neighboourhood of Athens that sits below the Acropolis where despite being a very touristy area, is still quite charming.
I stayed in a hotel that was next to the Acropolis and chose to walk through Plaka every day to wherever I was going - I loved the vibe. The Athen’s Flea market is also pretty fascinating - I found a few antique stores that were underground and absolutely chockers with everything you can possibly imagine. I wish they’d let me take a photo of it.. it was kind of like Aladdin’s cave full of vintage trinkets and collectibles..
Athens Metro is really easy to use and a 24 hour ticket costs about 4 euros. I took the Piraeus train to Faliro to find a factory outlet and got off random stops on other lines to explore different neighbourhoods. It was pretty fun walking around the residential areas in the outskirts of Athens.. some restaurant hunts took me to some pretty interesting neighbourhoods. There are so many sides to Athens that it was impossible to see everything in under a week.. but I felt that I somewhat managed to get a ‘feel’ of the real Athens. I met a few locals who helped me uncover some local hangouts and food places. I felt quite at home listening to them debate restaurants and local food - it’s pretty much exactly how Malaysians would discuss their favourite curry laksa!
Everyone I met on this trip were really friendly and a lot of them went out of their way to be nice to a total stranger.. that did some as a surprise and it made my trip just that much better. Even my taxi driver who came to pick me up for the airport offered to drive me through the longer coastal roads instead of the highway so that I could see more of Athens before I left. He provided a running commentary on top, pointing out buildings and marinas and some local restaurants I have to check out the next time I come back.
And of course there were plenty of museums and historical sites to visit. I couldn’t leave without checking out the Parthenon! I booked into one of those morning city tours that took me around Athens, first to Panathinaiko, the first stadium to host the modern Olympics, then down Amerikis to the Archaeological Museum of Patras, past the Temple of Zeus, to the New Acropolis Museum and finally up the Acropolis itself. The new museum was really cool - and only two years old - they’ve built over the old archaeological sites so you can see these sites through the glass floors, even from the top floor.
One afternoon we took a drive down the south coast of the Attica peninsula to Cape Sounion (about 70kms from Athens city) where the Temple of Poseidon stands. The coastlines were absolutely stunning! It really made me regret not investing in a DSLR before my trip.. I tried to capture it as best as I can but as I mentioned earlier, Greece is one of those places that photos can’t really do it justice..
From Athens it was a 5-hour ferry ride to Mykonos; I had planned a shorter stay there because of the island’s reputation as a party island but there is so much more to Mykonos that I wished I had another couple of days to hang out with my new friends. On this island I met the most amazing people, got back on a horse again and saw the island from a whole new perspective. The other bits of the island that are not commercialised are extremely beautiful!
Quad bikes are a pretty common mode of transportation on the islands so I rented one and went off without a map (but I did have GPS on my phone!) and possibly the best decision I made in Mykonos was to hunt down this restaurant called Kiki’s, about 20 minutes away by bike on the way to one of the Northern beaches. It was my first taste of a local dish called taramosalata which is a fish roe salad that tastes like heaven. It set me off on a bit of a rampage and I ordered the same dish in as many establishments as I could handle but it was the one at Kiki’s that I will probably remember for the rest of my life.
Little Venice in the old town, Chora, is terribly quaint. After a few days of being lost in the winding laneways I’d finally gotten a sense of where everything was. I’m in love with the little bars and restaurants that are right on the water with the most amazing sunset views. Shops there carry a vast range of brands, from a Hermes store to funky boutiques that carry Alexander Wang and Chloe.. and a local favourite, D&G. The island swings from low-key to jet-set pretty quickly depending on where you are. I was keen to stay on but as much fun as I was having there I was pretty excited to get to Santorini as Miss M was meeting me there, though I did pop back to Mykonos on a whim later on in my trip for lunch and some last minute shopping..
My other Greek post: Santorini
