Category: Athens

I found driving in Athens quite cathartic, but I was a passenger and I suppose that this does impact matters somewhat.

Richard might have found it less relaxing and peaceful.

And just some photos of Athens at night from last week….

This is what Richard identified as the Temple of Poseidon.

This is the actual one. It’s an easy mistake to make though and I didn’t say anything. The ruins are from a temple dating to around 444 to 440 BC, replacing an early temple that the Persians had constructed in 480 BC that was sort of knocked down during the Persian Wars. It was an important religious site as sailors used it to seek Poseidon’s favour for safe voyages and it was also more practically used as a visible landmark for shipping. I’m no expert in Greek architecture, nor indeed an expert in any architecture, but apparently it’s built in the Doric style which was similar to the Euston Arch before they pulled it down. They used local white marble to construct the temple, using the stone from the nearby Laureotic Mount.

There were quite a lot of people around when we arrived in the late morning, but the site itself was closed off due to the national strike. It’s located around a one hour drive from Athens although there are some coach services which operate out there.

And as it was closed, that meant this was the closest that we got to the temple. I had been hoping to see the graffiti made by Lord Byron who visited here and decided to carve his name into one of the pillars in the early nineteenth century. It is moderately odd (although entirely correct) that this is an interesting thing to look at when it’s historic graffiti, but rather less approved of when it’s modern day graffiti. In 1825, two of the columns collapsed and the bits have ended up in Venice and London. I mean, it survives for thousands of years and then some bits fall off just at that moment, but I’m not making any allegations.

Here’s the bit of the column that is in the British Museum.

This is the drawing commissioned by Lord Elgin of the site, drawn by Sebastiano Ittar in 1802.

As some things in the local area were re-opening in the afternoon, we came back later in the day to see if they had opened the site up, but unfortunately not. The views were well worth stopping for though and the cafe had opened up, to serve coffee and light snacks to the disappointed visitors who had come to experience history. It was unfortunate that we couldn’t get closer to the temple, but it was still an impressive thing to see perched on the edge of the clifftop.

I’m not sure how healing this water is, but apparently there are minerally rich thermal springs around here and it was also a rather impressive viewpoint. We didn’t know that they were healing waters at the time, otherwise perhaps we might have had a little paddle.

NB, the use of the word minerally is apparently a modern concept, although has now reached the OED and so is acceptable. I didn’t know it wasn’t a word until spell check queried it. Here’s an Ngram graph of how the word has been used over the last 200 years and I accept that I probably should have just written mineral rich…. Anyway, I’ve digressed.

Decent views.

A hole which Richard refused to investigate. In many ways, I was quite pleased with that as I have no idea how I would have helped him back out without the support of the Greek coastguard.

I was worried that there might be snakes in there, so I didn’t rush in. This is when you need Liam as he would have jumped down there.

There’s likely a whole caving complex down there.

And Richard jogging back up to the car.

We were on the road from Athens to the Temple of Poseidon and it is a beautiful drive.

Although it didn’t look like the most vibrant part of Athens, the area just to the north of the Agora has plenty of food and drink options.

The one that we headed for was Tapfield, as it was Untappd verified and it appeared to have some interesting beer options.

There was a friendly welcome from the team member and the beer list is clearly visible, although it’s also listed on Untappd as well. The team member was willing to give recommendations and I liked the mix of Greek and international beers, with most major beer styles represented here. We seated ourselves indoors at the end of the bar, although there’s more outside seating for those who like sitting in a fog of cigarette smoke. Although it didn’t have many tables inside, that did give it a cosier and more comfortable atmosphere.

My flight of beers, it seemed the easiest way to try several beers. For anyone interested, from left to right:

(i) West Coast IPA from Kykao, with a deep hop flavour, it was punchy, piney and stonefruity.

(ii) Craft IPA from Craft Microbrewery, which was smooth and hoppy but didn’t have any intense and decadent flavours to it.

(iii) Coconut Sky CocoStout from Athens Noctua Microbrewery, this was a little thin but the depth of coconut was intense and I love that. A Bounty bar delight…

(iv) Red Ale from Retimi, there was a bit of caramel, quite malty but again a little thin.

There was a modern bar and dispense, it all felt suitably on-trend. The reviews for this bar are very positive on-line and there are surprisingly few other venues similar to this.

Part of the decor, some considerable effort has gone into all of this.

We got a few cans between Richard and I and I’d better note that as I didn’t get through all of these on my own. This was the Stone Imperial Stout from Stone Brewing, which was pleasant but I had hoped for something more complex. There was a bit of chocolate, a bit of smokiness, it was OK.

This is the Umibozu from Funky Fluid, perhaps my favourite brewery in the world, and Richard loved this beer and gave it his 5 star seal of approval. I liked it, but it was bloody sweet although hugely punchy. There were massive hits of maple syrup and some coffee as well.

The Star People from Elmeleven and this was beautiful, with blueberry all over this. A lovely pastry sour with some end notes of banana. Delicious and much punchier than the ABV and it was aided by the professional pouring from the team member who rolled the fruited sour cans for us to ensure we didn’t get a lump of fruit residue at the end.

And another winner from Elmeleven, the I Want to Leave beer, with caramel undertones, lots of berries, decadent and again way more punchy than the ABV suggested. It was time for us to leave after this beer and we timed it well as some rather noisy customers then entered and we’re too old for that sort of environment (well, more specifically, Richard is too old for that sort of environment).

We very much enjoyed this bar, it was a clean and comfortable environment although it occurred to me afterwards it was the only one that didn’t do a free snacks option with the alcohol, although I’ll forgive them for that. Lots of interesting beer choices, a knowledgeable team member and the pricing was also reasonable. I’d merrily come again and this was one of my favourite bars in Athens. For craft beer people, this is definitely recommended.

It’s not immediately obvious from the photo, but I rather liked how the cat (of which there are quite a lot in Athens) was sitting in a little cat basket outside Pet City, that felt very appropriate…. I’m easily amused.

The first evening’s meal and we thought we’d go for something local. After much faffing about on my part checking Google reviews, we settled on this one. There was external seating available, but I’m not one for sitting next to smokers whilst trying to eat a tomato or some other decadent treat.

The menu which fitted into the style of the restaurant which was functional, welcoming and not overly showy. I also liked that they noted which items on the menu were frozen, which is something that perhaps more restaurants should do. The food felt traditional and authentic, with the restaurant feeling peaceful despite it being in a relatively busy area of the city.

The beer is the Alfa Beer from the Athenian Brewery, it’s light and smooth albeit perhaps just a little dull.

Free bread was brought out before the meal.

They also came over with some free olives, which looked a little sparse given the plate size, but any number of free olives is a bonus. Apparently the olives and the olive oil come from the owner’s own farm.

I will admit to Greek salad being one of my favourite meals and it’s served as a generous portion here with a slab of feta cheese.

The meatballs that we got to share and some lumpy thing on the left Richard got as his main course, but he enjoyed it so that’s all to the good.

The spicy sausages served with rice, with the meat being tender and full of flavour. I wouldn’t necessarily say that the food was the best presented that I’ve seen, but I’m far more engaged with quality over looks.

There was also a free dessert provided to round the meal off. There was a set meal which represented good value for money, although it didn’t quite match what we wanted, so we ordered off the main menu instead. The positive on-line reviews seemed justified and the restaurant felt like a family affair, with the service being informal and laid-back. Despite its location relatively near to the Agora and Hadrian’s Library, it didn’t feel touristy and it was steadily busy throughout the evening. They were in no rush to kick us out at the end of the evening and the payment process was efficient, so all rather lovely.

Two of the Presidential Guard protecting the Presidential Palace in Athens. Known as Evzones, they’re ceremonial guards and they also protect the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

The uniform is distinctive and comprises of the Fustanella (the pleated white kilt-like garment), the Tsarouchia (the red leather shoes with large black pompons) and the Pharion (the red felt cap). They also have a semi-automatic rifle, although there are armed guards nearby to them who are protecting them as they spend quite some time just standing still and not being allowed to move. They take this quite literally, there have been instances where a protester has thrown a firebomb and their sentry hut burned with the nearby Evzone not moving until told to and also a case where police were using tear gas and the soldier was stuck there next to it. All very brave.