Sunday in Greece was fun day spent visiting a local church and exploring some of the more traditional areas of downtown Athens! Our day started out with an 11am service at The First Evangelical Church in the city. Due to stipulations at the time of its construction over 150 years ago, the church was not allowed to be built within city limits, and was constructed right on the border at the base of the Acropolis in Athens. Funnily enough, the city has since then grown out and around it and the church is now in the dead center of Athens. The service was definitely an experience, but I was able to listen to live translation in English over a radio headset, while still attempting to pick up some bits and pieces in Greek!
After service, my host family’s father and oldest daughter and I took advantage of the much-improved weather and spent the next several hours meandering around the area. We walked through a mini open market, popped in and out of a few historic churches, and got to see both some old and new(ish) architecture.
In all honesty, I’ve never been much of a history fan, but it was actually really neat to see some of the things I’d learned about way back when in my ancient history classes come to life.
My mom for one was definitely happy to hear that I actually remembered the story of Emperor Hadrian and the history behind the arch and the library!
Many of the structures have been recently restored to their former glory, including the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Annunciation, which was probably my favorite building by far! From the exquisite white marble courtyard area leading up to the entrance, to the intricate stone details and painted patterns inside, it was really captivating.
Our first official stop was at a 3-story family owned Greek restaurant for lunch that has been open for generations. Being gluten-free, I asked for my meal on top of rice instead of pita bread, and apparently horrified the owner with my request! He finall compromised and gave me a plate of rice on the side, but looking back, it was probably the equivalent of asking for a PB&J sandwich on a tortilla instead of bread in the States! Aside from the food, the restaurant itself was a cultural experience. We got a rare treat with live music from a duo playing βοθζοθκι (bouzoukis), a traditional Greek instrument.
It was also during this meal that I really got a feel for how much Greeks adore olive oil. While I loved the flavor of my meal, my bowl of lamb kabob topped with yogurt was settled in a bowl almost halfway filled with olive oil, and my stomach was in a state of sheer protest for a while afterwards!
Feeling the need to walk off our meal, we then headed in a circle around the city, slowly spiraling up a hill where we were rewarded with several breathtaking views of the Acropolis and the city below.
One of the hills we climbed was all slippery marble rock, and I’m actually shocked my boots didn’t fail me and that I didn’t crack my head open getting up or down! (And before any certain parties tease me about wearing the wrong shoes to go climbing, it wasn’t in the original plans for the day 😉)
On the way up, we took a mini-detour from the main path and enjoyed an even more scenic view (if that’s even possible) through a lush green park dotted with spring blooms. Near the entrance, we ran across an old building that housed Greece’s treasured artifacts during WWII, and is rumored to be the prison where Greek philospher Socrates was kept prior to his execution.
In between stops on our journey, we passed by a few stores where I added a couple pieces to my magpie jewelry collection with another leaf ring and a simple cord bracelet featuring lapis lazuli, one of my favorites stones.
By the time we got back, we were all tired, and I opted to spend the rest of the day back at the apartment with the family. During the downtime, I had a long talk with my host family’s mother over home-cooked lentils about Νέα Ζωή (Nea Zoi), one of several organizations she works for. Nea Zoi is the main hub of the outreach program that deals with sex trafficking in Athens and has been an integral part of the community for over 20 years. While she has had (and still does have) a hand in a variety of diverse parts of the organization, she mostly heads up counseling services both for rescued women and the outreach team, in addition to multiple other projects with related organizations. Getting to talk to her really helped me better understand the organization and how integrated it is with the community, and truly opened my eyes to all of the incredibly important and inspiring things that she does every day.
(More info: http://neazoi.org/)
The very end of the day included a fun dose of Greek pop culture in the form of a reality/cooking show (the closest translation for the name is “Something’s Grilling”). The show holds some fond memories for my host family, as it was one of the main shows they watched when they first arrived in Greece that helped them pick up on the language and culture. The main premise of the show (which airs one episode per day in a week-long series) is similar to TLC’s Four Weddings – except in this case, each contestant hosts a multiple course meal in his or her home that other contestants then rate. We had a good laugh about the opinionated contestants, who all openly talked about the food they expected and wanted to see (or would refuse to eat) at their hosts’ house in their interviews! Another culture shock came when I found out that one of the main segments of the show is of the contestants (who all strangers to each other, by the way), take independently guided tours of the host’s (or the host’s parents’) house – including any of the bedrooms, which are all fair game. It was a bit horrifying to watch groups of strangers sit on the host’s sister’s bed and rearrange the stuffed animals in her unoccupied room, and I was really relieved to learn that this isn’t a thing outside of the TV show! Turns out “reality” TV is still “reality” TV anywhere you go!
Twenty-One Travels 