Ah, Greece. It is a country, as I am sure you're aware, that is famous for a few things: being home to the civilization that laid the foundation for Western society as we know it, big fat weddings, and spinach pie, this last being perhaps better known and better loved than the first two.
Spinach Pie: An Ode
Oh! Thou flakey crust of phyllo which dost flake into my shirt! Why art thou so annoying and yet so undeniably delicious? Couldst thou not but hold it together, for love of me who bought thee? Thou costed but one euro and eighty, and arrived in my hand yet warm from the heat lamp, given me by a dark-browed Greek god, a Prometheus of iron-rich leafy greens! Oh snack so misleadingly healthy-sounding! Could I not but partake in thousands and more of thy golden-brown brethren with fain a thought for the butter teeming through their rich crusts? Nay, I shall cast mine eye upon the spinach, not the cheese which overtakes it in both calorie and taste... for spinach dost make thee far healthier a sustenance than I, who hast lived but on cocktail peanuts for lo these two months, have partaken in for long and longer. But must we be parted so soon, not four days e'er we first met? I shudder then to think of leaving Greece for want of thee, my cheesy flakey darling, though the country lack in charms compelling me to stay for their sake. May one then eat the Acropolis? Pick lovingly the crusts of the Parthenon that fall into the clothes? Nay, say I! They have yet their attractions to them, but I shall not ache and pine for them when this ferry boat doth take me hence as I shall for you, O Spinach Pie. My love rests then with thee for longer than these ruins may yet stand.
Spinach Pie: An Ode
Oh! Thou flakey crust of phyllo which dost flake into my shirt! Why art thou so annoying and yet so undeniably delicious? Couldst thou not but hold it together, for love of me who bought thee? Thou costed but one euro and eighty, and arrived in my hand yet warm from the heat lamp, given me by a dark-browed Greek god, a Prometheus of iron-rich leafy greens! Oh snack so misleadingly healthy-sounding! Could I not but partake in thousands and more of thy golden-brown brethren with fain a thought for the butter teeming through their rich crusts? Nay, I shall cast mine eye upon the spinach, not the cheese which overtakes it in both calorie and taste... for spinach dost make thee far healthier a sustenance than I, who hast lived but on cocktail peanuts for lo these two months, have partaken in for long and longer. But must we be parted so soon, not four days e'er we first met? I shudder then to think of leaving Greece for want of thee, my cheesy flakey darling, though the country lack in charms compelling me to stay for their sake. May one then eat the Acropolis? Pick lovingly the crusts of the Parthenon that fall into the clothes? Nay, say I! They have yet their attractions to them, but I shall not ache and pine for them when this ferry boat doth take me hence as I shall for you, O Spinach Pie. My love rests then with thee for longer than these ruins may yet stand.
Do you get it? Spinach pie is delicious. But there are other good things about Greece, too. It's just that very few of them are in Athens. There is that big, gorgeous hill surrounded by the amazing green gardens and the incredible view of the ocean and the city around, and then the mountains, but once you get back down into that city, it's kinda a different story. It's actually pretty sketchy. Like, as in the guy at my hostel made it a point to warn me about going out by myself at night. So, I did not.
There wasn't actually that much GREECE, as in blue skies, blue waters, white sand, white houses (blue and white being the national colors for a reason) in Athens. It's a city without much of the cliche personality that you want to immediately be inundated with upon entering the country of Greece. Oh well. There was an excellent museum, and while it rained a little while I was there, it was sunny and warm for more of the time, and so I hiked around in the olive tree-covered hills around the Acropolis and shopped in the area surrounding the hill on both days I was there.
Do you ever have those moments where you stop, take a look at where you are (disregarding completely the sketchiness seething below you) and just think "holy crap. How did I get lucky enough to end up here?"? That's kinda the impression I got while walking around for about a cumulative seven hours on the Acropolis. The sun was glinting off the marble, which was wet from the recent rain, the sea was blindingly bright with that same sun, and everything smelled like plants and rain, and not the vaguely fishy body odor smell that I came to associate with at least the quarter of Athens in which my hostel was located.
I tried very hard to resist the urge to sing, but the place reminded me so much of Gethsemane from Norman Jewison's celebrated (particularly by my mom and me) 1973 musical Jesus Christ Superstar (music by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber) that I just couldn't help myself, and I sang "Heaven on Their Minds" in full voice. It was okay though, since I was pretty much alone up there, it being February and all.
And so, even though I probably wouldn't recommend Athens as your one stop on any future Grecian excursions, it was worth it just to see the place where, for fifty years ages and ages ago, a bunch of guys wearing sheets laid the foundations for the way we see the world today. The Acropolis and its environs are worth the hype.
I will not, however, recommend a certain bit of cuisine which I tried in a taverna where I decided to treat myself on a bright Sunday afternoon to a bit o' Greek food. Which is, by the way, pretty delicious, if you don't count the goat. Yup, goat.
Not so good. Kinda tasted a little like licking a pine log. Which isn't as tasty as it might originally sound. But the frites were good, as was the tapenade, and the guys kept plying me with free, very cold water, which I appreciated at the time and took full advantage of, but later regretted as I scurried from street to street looking for a McDonald's. But eventually the emergency was averted and I returned to my hostel, and the next day made my way to Patra to take the ferry to Venice.
It was then on to Geneva, and then Marseille, Carnon and Toulouse with Elsa and some old friends of my mom's, Christy and Pierre. More about all these adventures, plus my soon-to-come trip to Spain and triumphant return to Rome (all returns to Rome are traditionally triumphant, you know) soon!
There wasn't actually that much GREECE, as in blue skies, blue waters, white sand, white houses (blue and white being the national colors for a reason) in Athens. It's a city without much of the cliche personality that you want to immediately be inundated with upon entering the country of Greece. Oh well. There was an excellent museum, and while it rained a little while I was there, it was sunny and warm for more of the time, and so I hiked around in the olive tree-covered hills around the Acropolis and shopped in the area surrounding the hill on both days I was there.
Do you ever have those moments where you stop, take a look at where you are (disregarding completely the sketchiness seething below you) and just think "holy crap. How did I get lucky enough to end up here?"? That's kinda the impression I got while walking around for about a cumulative seven hours on the Acropolis. The sun was glinting off the marble, which was wet from the recent rain, the sea was blindingly bright with that same sun, and everything smelled like plants and rain, and not the vaguely fishy body odor smell that I came to associate with at least the quarter of Athens in which my hostel was located.
I tried very hard to resist the urge to sing, but the place reminded me so much of Gethsemane from Norman Jewison's celebrated (particularly by my mom and me) 1973 musical Jesus Christ Superstar (music by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber) that I just couldn't help myself, and I sang "Heaven on Their Minds" in full voice. It was okay though, since I was pretty much alone up there, it being February and all.
And so, even though I probably wouldn't recommend Athens as your one stop on any future Grecian excursions, it was worth it just to see the place where, for fifty years ages and ages ago, a bunch of guys wearing sheets laid the foundations for the way we see the world today. The Acropolis and its environs are worth the hype.
I will not, however, recommend a certain bit of cuisine which I tried in a taverna where I decided to treat myself on a bright Sunday afternoon to a bit o' Greek food. Which is, by the way, pretty delicious, if you don't count the goat. Yup, goat.
Not so good. Kinda tasted a little like licking a pine log. Which isn't as tasty as it might originally sound. But the frites were good, as was the tapenade, and the guys kept plying me with free, very cold water, which I appreciated at the time and took full advantage of, but later regretted as I scurried from street to street looking for a McDonald's. But eventually the emergency was averted and I returned to my hostel, and the next day made my way to Patra to take the ferry to Venice.
It was then on to Geneva, and then Marseille, Carnon and Toulouse with Elsa and some old friends of my mom's, Christy and Pierre. More about all these adventures, plus my soon-to-come trip to Spain and triumphant return to Rome (all returns to Rome are traditionally triumphant, you know) soon!
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