Athens, Greece

We arrived in Athens early in the morning, as the city was beginning to open up. By then we were running low on money, but Athens is one of those places where simply walking around feels like getting access to a treasure chest. The central market was waking up, cafés were filling, and the Acropolis was already there above the city, impossible to ignore.

Athens is not just an old city with ruins placed around it. It is one of the places where the intellectual and political vocabulary of the West was worked out in public: democracy, philosophy, tragedy, rhetoric, citizenship, argument. Socrates walked around Athens. Plato founded his Academy here. Aristotle taught here. The place has been rebuilt, occupied, expanded, impoverished, and revived many times since, but it still feels unusually close to its own past.

The Parthenon sits above everything, built in the fifth century BCE as a temple to Athena and now the defining image of the city. But the better experience is moving back down into the streets, where ancient stone, markets, apartment blocks, churches, cafés, and ordinary city life all exist at once. Athens has history everywhere, but it is not embalmed.

Looking up at the Acropolis. The air was warm even though it was January, the sun was out, and people were smiling. You are staring at one of the seats of Western civilization, built centuries before Jesus of Nazareth walked the earth. I cannot explain it much better than that. Go see it.

Chilling in Athens.

Athens at night: beautiful blue fountains, and people everywhere. This kinetic city still fully awake.

At night the center of Athens had a lively street scene and, at least where we were, it felt safe. There were vagabond musicians all over the place, and some of them were genuinely good. We stood and listened to this guy play for quite a while.

Notice the Greek tiara.

One of the big squares in central Athens at night. People lingering, walking, talking, and generally enjoying the city.

Photography school.

Socrates was here. Oh yeah? So were we! I'm giving my Blue Steel.

These photographs were taken on the walk up toward the Acropolis, a gradual climb through the park and the remains of the ancient city. Before you even reach the summit, Athens starts appearing in pieces around you.

Stones along the walk down from the Acropolis. We skipped the guide and the literature, so much of what we passed went unnamed, but the whole hillside is layered with ruins.

We were transfixed by the fountains, glowing blue in the warm Athens night.

That's like, your opinion, man.

Street markets in Athens.

A view of the Acropolis and Parthenon from the base of the park, while we sat outside at a Greek restaurant.

The entrance to the ruins. We arrived just as the site was closing, one of the small penalites of winging it.

The Acropolis at night from our hotel window. The old phone camera could not capture it, which is a good argument for bringing a real digital camera next time.

The James Joyce pub and restaurant. Had to check it out.

Anya.

Athens is a very good city for bread-and-meat people. Gyros were everywhere, and the food was genuinely excellent.

Early morning in central Athens after the airport bus. We had hours before check-in, so we walked the city half-awake and carrying everything we owned.

I'm not sure why I snapped this photo!

This is the Church of Panagia Kapnikarea, a Byzantine Orthodox church dating to about 1050, squeezed into the middle of modern Athens.

Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last Byzantine emperor. Don’t mess with this dude.

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens, the main Greek Orthodox cathedral in the city center.

Archbishop Damaskinos, who led the Greek Orthodox Church during the Nazi occupation and helped save thousands of Greek Jews. Birds included.