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SUNDAY, APRIL 11, 2010
The Greece less traveled makes all the difference
greece continued from F1
ply pass by. Even though it’s the shoulder season, we’ve still taken extra precautions, rising with the sun on our first day to make the most of the empty streets. This is when Athens is at its best, when there’s a chill in the air and no one else milling around the posh neo- classical districts of Plaka and Ko- lonaki to ruin the magic and re- mind you that you’re not the only ones in town. We climbed the steps to the Acropolis slowly, taking in the beauty of both the city and the an- cient sites from all the overlooked angles afforded to those who aren’t in a rush. Once the doors opened at 8 a.m., we headed past the other early risers and tried to imagine what the Acropolis was like before the Venetians blew part of it up in 1687 during their spat with the ruling Ottomans, and before the British removed the Elgin Marbles from the Par- thenon for “protective” reasons. But those images were hard to conjure amid the guided tour groups that were already arriving and cutting across our path, the fashionistas striking glamour poses and the shiny new marble slabs filling in the gaps of what used to be the temple of Athena. In a way I don’t to other Euro- pean cities, to Athens I bring a double standard. Instead of car- ing to blend in, I come here as a sightseer to touch history and wear khaki pants; I just want to be the only one doing it. I am con- stantly reminded, however, that I’m 100 years too late for a Lord Byron moment. In this sprawling capital, with such a strong tour- istic focus on the past, it seems nearly impossible to find a peace- ful place or a restful moment to contemplate the city-that-was without being jarred by throngs of other tourists in the city-that- is.
After hours of wandering around these ancient ruins, we set the afternoon mood with ouzo at Bretto’s Distillery before visit- ing the last of our must-see sights: the new Acropolis Museum, which opened in June 2009. It’s a sleek modern building housing more than 4,000 Acropolis arti- facts in over 150,000 square feet of austere exhibition space. A
PHOTOS BY RACHEL GUTHRIE
Not a fanny pack in sight: On Santorini, whitewashed Fira, above, and Oia, below, perch atop seaside cliffs to provide travel-poster-perfect vistas and occasional solitude.
glass floor reveals an open excava- tion site, providing a welcome distraction while you wait in line at the entrance to pay the admis- sion fee.
Coming alive
Once in Piraeus, the starting point for Greek island-hopping, we check into a rundown hotel
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near the center. Created to house the navy by the infamous Athe- nian general and statesman The- mistocles in 493 B.C., the port turns out not to be the historic seaside town I was hoping for. Only 20 minutes from Athens on the subway (the bus took about 40 minutes), Piraeus seems to have little to offer tourists but an over- flow of seedy local life and intrigu- ing characters. The hotel clerk, an ancient man watching Greek dra- ma on TV in a small smoke-filled office, is entirely indifferent to us but willing to negotiate the price of a room. He scrawls “40 Euros” on a scrap of paper, then “30” as we start to leave. We finally settle on 25 (about $33) and when we see our room, we know we’ve paid too much. No matter, we’ve stayed in worse. As we wait for the night to thicken, we meet our neighbor on the small fire escape balcony be- tween the two rooms. She is Greek, weathered and sad. Also very confused to hear voices com- ing from our room. Though she speaks only a little English, she talks for far longer than you’d think possible. She tells us that this is mostly transitional hous- ing. With arms flailing, she tells a gripping story of her kids coming to get her and of a tenant conflict that we can’t really understand. She draws a map on a scrap of pa- per and points out where the hid- den charms of Piraeus are — the ancient churches, the small parks and the stretches of orange trees. Excitedly, she insists that we go to her favorite restaurant later for dinner and says that maybe she will meet us there. Following her directions, we wind through the old parts of Pi- raeus, killing time until after 9 p.m., when the city comes alive and locals come out to enjoy the day. We eat at an unnamed sea- food shop next to an outdoor mar- ket, but we don’t see our new friend. Afterward, we ride the subway back into Athens’s Psiri neighbor- hood for music and conversation. The tourist crowd is thinning and now, at night, it feels as though Athens is a real city again. We grab bottles of Mythos beer and sit on the steps of Monastiraki Square with young Athenians who are watching a street performance. A theater troupe is acting out a play in Greek that we can’t follow, but there is also juggling and plenty of people to watch, so we don’t mind. The mood is festive and everyone around us is friendly. We wish we had spent every night this way. The next morning, we rejoin the established tourist path and catch a ferry to the islands to see the beaches and the postcard-perfect towns that everyone comes here to see. At each stop, we take it easy and avoid the crowds as best we can, using local buses to get around instead of the large coach- es packed with travelers going to the same few places at the same time, staying on the outskirts of towns or at family homes and try- ing to meet the local residents.
DETAILS
With Greece struggling in the economic recession, visitors in 2010 can expect fewer tourists and better-than-normal deals at hotels and destinations, according to the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels, which projects an 8 percent drop in tourism for the year, after a similar drop last year.
GETTING THERE
Lufthansa, KLM and British Airways have one-stop flights from Washington Dulles to Athens, with fares starting at $928.
WHERE TO STAY
Tempi Hotel
29 Eolou St., Athens;
011-30-210-321-3175 www. tempihotel.gr/index.php
Clean, modern rooms with private bathrooms start at about $60 a night for two in the low season, about $86 from April until November.
Villa Dimitris
Perissa, Santorini; 011-30-22860-82843 Nice, clean but modest double rooms with private baths start at about $32 a night.
WHERE TO EAT
Orea Penteli
Psiri Square, Athens; 011-30-210-3218627 Live music and a rustic ambiance alongside traditional Greek dishes made with local ingredients. Entrees start at about $13.
Grill House Stavros
A small, wonderful-smelling restaurant on the north side of the main road between Emporio and Perissa on Santorini. Usually full of locals getting food to go. Dishes start at about $7.
WHAT TO DO In Athens:
Get up and out early to hit the Acropolis and other important tourist sites. Explore neighborhoods farther from the Acropolis, which contain lesser-known sites as well as lively bars, interesting streets and music venues.
The Acropolis Museum
15 Dionysiou Areopagitou St., Athens; 011-30-210-900-0900
www.theacropolismuseum.gr
Offers more than 4,000 artifacts found on and around the Acropolis. Plan on spending at least several hours here. Admission about $7.
National Archaeological Museum
44 Patission St., Athens
011-30-210-821-7724 www. namuseum.gr
Contains more than 11,000 pieces from all over Greece. Admission about $9.
Temple of Poseidon at Sounion
A half-day trip from Athens, at the southernmost point of the Attic peninsula.
In Santorini:
The Red and Black beaches are among the most popular places to get a tan, but there are several lesser-known beaches all over the island; ask around. Spend time in Fira and Oia, but make sure to explore on your own. For those looking for more adventure, take a short cruise at sunset or hit the water at one of the island’s five scuba diving spots.
INFORMATION
Greek National Tourism Organization
www.gnto.gr
— T.G.
ALB.
GREECE
Ionian Sea
0 MILES 100
Santorini
Med. Sea
THE WASHINGTON POST
Crete
Getting lost in Santorini
Our ferry pulls into Santorini,
the jewel of the Cyclades, and we make sure to lodge away from the cliff-top towns of Fira and Oia. These places are stunning but lit- tle more than a stretch of hotels and fancy restaurants, no longer real or really worth the price and trouble for frugal travelers like us. Instead, we find the charming Villa Dimitris in the shadow of a small cliff-top monastery, just steps from the Black Beach in the town of Perissa. Here we don’t mind the other tourists, thanks to the owners, Kostas and Rula, who are wonderful hosts. They take the time to get to know us and make us feel like friends. In per- fect English, they tell us where the secluded beaches and the best small villages are and how to get there. Over coffee, Rula shares stories of her family, and Kostas offers to drop us anywhere on the island when he goes out. Down the road from our place, we end up renting the cheapest ATV we can find, which turns out to be far too weak to keep up with local traffic. So we take our explo- rations slow, scouting out several beaches our hosts had suggested in the morning, some crowded and some empty, as we make our
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