I am a people watcher, especially when I am on my own. That's one of the reasons I rarely feel bored or lonely. People watching is endlessly entertaining, no matter where you are. I can spend hours looking out the window of my hotel room, watching the scene laid out before me play out - a cafe bustling with customers and waiters that later empties out leaving the staff standing around chatting and smoking; a restaurant kitchen with the kitchen staff in chef's whites acting out the theater of cooking; or people in their apartments going about their daily lives (OK, don't judge on that last one. If you live next to a hotel and don't want anyone watching what you are doing, close your curtains!).
Airports are ripe for people watching, as are planes and public transit. But my favorite people watching venues are parks and other public spaces in cities that I'm visiting. You get a feel for the place just by watching the locals go about their lives.
I'm sitting in a park in Athens enjoying the warm sunshine. The weather has been cool and rainy where I've been for the last while so this sunny day is welcome. I'm watching a group of elderly men who clearly have taken this park as their own. It's a scene I've witnessed all over the world. A group of retirees commandeer a green space and use it as their meeting place - their club. They play games like chess or that one where you toss the balls. Some chat in an animated way while others sit quietly looking pensive.
I can tell that there is a power structure among this group of old guys. One in particular appears to be making the rounds, pressing the flesh and speaking to each person. He must be the mayor.
Speaking of relics (ba-rum-cha!), I am always gobsmacked by the ancient ruins in Athens, and how accessible they are. Even in the modern city, you can hardly turn a corner without seeing a ruin and being reminded that this place has been civilized for about 3500 years. Even the subway has ruins in the walls behind plexi-glass.
I'm taking a rest from a big day of exploring Athens. I'm staying at the beautiful Saint George Lycabettus Hotel situated high above the city. From the hotel, the view of the city framing the Acropolis is stunning. My day started with me walking down the hill from the hotel toward the Greek Parliament. The sidewalks are lined with lemon and orange trees with huge fruit straining the branches. At the Parliament, the guards are in their colorful uniforms high stepping back in forth in procession.
After checking out the Olympic archaeological site and other ruins, I head up to the Acropolis. On the way, there are ruins of theaters and the view just gets better and better.
As I am wandering, I'm thinking of the philosophers Socrates and Plato and that they probably walked these same paths. As I look down the hill to the port, the Piraeus, in the distance, I'm reminded of the opening line of Plato's Republic, "I went down yesterday to the Piraeus with Glaucon, son of Ariston, that I might offer up my prayers to the goddess...".
The thing is, when I studied philosophy in university, my professor was from the Southern United States, and he had a heavy southern accent. And his reading of these works is imprinted in my mind. So when I think of these lines from Plato, I hear them in a southern drawl - "YES-tur-dayy, I want dewn to the PIE-ray-us". It's a bit disconcerting.
Anyhoo, the Parthenon on the Acropolis is without a doubt the best-known icon of Athens and Ancient Greece. It is awesome and all but I like the areas of Athens that are less trodden. In fact, I love the view of the Parthenon from other points in the city better than being at the Acropolis itself. So after some wandering around the site and taking some pics, I head down the other side into the Agora.
The Agora at the base of the Acropolis is my favorite place to explore in Athens. You can wander alone among ancient statues and ruins and see the market plan as it was laid out thousands of years ago. And the ruins are in a green space that offers up some relief from the blazing sun. It is more park-like (and a little less dusty) than the Acropolis.
Some of the most ancient artifacts are housed in a building at the end of the Agora near the Plaka district. You can see pots and burial remains from five thousand years ago. But my favorite is a jury selection machine, I think it is called a "kleroteria", from the 4th century BC. It was used to select citizens for jury duty. It is hard to get my head around the fact that this place had such an advanced civic system almost 2500 years ago, when I think of all the less civilized times in western history during the centuries since.
I can wander around these ruins for hours on end. To me, Athens feels like one big open air museum. Today, I've covered a lot of ground.
At the end of the day, I return to the Saint George. When I enter the lobby, the bellmen greet me with a tight, pursed smile, and when I ask for my key, the front desk staff ask for ID. But I don't think much of it.
I head to my room, drop my things, and go into the bathroom. Cheese and Rice! I am a hot mess! I am covered in dust, making my face look like a pantomime in make up. One arm, the one I rinsed off at the fountain, looks deeply tanned and detached from the rest of my grimy self. My clothes are drenched with sweat and across my back is a pattern of dirt from my drop-and-roll on the stone path that looks like I was run over by a big wheel.
No wonder they were looking at me sideways in the lobby. Oh well, such is the life of an intrepid archaeological explorer.
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