June 11
We woke up on the early side for a change and were planning to take a bus out of town to see the Temple of Poseidon, but changed our mind and opted instead to visit the Temple of Hepheastus first thing before the day gets too hot. We arrive at the Monastiraki station and ask the fruit vendors about the macrame artist we met the day before, but according to him the vendors only arrive at 6pm and start setting up their stands. We arrive at the entrance gate and look around the ruins from the Acient Agora for a while before climbing the hill to the Temple of Hephaestus. This is an amazingly beautiful day and we can really feel that we are walking in the footsteps of history. All of the cobblestones on the streets are worn smooth over centuries of being walked on. The Temple honors the god of handicrafts, pottery and metal arts and as a result has a lot of artisan studios in this neighborhood of Athens. The temple is also one of the best preserved examples of "cult" architecture that remains. The roof is still in tact on this site and you can really get a sense of how grand these structures were in their days of glory. This temple dates back to the 2nd century BC and we can see the outlines of where the other buildings once were. The site of the "Boucle" or Senate buildings are clearly visible and we have a lively discussion about the foundations of Democracy and the fact that our very own country chose the Ancient Greek example of government on which to model our country.....Cool! After walking around the ruins for a while, we return to the Monastiraki area and get some refreshing frozen Greek yoghurt to whet our appetite. Then we decide to head off in the direction of the “Poet” sandalmaker.....who has made shoes for some of the world’s most famous feet. Through a series of small alleys and by asking any number of people the directions, we finally arrive at the Melissino’s sandal shop. Started in 1920 in the Monastiraki district of Athens by Giorgios Melissino, this shop has survived for nearly a century on making leather sandals based on ancient Greek designs. The interior of the shop is very funky and the next generation of Melissino’s is hard at work fitting sandals for the throngs of customers that find their way to the doorsteps of the most famous sandalmaker in history. It all started with a rock and roll band called the Beatles whose members John Lennon and Paul MacCartney started buying all of their sandals here. The walls are lined with photos of the countless celebrities since that time to have adorned their feet with Melissino’s sandals....Jackie “O”, Cary Grant, Anthony Quinn, Sarah Jessica Parker, Lily Tomlin, Maria Callas, Sophia Loren....on and on the names are listed. The son, Stavros, was an accomplished Poet who also continued the family tradition of sandalmaking as his day job. Once he acheived a certain amount of fame for his poetry, he continued making sandals as inspiration for his other job....poetry. Today, the grandson, Panitelis, runs the shop with his own children. You simply select your style and they will fit it to your fee on the spot and they are very reasonably priced to boot (no pun intended). After we purchase our shoes and have them fitted correctly, we are off in search of other items like beads. I locate the shop that was closed the previous day and spend a while taking a look through their inventory before concluding that I can shop online much easier. Afterward, we stumble upon the best restaurant we have enjoyed in quite a while. I can’t even tell you the name of the place, but the food was very memorable and cheap. We bemoaned that the restaurant only served lunch as we had wanted to return for dinner too! After we thoroughly enjoy our meal, we continue our walking adventure and head out to the National Archeological Museum to see the remnants of the Parthenon Statues as well as the scultpure of Poseidon taking from the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion. We really enjoy looking at all of the scultpures for nearly two hours when our aching feet start to call us back home again. We walk another long way back to the hotel and crash for a while before planning a return to Monastiraki for dinner and a last chance to find the macrame artist before we leave town for good. After we rest up for a good long time, we manage to get back into the swing of things and return to Monastiraki for dinner and a good look for the artist. We exhaust our search by winding around a park and even though we are unsuccessful, we decide to eat dinner in this lively quarter. After nightfall, the cafe’s really begin to come to life and it is a real treat to see the Parthenon all lit up at night. We return to the hotel barely able to climb into bed and we nod off before our heads hit the pillow.
We woke up on the early side for a change and were planning to take a bus out of town to see the Temple of Poseidon, but changed our mind and opted instead to visit the Temple of Hepheastus first thing before the day gets too hot. We arrive at the Monastiraki station and ask the fruit vendors about the macrame artist we met the day before, but according to him the vendors only arrive at 6pm and start setting up their stands. We arrive at the entrance gate and look around the ruins from the Acient Agora for a while before climbing the hill to the Temple of Hephaestus. This is an amazingly beautiful day and we can really feel that we are walking in the footsteps of history. All of the cobblestones on the streets are worn smooth over centuries of being walked on. The Temple honors the god of handicrafts, pottery and metal arts and as a result has a lot of artisan studios in this neighborhood of Athens. The temple is also one of the best preserved examples of "cult" architecture that remains. The roof is still in tact on this site and you can really get a sense of how grand these structures were in their days of glory. This temple dates back to the 2nd century BC and we can see the outlines of where the other buildings once were. The site of the "Boucle" or Senate buildings are clearly visible and we have a lively discussion about the foundations of Democracy and the fact that our very own country chose the Ancient Greek example of government on which to model our country.....Cool! After walking around the ruins for a while, we return to the Monastiraki area and get some refreshing frozen Greek yoghurt to whet our appetite. Then we decide to head off in the direction of the “Poet” sandalmaker.....who has made shoes for some of the world’s most famous feet. Through a series of small alleys and by asking any number of people the directions, we finally arrive at the Melissino’s sandal shop. Started in 1920 in the Monastiraki district of Athens by Giorgios Melissino, this shop has survived for nearly a century on making leather sandals based on ancient Greek designs. The interior of the shop is very funky and the next generation of Melissino’s is hard at work fitting sandals for the throngs of customers that find their way to the doorsteps of the most famous sandalmaker in history. It all started with a rock and roll band called the Beatles whose members John Lennon and Paul MacCartney started buying all of their sandals here. The walls are lined with photos of the countless celebrities since that time to have adorned their feet with Melissino’s sandals....Jackie “O”, Cary Grant, Anthony Quinn, Sarah Jessica Parker, Lily Tomlin, Maria Callas, Sophia Loren....on and on the names are listed. The son, Stavros, was an accomplished Poet who also continued the family tradition of sandalmaking as his day job. Once he acheived a certain amount of fame for his poetry, he continued making sandals as inspiration for his other job....poetry. Today, the grandson, Panitelis, runs the shop with his own children. You simply select your style and they will fit it to your fee on the spot and they are very reasonably priced to boot (no pun intended). After we purchase our shoes and have them fitted correctly, we are off in search of other items like beads. I locate the shop that was closed the previous day and spend a while taking a look through their inventory before concluding that I can shop online much easier. Afterward, we stumble upon the best restaurant we have enjoyed in quite a while. I can’t even tell you the name of the place, but the food was very memorable and cheap. We bemoaned that the restaurant only served lunch as we had wanted to return for dinner too! After we thoroughly enjoy our meal, we continue our walking adventure and head out to the National Archeological Museum to see the remnants of the Parthenon Statues as well as the scultpure of Poseidon taking from the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion. We really enjoy looking at all of the scultpures for nearly two hours when our aching feet start to call us back home again. We walk another long way back to the hotel and crash for a while before planning a return to Monastiraki for dinner and a last chance to find the macrame artist before we leave town for good. After we rest up for a good long time, we manage to get back into the swing of things and return to Monastiraki for dinner and a good look for the artist. We exhaust our search by winding around a park and even though we are unsuccessful, we decide to eat dinner in this lively quarter. After nightfall, the cafe’s really begin to come to life and it is a real treat to see the Parthenon all lit up at night. We return to the hotel barely able to climb into bed and we nod off before our heads hit the pillow.
No comments:
Post a Comment