Algiers-Nice-Athens 2024 Greece

Athenian Odyssey – Day 1 of 3

I wasn’t that excited about going to Greece. I don’t know why. Everything I had heard about it was good but something about it just kept me away. But on my Athens, Nice, Monaco trip, it just seemed such an easy opportunity to hop over to Athens for a few days. Athens was the place in Greece that I most wanted to visit. The islands look beautiful but boring to me and I have no interest in spending time on a boat. Athens had a sort of appeal in that it looks kind of dirty and a little rough around the edges. That, mixed with all the antiquities, left me a bit intrigued.

I flew in from Nice via Paris, landing in the afternoon the airport in Athens. The train was a bit annoying. I was happy that there was a train into the city, but I had to wait over an hour for it to arrive. In hindsight I probably should have just taken a taxi, but train I did. I took it to Monastiraki station (it takes about 45 minutes) and walked to my hostel: the City Circus Hostel, located in the Psyrri neighbourhood, which is very close to Monastiraki. City Circus Hostel was a funky place in a heritage building. I liked the area immediately; it was mostly pedestrian streets lined with eateries and bars, with the occasional falling down building wallpapered in graffiti. Everyone was smoking. OK, this might not be too bad.

The hostel was great. I had decided to splurge on this little self-contained apartment on the roof with a private patio. It was a great bargain and gave me lots of privacy. I think I could have spent a month there looking out over the city. I even had my own view of the Parthenon.

But there was no time to rest, so I went out and walked around into the night. I had a cigar and a meal at a cute little cafe near my hostel and then just wandered around to get the lay of the land. The squares were full of people, mostly young, hanging around drinking, eating, yelling. It felt lively and not at all threatening. I visited a couple of churches, which stayed open late into the night and seemed to have an endless stream of religious attendees.

I don’t know what one is supposed to do in the evening in Athens, but I think I could have been happy just hopping from cafe to restaurant to bar all evening. Every place looked very appealing and had these and had wonderful patios that were cigar friendly and an excellent assortment of vegetarian food.

I wrapped up the evening on the patio of a bar called the Verve Music Café, which had a very appealing décor that would describe as ‘Rat Pack dive’ and played excellent jazz music.

I was excited for the next day when I would get up early and visit the Acropolis and Parthenon.

Those are my first impressions. Athens seemed pretty cool, easy going, cheap, tasty, an intriguing. It was certainly an easy place to visit. No special visas required for my passport, they use the Euro, many people spoke English, and no one seemed put out that I didn’t speak Greek. (I mean, there’s literally a saying “It’s Greek to me,” which suggests that it’s not easiest language to learn to speak.) And as I walked around that evening it really was dawning on me that I was in this very ancient city a place that invented or made significant contributions to, nearly everything? It looks like a perfectly normal city; you’re just walking around, looking for a place to get a coffee and the-BAM-you are face to face with a 2000-year-old ruins. And on the building around the corner is graffiti telling tourists to fuck off, and next to that is a church full of people praying at 9:00 PM, and people are selling bread circles and getting pickpocketed and getting drunk and aesthetically pleasing restaurant patios are brimming with diners being serenaded with live music while stray cats look for food to run off with… Athens made a good first impression.

I was only in Athens for three days, but I feel like I saw a lot – I certainly took a lot of pictures – and so I shall divide my Athens posts into thirds, one for each day. Read on for day two here.

Algiers-Nice-Athens 2024 Greece

Athenian Odyssey – Day 3 of 3

My third day in Athens after my excellent visit to the Acropolis, was kind of a freebie. I had already done all the things that were most important to me in visiting the city, so I decided to improvise day three. I had breakfast at my hostel and then I went out walking. I visited a flea market. I’m not sure if it was the Monastiraki flea market or someplace else, but it was fun to look around. I like free markets in foreign cities; they feel like impromptu, free museums.

Morning Stuff

I stopped and had a coffee on the edge of the flea market. I decided to try a ‘frappé’; this is a Greek coffee made with instant coffee whisked together with cold water and sugar to make sort of a frothy cold coffee drink. I’m glad I tried it, but I don’t need to have it again. I don’t like cold coffee or sugar in my coffee so it wasn’t really for me and I knew that going in. It looked pretty though.

The Plaka

I decided to wander over to the Plaka. I understand that it is a famous area in Athens for tourists and so I went to look around. It has pretty streets and historical sites, but I thought it was a bit dull. I think it would be a lovely place to have a meal as there seem to be many restaurants at beautiful patios but of that I didn’t find it very interesting; lots of souvenir shops and not a lot of character, I thought, although it did have some lovely ruins.

Anafiotika

If I ever unironically use the phrase “hidden gem” to describe something, you’re welcome to throw an ouzo in my face, Anafiotika comes close. Anafiotika Is a little neighbourhood above the Plaka that wasn’t on my radar having read through guidebooks and travel blogs, but I can’t exactly say that it’s hidden because they have a sign up there warning tourists to be respectful of the neighbours. It is absolutely stunning, and one of the best things that I did in Athens. I had to use Google maps to figure out how to get to Anafiotika, but once I found the street that led to the stairs that led to a graffiti covered passageway, I was in the Anafiotika.

What makes it so special? It doesn’t look like you’re in Athens at all. It looks like you’re on one of the Greek islands. I have a feeling that it might get busier later in the day, but I was there early in the morning, and I didn’t see anybody else as I was walking around. The streets – if you can call them streets, they’re basically just pedestrian walkways – are lined with bright, white houses in the Cycladic architecture style, often painted with blue trim. Vines of colourful bougainvillea and large green tropical looking leaves peek over the top of walls and around corners. It is unbelievably picturesque, and yet, the pictures don’t do it justice. It just felt so peaceful; like I had been transported to one of the Greek islands as I crept around in silence, trying not to disturb anyone. There aren’t any coffee shops or restaurants or souvenir shops there; it’s just a residential neighbourhood that happens to be beautiful. It is lovely, and you absolutely should visit it if you were there, I only hope that it doesn’t become overrun with people doing professional Instagram shots because that would be a shame and would really ruin it for everyone else.

I descended without seeing another person.

From there I wandered back down to the Plaka and I stopped and had lunch, before walking away from the Plaka. On my walk I passed buskers, visited a few more churches, and made a point of seeking out the Passageway of the Merchants (aka Stoa Emporon). It is very interesting art installation that exists in old alleyway (or ‘stoa’) of now abandoned shops, and hung and hung from the ceiling are old signs for Athenian businesses, clustered together on the roof. If you didn’t know it was an art exhibit you would just think it was a very confusing passageway, It’s pretty cool and worth checking out.

*Passageway of the Merchants (aka Stoa Emporon)*

Exarcheia

I sat down and had a coffee and tried to decide what to do next period I looked on my map and was reading about different areas when I found Exarcheia. Exarcheia is a neighbourhood in Athens known for artists and anarchists, protesters and punk rock. It sounded great.

It was for many years a neighbourhood where many immigrants from the islands lived, but when the university opened several departments there, it became home to intellectuals, artists, and other people on the fringes. It was the location of the Athens Polytechnic uprising against the military government in 1973 in which at least 40 people were killed by the military and was one of the events that led to the fall of the junta the following year. In 2008 the killing of a 15 boy, Alexandros Grigoropoulos, by the police in Exarcheia again sparked massive protests.

*protest graffiti and Alexandros Grigoropoulos*

Today it is maybe the best place in Athens to go take in street art and graffiti. I’m making the distinction there because it does have some beautiful murals as well as graffiti with tags and statements of protest and opposition to the government, the police, capitalism, and tourism.

But it’s not all protest and, it’s also an excellent place to take in cool small local shops, cafes, galleries, and cinema. I was there during the day, so I mostly just wandered around and stopped and had a coffee. I had read that the neighbourhood was dangerous, but it certainly didn’t feel that way, I mean look at this street.

Visiting Exarcheia really gave me the sense that there’s so much more to Athens than I would be able to visit in my three days. There are lots of cool hidden pockets that I wouldn’t have a chance to see, but I would be happy to go back.

Concluding Athens

I finished off my day back in the neighbourhood of Psyrri, near my hostel. I had an obscenely early flight, so I just had a dinner and cigar cap off my time in Athens. Is had been an excellent and culturally diverse trip to Algiers, Nice, Monaco, and Athens. Three new-to-me countries and four great experiences.

In just a few weeks I would head to Nicaragua.

Algiers-Nice-Athens 2024 Greece

Athenian Odyssey – Day 2 of 3

After my arrival the previous day, I awoke on my second day in Athens in my little self-contained rooftop apartment at the City Circus Hostel. I looked out over the city and gazed at my destination: the Parthenon. I didn’t have time to mess around. One of the things you hear most about Athens is that it’s overrun with tourists. Maybe that’s more true in the summertime than in February when I was there, but I wasn’t going to take any chances. I wanted to be there right when they opened at 8:00 AM.

*A bread circle for breakfast and the Tzistarakis Mosque in Monastiraki*

I walked from my hostel to the site. It only took about 22 minutes and was a very pleasant walk through the quiet streets. Buying tickets for the Acropolis seemed a little bit daunting; there were a lot of options: skip-the-line, audio guide package tickets, timed tickets, etc. I just decided to walk up to the ticket gate and buy my ticket in person. I was the first person there when it opened at 8:00. About 5 minutes behind me was a group of three or four other people. It wasn’t until about an hour later that I really noticed an uptick in the number of visitors, but even then there were not many. The ticket to enter was only about €20, which I thought was very reasonable. I think there would have been a lot of reasons to get a guide to explain more of the history, but as I felt a little bit short on time and tend to be a little bit impatient with guides, I just decided to walk around and look at all the ruins on my own.

It was an extremely pleasant visit. The temperature was perfect, the views of the city were great, and, as I said, I felt like I had the place to myself. As far as Greek and Roman ruins go, I’m not always a fan. Sometimes I think they are amazing (e.g., Jerash in Jordan) and other times, if I have to do too much work to imagine what might have been there in the past (e.g., Carthage in Tunisia), I can find them underwhelming. The Acropolis was in the former category. The buildings that are there are still intact (for the most part) and some still have their original decorative carvings on the outside. It is amazing to think how long they have stood there overlooking the city (going back to the 5th century BCE). As impressive as they were, I’m not one to linger, so I probably spent about two hours there before I decided I’d had enough and headed over to the museum.

The Acropolis Museum is just at the base of the Acropolis, so it was the next logical stop. I know not everyone is a museum person, but even if you’re not, I think this is a museum worth visiting. It’s a beautiful modern building with lots of light and it’s filled with incredible artifacts and sculptures. Sure, not everyone gets excited about clay pots, but it’s hard not to be impressed with massive statues, many of which still feature incredible detail including some of the original paint. You can take pictures in most of the museum except in one area where the most impressive and ancient pieces are housed. You’ll have to use your imagination for those or Google them, but it’s truly astonishing. I took way too many pictures and am trying to maybe use something that I saw there as inspiration for a tattoo.

From the museum, I wandered back through the city, walking the streets and meandering my way over to the Central Market, which is a great place to go for fruits, nuts, and skinned goat heads. As far as markets go, it was OK, but I greatly enjoyed having coffee at Mokka, a cafe right by the market on Athinas St., which has been in business since 1923. They still make traditional Greek coffee where the coffee is made in a little pot, similar to Turkish coffee, but it’s heated in sand. Truly, I couldn’t tell the difference between it and Turkish coffee, but either way, it was delicious. I had that and a baklava and watched a bit of the street life before carrying on.

I wandered around some more and headed in the direction of the Hotel Grande Bretagne, where I visited the Alexander Cigar Bar. It is, I think, the only proper cigar lounge that I found in Athens. Maybe they don’t need one because smoking is so acceptable in public, but it was nice to find a little refuge. The bar was beautiful, everything you want in a cigar lounge, from dark woods and paintings to a fireplace and jazz music. They do sell some cigars there but they don’t require that you buy one. I smoked a cigar that I brought with me and had a Negroni. They even brought a little assortment of snacks to accompany the cocktail. I love any cocktail that comes with snacks. Truly, it was a little haven.

From there, I took the subway from outside the parliament buildings to the stop near the National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens (ΕΜΣΤ), for a bit of modern art. I think it was €10 to get in, and it was definitely worth it. It was one of those places that’s full of “weird” art. Interesting installations and video projections with lots of art inspired by political inequality, torture, and identity. I loved it.

I made my way back to the neighbourhood near my hostel. It was dark at this point; I ate another delicious vegetarian dinner with some magical potatoes and smoked a bit of shisha before calling it a day. It was an excellent day; the only downside, if I had to think of one, is that I didn’t really meet anybody. When I went for my coffees, cigars, and shisha, nobody really seemed that interested in chatting. I didn’t meet any other travelers in those places and the locals were, understandably, just content to be with their friends or themselves. But none of that bothered me; I was happy just to have a relaxing day of proper solo traveling.

If that was the end of my time in Athens, I would have been completely satisfied, but I had a third and final day yet to go. I had to do a little bit of research to come up with some additional things to do, but find them I did, including visiting the truly charming Anafiotika neighbourhood. But I shall save that for the third in my trilogy of Athens posts. Read on here.

*So much graffiti & street art in Athens*

Algiers-Nice-Athens 2024 Monaco

A Loser in Monaco

On my third day in Nice, I set out to accomplish the reason that I traveled there in the first place, which was to visit Monaco. Monaco, the second smallest sovereign state in the world (after Vatican City). A dot on the map in the French Riviera famous for yachts, gambling, and royalty. I don’t necessarily have a desire to visit every country in the world, but I just could not leave this European micro-state unvisited by me.

Getting from Nice to Monaco

Monaco makes a perfect day trip from Nice. Clearly, the best way to reach it would be by a car; preferably convertible, hugging the curving highways as you travel east; sunglasses on, a cigarette in your mouth, and the object of your affection by your side. But I don’t know how to drive…so I was going to take the train. When I mentioned this to the staff at my hotel, they assured me that I was making the wrong decision. While normally when given the option between train and bus, train is the better choice, in this case it is not. The train travels inland between Nice and Monaco, while the bus travels the iconic highway along the French Riviera. The people at the hotel assured me that if I did not take the bus I would be missing out on some extraordinary views. Who was I question them?

I left early in the morning from my hotel and took the tram to Port Lympia station. The distance was walkable, but I wanted to get an early start. From the station, just around the corner of a church, was the bus stop for #607 that headed to Monaco. I think it’s a good idea to get there early so that you can queue up, because you really want to get a seat on the right-hand side of the bus so that you can see the views.

tram in Nice

Leaving Nice & the bus to Monaco

Most people taking the bus seemed to be locals going to work. As such, the bus was a pretty relaxing journey. Quiet and comfortable. It even had little USB phone chargers. The whole thing took about an hour.

The views were spectacular. I wished that I could have popped out at every city along the way to have a bit of a wander. The road did indeed hug the curves along the mountains looking down at the sea and charming towns and villages. It was impossible to get good photos, but I tried to snap a few through the window.

view of the Riviera

Arrival in Monaco

Upon arriving in Monaco there are numerous stops where one can disembark. You can go right to Monte Carlo if that’s your scene, but I had a few other things to see first so I got off at the Place d’Armes. This allowed me to visit the palace, cathedral, and aquarium before walking to Monte Carlo. As soon as I got off the bus I took a moment to acknowledge that I was in a new country. There was a farmers market happening and I bought an exquisite pear. Seriously, I’m still thinking about how delicious this pear was.

Arrival in Monaco & The Perfect Pear

On the Steps of the Palace

I then walked up the hill to the palace. Monaco is a monarchy. It also has a Prime Minister, but it is more famous for its monarchy. At the top of the hill along with some excellent views of the harbor and various yachts, was the palace. Normally you can visit it, but on the day that I arrived it was closed.

I went to the Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate where Princess Grace was buried. As a lover of old movies, I was always fascinated by this beautiful actress who went from being an Alfred Hitchcock films to marrying a Prince and moving to Europe. I paid my respects to moved on.

*walking around near the palace and cathedral*

The Oceanographic Museum

It was a beautiful walk to The Oceanographic Museum. An aquarium? Really? I’m not normally one to visit such a place, but I had heard that the aquarium in Monaco was indeed worth visiting. The museum was inaugurated in 1911 and is housed in a beautiful Bella pock building that clings to a Cliff over the Mediterranean. For a glimpse inside alone, it’s worth buying a ticket. The facility was headed Jacques Cousteau for nearly 30 years. This isn’t the sort of problematic aquarium where orcas are going to leap out of the water for your amusement. This is more of a scientific type of aquarium and the animals on display are primarily things like fish and eels. I thoroughly enjoyed walking through and seeing the beautiful displays of fish as well as the museum portion of the building which contained fascinating relics from naval and Arctic expeditions. It was also pleasant to get out of the sun for about an hour.

The Casino de Monte-Carlo

From the aquarium, I walked towards Monte Carlo. Now I felt like I was really seeing Monaco. The streets were beautiful and everyone looked wealthy. Beautiful cars and expensive looking shops. It was a short walk. My destination: the Casino de Monte-Carlo.

Arriving to the area in front of the casino there were art displays of Princess Grace and Prince Ranier III as well as depictions of Hollywood stars like Frank Sinatra (with whom Grace starred in ‘High Society’).

My first order of business is walking to the local cigar store to check out the selection. Prices were not too bad so I bought a handful of Cuban cigars and made my way over to the Café de Paris on the square in front of the Casino de Monte-Carlo.

*the Cafe de Paris patio and view of the Casino; my newly purchased cigars.*

The casino closes from noon to 2:00 every afternoon. I had arrived in that blackout, so I decided to have a drink (or two) on the patio of the Café de Paris. It is the perfect spot. It is a large patio with everyone facing towards the square looking at the beautiful buildings and the casino, watching the people coming and going. It is definitely a place with a lot of tourists, but also locals and wealthy visitors. There was a fleet of luxury cars parked out front and on the day that I visited there was also a gaggle of paparazzi pointing their cameras at the casino, but I don’t know for who or what. I know it wasn’t for me.

I had an excellent time sitting on the patio. I had a cigar and two negronis and felt pretty good by myself. The servers were very friendly. All the while I was steeling my nerves to go into the casino and try my hand at roulette.

I am not a gambler. I don’t like casinos, and I think gambling is silly unless you just really enjoy the rush of doing it. I do not enjoy that rush. I would much rather just have my money in my pocket and spend it on something that I like; however, I wasn’t coming all the way to Monte Carlo and not trying a game in the casino. I had decided that I would play roulette because slots are lame and I don’t know how to play any card games.

I did some studying before I went to Monte Carlo, to figure out if there was any strategy to roulette (apart from “always bet on black”) or what the etiquette about it was. I think this was a good idea, because before doing this research I somehow thought that I got to spin the roulette wheel. Apparently, that is a faux pas.

One can enter the lobby of the casino and have a look around the lobby for free. But if you want to enter the gaming salons, you need two things: one is your passport. Seriously, do not go to Monaco without your passport. As well, you need to pay an entry fee. You pay €20 to enter the casino, but if you enter after 2:00pm, €10 of that you can use for drinks or games in the casino. I thought it was quite reasonable.

The interior of the casino is gorgeous. The gaming tables make it seem very ‘James Bond’. The room that has the slot machines in it feels a bit tacky, but the main room is excellent. I felt like a huge fraud walking inside. I don’t gamble, I’m not rich, and I didn’t know what I was doing.

I walked over to the bar and used my €10 voucher towards an espresso martini. I sat down on one of the sofas and watched the action. Unfortunately smoking is not allowed inside, or I would have lit a cigar immediately. It has the kind of atmosphere that begs to be smoked in.

I tried to look cool and watch people playing games. Photos are not allowed inside but I did sneak one just for the sake of my own memory.

I finished my drink and I walked up to one of the roulette tables. There was a couple at it playing roulette; middle-aged European; they clearly knew what they were doing. I had exchanged €120 into chips. A friend had given me €60 to play on the table, and I decided to match their €60 with €60 of my own. This was the most that I have ever spent on gambling and probably ever will.

I didn’t really have a strategy, but I wanted the moment to last for as long as possible so I made small, simple bets in the hopes that I would win something.

The European couple realized that I didn’t know what I was doing and gave me some advice. They were quite kind. I would have thought that people gambling in Monte Carlo would have been snobby, but these people were not. I didn’t exactly feel comfortable, but I didn’t feel unwelcome

Each time the wheel was spun (sounding to me more like ‘The Price in Right’ than ‘Casino Royle’) I had a little flicker of hope that maybe I would double my money and walk out a winner. One time I did win something, and decided to let it ride. Then I lost. Indeed, on every hand other than that one, I lost my money. It didn’t take long before my 120 euros was gone.

I had a good time, but I was a little disappointed that I didn’t walk out winning something. Or at least breaking even. I know that the reason that casinos are so rich is because people generally lose, but I couldn’t help but think that maybe I would be different. Maybe I would have a magical Monte Carlo gambling experience. But, nope.

Leaving Monaco

I walked out of the casino feeling like a loser. I was a loser. I looked around at the square and the fancy cars and the fancy cafe and I was just done with it. The sun seemed too hot, the sky too bright, and I just wanted to get out of there. I walked to the bus stop and waited for the next bus back to Nice. I couldn’t get back fast enough; maybe it was the three cocktails I’d had or the heat, or the fact that I had not eaten since I had the pear, but I started to feel a little bit sick and I just wanted to be back in Nice.

Reflections & Moving on

Monaco was an excellent day trip. It was easy and fun and different. I’m even glad that I gambled even, though it was clearly a huge waste of money, but I think that’s the last time for me. I was much happier smoking my cigars and walking around then I was spinning away my money. But I’ll try anything once.

I had a final night in Nice; dinner in a cigar. The next morning, I had a morning flight to Athens, via Paris.

Wandering North

Athenian Odyssey – Day 1 of 3

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Morning Stuff

The Plaka

Anafiotika

Exarcheia

Concluding Athens

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Getting from Nice to Monaco

Arrival in Monaco

On the Steps of the Palace

The Oceanographic Museum

The Casino de Monte-Carlo

Leaving Monaco

Reflections & Moving on

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