Where the Apostle Paul stood

Imagine being a goat herder in the first century A.D. and, with tremulous curiosity, entering Athens for the first time. It must have been a terrifying sight. The 6-story columns at the Temple of Olympian Zeus alone would send me back to the safety of my backcountry hut. Athenians at the time were falling over themselves to pay respects to Zeus, Athena, Poseidon and the other gods and goddesses on Mount Olympus. Zeus could issue thunderclaps and set the sky ablaze with streaks of lightning. Athena was a font of wisdom and good counsel. Hades kept a three-headed dog. They could all kick your ass.

So imagine the audacity it took for St. Paul to set foot in Athens in 51 A.D., stand on Aeropagus Rock, below, and issue his "Men of Athens" speech, recounted in the Bible's Book of Acts. "I see that you are very religious," he began, going on to suggest their worship was misplaced. My god is neither brutal nor jealous; give him a try. I'm kind of surprised he made it out alive. Pilgrims from around the world continue to climb atop the slippery rock to sing hymns and pray.

From here I hunted down the legendary lamb chops at Το Στέκι Του Ηλία (Επταχάλκου 5). Hot off the coals, they made for the best meal of my trip thus far. Do not miss this place.

And no, you may not.

There is a lot of idle chatter on the intertubes about how Athens is a shithole, Europe's ugliest capital, and on and on. Please don't fall for this nonsense. It is no tarted-up toy town, but it has a wonky dynamism that is fast making it one of my very favorite places on the continent. It is, as the writer Naguib Mahfouz famously said of Cairo, "like meeting your beloved in her old age." Or to put it another way, like finding an onion ring in a bag of fries.

Next

Previous

Comments

The Acropolis

In one of his letters, Freud describes a trip to Athens with his brother. Upon seeing the Holy Rock he said he remembered thinking, "So this all really does exist, just as we learned in school!" He went on to explain that he never disbelieved the existence of the Acropolis, but that he did doubt he would ever see it in person. "There was something dubious and unreal about the situation." Sing it, my man. At least twice on this trip I have turned to a stranger and said, "I can't believe I'm here." There is a shared exuberance on the hilltop. People skip with joy, handing their phones to strangers, hoping for a perfectly framed photo. Often, the picture-taker will return the request: "Now do me!" I noticed a similar giddiness among visitors at the Baalbek ruins. Maybe it has to do with the colossal nature of these monuments. They are not relatable on a human scale, leaving us a bit dizzy. There are many ways to attack Acropolis Hill, bu...

2 more stupendous meals

My thought after visiting any taverna or ouzeri in Athens (aside from wow, my stomach is really distended) is that the cookery exudes a mature confidence. The menus tend to look similar, with kitchen staffs more interested in honing than experimenting. I can't remember ever eating this well in Europe. Granted, in the more expensive northern cities I tend to throw together quick meals on the stovetop ... but still. There's something about the intersection of sun and sea: vine-ripened vegetables, fish just pulled from the Mediterranean, and always these damned flaky cheese pastries leading me to my destruction. While I dine, I jot down observations in a notebook ― the old habit of a newspaperman. I have caught chefs and servers noticing this; it seems to gratify them. Maybe they are just amused. In a Thanksgiving act of solidarity with my countrymen, I went in search of something resembling a turkey dinner. The closest thing I could find was this slowly braised rooster in a fr...

Athens sunsets

I have the rooftop to myself. Anybody in the 7-story building can come up here, but nobody does. I am fortunate ― a different apartment or neighborhood, a vindictive landlord (they exist) , could have made this a very different trip. Watching the rain come down on a cool evening knowing that I can pop out and get a dark Fix beer and chicken souvlaki at the same place, be back home in less than 5 minutes and unwrap the sandwich while it's still hot has made this the perfect getaway. Urban density at its best. Previous Next

336 hours in Athens

Search This Blog