Athens Overnight
By Helen Grubner. Filed in Uncategorized |
My eagerly awaited trip to Athens to see Jethro Tull play at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus on their 50th Anniversary Tour had finally arrived. Perfect occasion I thought to christen the dress I bought 3 years ago… snapped myself in the mirror before setting off.
What a pleasant experience it was to travel on the ferry unencumbered by luggage. As we docked in Piraeus on time at 7.45pm, I made a quick change of plan to take a taxi to the Theatre rather than the Metro… E20 as opposed to E1.40 and a walk from Monasteraki around the Acropolis, however, more or less stress free. You see, Antonis my driver expressed concern for my safety alone in Athens at night. He gave me his card and said I could call him anytime up until 2.30am and he would pick me up from wherever and take me back to Piraeus for free. His intentions may well have been sound but I did wonder what he thought we would do until my ferry at 7.15am. Needless to say I passed up on the offer but the taxi ride to the Theatre did enable me to procure a much better seat as it was General Admission in the upper section I had booked. 30 minutes from arriving in Piraeus I was seated at the Herodion as Greeks like to call it and waiting.
As most of you will know, Jethro Tull or more to the point, Ian Anderson is my favourite artist of all time. He can certainly play the flute and acoustic guitar as well as he has ever done and his antics on stage are admirable for a man of his years. However, as a vocalist he is struggling now and I knew that would be the case but personally it doesn’t really bother me. Musically I preferred the Auckland concert 2 years ago… the repertoire in Athens was more geared to celebrating the 50 years and we didn’t get to hear many of their more well known songs. But what they did play included Heavy Horses, Aqualung, Too Old to Rock and Roll Too Young to Die and as in Auckland, Locomotive Breath as an encore. But the atmosphere and light show at the Herodion was spectacular! So pleased that I went, would not have wanted to miss out on such a wonderful opportunity.
The next question on my mind was what to do in Athens by night with 8 hours to kill. Left the venue and strolled with the crowd, past the Acropolis Museum all alight and with the Moon and Jupiter up above. Sat in the Plaka to drink a couple of ouzo until that establishment closed around 2.15am then walked to Monasteraki, intending to find a Bar in the Psyri/Gazi neighborhood where I could pass some more time. I will be honest and say that I did feel vulnerable out on the street alone but then as I was videotaping some African musos in Monasteraki Square, a group of young people, who also got filmed in the video, invited me to join them to go to a Bar called “Boiler” so I went along. As one reviewer describes it “the place for dancing, drinking and meeting the party people of Athens… the hip tourists, the queers, the punks, the ravers, everyone with an open heart and mind”.
In the group there were 3 guys, including Jack from Cape Cod… a real character whose generosity knew no bounds and 3 girls aged around 22 from Montreal. In particular, Kylee a ceramic artist and I seemed to click and as she expressed an interest in perhaps one day trying her hand at glasswork, I suggested she may like to come to Whanganui for that and potentially could board with me.
It was such a fun filled night but some time after 5.00am as I made my way to the Metro station and on to Piraeus and my ferry, I realized how completely exhausted I felt. Asking myself why I had been crazy enough to think I could stay up all night out on the town without a price to pay? Was it worth it for the memories? Yes, without a doubt!
