Travel - International Indian

‘‘After thetour ofthe threeislands,we sailedback toPiraeusin themidst ofa glorioussunsetthatseemedto set thesea onfire. Dinnerwas atan Indianrestaurant,calledIskander.‘‘cold countries. Hydra has a very cute little fortwith cannons mounted on top. The only modeof travel there is the donkey. Like Venice, Italy,no motorized vehicles of any kind are allowedon the island. Aegina had pistachio groves—the fruit was on the branches and I had atough time resisting the urge to pluck some.Some of our group bought some at the factory,to take home. Wesaw the church ofSt Nektarios of theGreek OrthodoxChurch, the patronsaint for health.High on a hillockwas a nunnerywhich appearedtotally isolated—far enough to keepoutsiders away.After thetour of the threeislands, we sailedback for Piraeus inthe midst of a glorious sunset which seemedto set the sea on fire. Dinner was at an Indianrestaurant, called Iskander run by a Bangladeshiyoung man who has been living in Athens forthe past 17 years. The place was chock-a-blockwith all kinds of trivia from India—so if therewas a Ganesha statue in one place, there werejharokhas from Rajasthan in another, mirrorsdotted the ceiling – altogether a potpourriwhich made us all feel very much at home.That the food was nostalgia plus was actuallypar for the course!He told us how young Bangladeshi boyswere shelling out as much as 20,000 euros toget to Greece. Once they are in Athens, theydo menial jobs, live in cramped quarters andkeep hoping things will get better!Day Four: City Tour and Temple ofPoseidonWe were taken around the main landmarksof the city, stopping only for photographs. Wepassed by Hadrian’s Arch which was built towelcome the Roman emperor. We caught thechange of guard at the Parliament—the Greeksoldier’s formal attire including the pompomson their shoes dates back at least a couple ofhundred years. We passed by the NumismaticMuseum or the Schliemann House, a numberof churches and cathedrals and then headedout to the Acropolis, scene of my nearmisadventure.Can anyone really do justice to theAcropolis (acro=summit, polis=city) and theParthenon? The entire might of so manythousands of years of rule, in spite of so manychange of handsor because of it,the pomp andmight has notdiminished. Thesheer size of theParthenon and itsmighty columns,its caryatids andits pediments withtheir rich carvings,can perhapscompare to theancient templesand courtyards ofIndia where theartisans spent a lifetime shaping the exquisitestatues and columns.Sidewalk cafe on The Plaka-the heart of Athens (Photo by: Shyamola Khanna)With our heads full of Persians, Romans andGreek gods, we returned to mother earth. Wewent to Manh Manh (pronounced maanaymaanay) for some great Greek food fromthe island of Mani. Yanni, our host, servedus some excellent food and dipping into thefresh crunchy salad, while awaiting our maincourse, we learned that the bread is eaten withbalsamic vinegar and olive oil - butter was ano-no! There was chicken and of course plentyof cheese and humus and some delightfulorange cake for dessert.After lunch we were to travel to Sounion,which is on the southern most tip of thepeninsula of Attica. Our destination was theTemple of Poseidon, the columns of which stilltower over the last point jutting out into thesea. A magnificent view and an overpoweringsense of history…yet a niggling sense of déjàvu…isn’t this place a lot like Kanyakumariin India where three seas meet and the landpoints jut out into the sea?Shyamola Khanna is a freelance writerbased in HyderabadThe International Indian 43