The Quiet of Athens

Unexpected magic

Photo by Spencer Davis on Unsplash

Athens is quiet, and I am surprised. I thought staying in downtown would be noisy and bustling, but even on Friday night there is a sense of calm and collective harmony. We ate dinner on a rooftop filled with other diners with an incredible view of the Parthenon last night. And it was quiet. And lovely.

Every person we have met has shown us kindness and such pride in their city. The food, inexpensive and utterly delicious, what we mean by farm to table back home is every meal here. No meal comes without a free delight, be it little cookies to accompany cappuccino, utterly gorgeous chocolates at the end of dinner, a few olives before.

I know there are busier places in the city of Athens, but am so grateful I landed here first.

More surprises included a tour of the Acropolis and its new museum that felt more like a college seminar than a tour. The guides here must train for months to be certified. They learn about art, archeology, religion and more. Kate, our guide, took our understanding of the curriculum seriously, though there were a few students who could not have looked more bored. I was utterly engaged for three hours.

The street food tour afterwards was delicious but nothing compared to Kate.

More to come from our enneagram yoga retreat in Paros.

Two of Wands

The Two of Wands reminds me of what it is like to look out from the top of the Acropolis, what the people of Athens might have felt looking out over their country, a sense of awe and pride and hope and possibility. The Two of Wands asks us to imagine what the possibility of our lives looks like, while reminding us also to stay grounded, solid in who we are.

The Two of Wands is about goals and achievement, literally holding the whole world in your hands. Surveying the buildings, waters, mountains, our figure knows he can achieve what he sets out to do as long as he is courageous. Our figure is wealthy, and the rich and male definitely held the upper hand in Athenian culture, but Athens is also considered the cradle of democracy, and though the democracy was far from perfect, as it still is now, the concept was new and exciting, and in so many ways right-thinking.

Athens has given me a new perspective on this card.

xo Hanna