On Winged Words...: Lykavittos Hill— and what you see when you take the time to really look at what's around you...

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around for a while, you could miss it."

- Ferris Bueller's Day Off

As cliché as this quote (and the countless others like it) might seem---there's a depth and a truth hidden in these words that resonates, in these last three weeks, yes, many times. And one day I'm thinking of in particular.

Last Sunday, a friend and I took off on an adventure to the highest point in Athens (ironically, that point is not the Acropolis, which technically translates as “highest point in the city”; for water reasons, the actual Acropolis takes second place in this elevation category, but that's another story for another day for another blog post...).

Now, at this point, we had been in Greece for a little over two weeks. We’d been spending our time getting settled; adjusting to a new place, new way of life, new everything!; exploring and ultimately just trying to soak up absolutely every last drop of life here. On this particular Sunday we found ourselves with time and a thirst to explore. After investigating a few potential activities to fill our evening, we set our sights on seeing Athens from a new angle, and made plans to make our way to Lykavittos Hill, the highest point in Athens.

After successfully navigating our way downtown to Evangelismos via bus and metro, we started walking down Plutarchou Street. Our objective was to head toward Lykavittos Hill, but we realized 10 minutes into our anticipated 6 minute walk that we were headed in the wrong direction. You know that saying about needing to take the time to stop and look around or you’ll miss out on life? Well, cliché as it might be, there is a lot of truth embedded within. We needed to take our eyes off the sidewalk (treacherous though it may be!) to look up and see the beauty and the splendor that was around us—and to see the big hill that was behind us, indicating which direction we should actually go!

But it was fine. ‘Twas a pleasant evening, the perfect evening for a walk. And we ended up stumbling upon this cool mural on the side of a building; the artistic paints depicted a scene of a boy riding on a dragon, dragging a house behind it, uprooting said house from the tangles of the mountains of technology which bog our society down. Chock full of symbolism, this picture made you think, and was really pretty cool. So it was a nice detour that showed us some new sights and brought us to another cliché or two. Silver lining and all that jazz. Sure, we walked in the wrong direction and felt kind of silly, but in the end we saw so much more than we would have had we gone the right way right away. And besides, isn’t life about the journey and not the destination?? J

Retracing our steps, we headed back now in the right direction and made our way back to where we started; then we continued to the base of the hill; then began the trek that would take us to the top of the hill. It was definitely an uphill climb. Part way up the steps we stopped for a moment to rest and then looked behind us. Our breath caught in our throats as our eyes caught sight of the city spreading out in all directions right in front of us. It was incredible. And we weren’t even half way up the 920 foot hill yet! (you can convert that to the metric system if you want—I’m too busy living life to be bothered learning a new system of measurement :p Besides, I’m sure there’s an app for that…)

Trying to take it all in, we were reminded again of the lesson we learned only moments ago: take the time to look up, look backward, look all around you—and really see where you are. Be where you are in that moment.

We kept climbing, getting to the stop for the funicular car that you could pay to take you up. But concerned about lighting on the way down we opted to just keep climbing. And I’m glad we did. Sure, it was physically taxing, but stopping every so often to look out at the city below was good not only to recover some of the breath and energy we were expending, but also to fill us again with the splendor of an absolutely incredible view. You could see for miles in any direction. 360 degrees of breathtaking sights.

See the tops of the buildings as you climb higher. See the patterns the roads create. See a few very clearly delineated avenues. See the Panathenaic Olympic Stadium where you'll run to in just under two months. See the Acropolis and the Parthenon, which you once climbed to and now look down upon. See the port of Piraeus where you'll leave on a ferry that will take you to one of the many islands of Greece next weekend. See a few of those islands in the distance sitting like mountains in the water. Oh, it's incredible.

Absolutely incredible.

And you can't stop now. Keep climbing. For the view from the top is even more spectacular. All around. All around amazing.

And now that you’re at the top, let your tourist side show and stop to take some pictures. Let the breezy wind hit the drops of sweat on your arms, legs, neck, forehead, back, and cool you down. Suck in huge amounts of air. And smile as you try to take it all in. Just smile because that’s the only reaction that fits.

It was perfect timing, really. We made it up in time to see the sights in the light of day. We had time to rest and talk over dinner in the coolness of the evening, in the light of the setting sun. And the sunset, too, was incredible. Sinking quickly behind the mountainous island, the sun's light then lingered still in the shades and colors it cast on the night sky, before fading completely as the city lights took over.

It was just a good night all around. Filled with clichés that are actually filled with truth. Filled with friendship and extraordinary sights. A good way to end the weekend. A good way to start the new week.

A good reminder to stop, take a moment, look, really see what’s around you, be in the moment. Don’t miss out on the life that surrounds you…

The silver lining of walking 10 minutes in the wrong direction :)

(photo credit: Bridget)

view from the first rest stop

Incredible

Looking down on the Acropolis from the actual highest location in Athens.

Take a moment...

Stop...

And look...

See...

The beauty that surrounds you...

But as with everything, you have to find a balance: look up, but also pay attention where you're going, because there are slippery floors everywhere--even on the side of a hill...