Athens: Pickpockets and Ports

The goal of our trip to Greece was to relax on the exotic beaches of a Greek island, and the only way to get there was to stay in Athens for a few nights first. Flying into one of the islands is very expensive, and I figured we would take a few days in Athens to adjust to Greece, where even the letters are strange and unfamiliar. And while we were there, we could take the opportunity to go and see some of the oldest and most famous buildings in the world which also happen to be foundational to Western Civilization! You know, just as a side project.

Greek Translation of "Retail Therapy"

Athens was one of those things that makes trips so fun and worthwhile- a pleasant surprise. I expected it to be dirty, big, loud and difficult to navigate. But we found that the metro system was well laid out and had stops at every major attraction, and that the area around our hotel (the Plaka) was pedestrian friendly and crowded with shoe stores, little restaurants, souvenir shops and little round-roofed churches made of red and yellow brick. The hotel itself was good but cheap, served an excellent breakfast, and sported an old-fashioned elevator with nothing but metal grate doors at every floor (it’s fun seeing the floors flash by as you ride up!). The first night we got there we loitered in the streets around our hotel and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the place. Cobblestone roads lined with shops out of which the shop people pop to try and persuade you to come in, lots of scarves and jewelry, restaurants with outdoor tables and waiters who also accost you and try to get you to come in, little yellow taxis honking at each other and most of all Shoe Stores. Racks of leather sandals of every variety and color, all cute and of good quality and temptingly cheap. The shoe-shopping girls’ dream, really. Luckily I was able to limit myself to buying only one pair, but it was an act of the will. Also there were stores selling spices and olives, stores full of items beautifully crafted out of olive wood, music stores selling bouzoukis (a round-bodied mandolin) and every now and then a roadside cart peddling paper bags full of all different kinds of nuts. Chocolate-coated cashews, pistachios, caramel-coated peanuts and these little red nuts that I could not identify. Around these carts old Greek men would be clustered playing cards and shooting the breeze, talking all at once and cracking nuts in their hands. We ate at a lovely tavern in a quiet courtyard where they gave us impeccable service and a free dessert of crumbly warm honey cake.

These dogs just lie around everywhere in Greece like they are dead...

On Sunday we had planned to see the sights and sallied forth maps in hand, trying to recall what we had learned in our History of Western Civilization classes about Ancient Greece. As we approached the Acropolis I found myself excited to see the famous Parthenon, one of the most beautiful buildings in the world despite its state of disrepair. I’m not big into history but felt that this is one place you really need to see if you get the chance. We walked into the Acropolis Park and up to the gate, only to find that it was closed tight! One of the vagrant dogs that populate Athens in hordes stared up at us lazily from his spot flopped on the ground while we peered mournfully through the bars at the Wonder of the World we could not approach. And it was the same story for every major sight we went to see, until we stopped to think for a moment and realized that it was… Labor Day. Suddenly the riot in the streets over the train strike that we had seen earlier made sense, and we realized that our sightseeing was not meant to be. At least we were able to see a few things through the metal bars that seperated us from History and Art! The Temple of Zeus in particular was very close to the gates and easy to see, and really a neat ruin.

Locked out of the Acropolis

SWAT team type people with gas masks coming to break up the Labor Day protest

Our consolation was found in enjoying a quiet beer and some stuffed tomatoes at a street side café in the Athens Flea Market. The café had a view of the Ancient Agora and the Acropolis, and was set back from yet looked out onto the busy pedestrian main street of the flea market, a prime spot for people watching. We thought our trials were over, and relaxed into our seats despite the curt waiter and the sounds of the street. But our peace was again disturbed by a teenage boy approaching our table and asking for money, mournfully yet persistently. I had to practically yell at him to get him to leave, and as he walked away I found myself thinking with irritation that there was no peace to be found in this city.

But I hadn’t even realized the worst of it. As he turned to go, I saw that behind the sign he clutched a fifty euro bill. I glanced down at the table and realized that it was in fact our fifty euro bill that we had placed on the table for the waiter to pay for our meal. Little Mr. Quick Fingers had pulled the wool over our eyes and was escaping with our money. What ensued is kind of a blur. Apparently I jumped up rather energetically from the table with a dark face and ran after the boy, shouting “HEY! NO! Oh no you don’t!!” But all I remember was my thought process: ok he might be fast, but there is a giant crowd of Japanese tourists blocking the road, there’s no way he can get through, I have a clear path to him … ok if I start my spring in a few feet I will jump and collide with him and tackle him, I’m bigger than him so I can easily take him down and them I can somehow wrest that money out of his hands.. That and the dismay on the boy’s face as he looked back to see me in hot pursuit, which only heightened my determination to regain our pilfered cash. Tessie says I had an intent look on my face like a hunting tigress after her prey. Fortunately the waiters at the restaurant realized what was happening and two of them tackled the boy before I could carry out my hare-brained scheme, while the fifty euro bill fluttered gently to the ground. I snatched it up and returned to my seat feeling nettled yet triumphant, my heart thumping with adrenaline, while the waiters manhandled the boy in the background knocking over several chairs and a podium in their struggle.

Our waiter was quite nice and respectful to us after that.

At the cafe where we were almost relieved of some of our wealth

Despite a few small challenges Athens was a great experience, and our first taste of Greece was filled with new and exciting flavors! The Greeks talk a lot with their hands, almost more than the Italians but with more contained and purposeful motions. Shop and restaurant owners are friendly to the point of being obsequious, and it’s a game of wits to keep them from adding extra charges onto the bill or talking you into buying things. They can also be generous, though, usually adding in a free dessert or giving you little items for free. I found their overly friendly and jovial manner off-putting at first, but once you know how it's fun to banter back and forth and insist on the seating you want or decline an extra charge. We didn’t meet many non-tourism related Greeks, but we did run into a man named Pani on the ferry with whom we struck up a conversation. He was fiercely patriotic, and actually said something similar to the father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding about most English words coming from Greek words. Once we got him on the subject of Greek music, he pulled out his laptop and played a variety of old and new Greek songs, explaining each one building a case for the superiority Greek composers and songwriters. He was friendly, opinionated, and clever, and wanted to talk about American politics and the impact of American culture on Greece as well as tell us all the best places to go in Greece and the best food to eat. When I do get the opportunity to talk to the locals, it's one of the things I enjoy most because it gives real insight into the culture and way of life in a country that you just don't get as a tourist. 

Greek Salad!

Greek Beer- Alfa

Speaking of which, I’d be remiss if I did not give a short description of Greek food! Warm pita bread is paired with a variety of dips as an appetizer, either with creamy fava (like hummus but made from fave beans) flavored with olives and dill or cool garlicky tzaziki garnished with cucumbers. French fries are not considered fast food but are seen as a vegetable, and are served with nice full-course meals as a side dish and placed with tomatoes and cucumbers and other vegetables to enhance a gyro pita. Gyros are shaved off, seasoned pieces of meat roasted on a rotisserie spit over a grill that come with pita and tzaziki and vegetables. And are AMAZING. Moussaka is a kind of Greek lasagna, of which the bottom is eggplant, meat and spices and the top layer is a kind of fluffy white layer that melts in your mouth (I looked it up, it's called bechamel sauce). And my favorite dish, the Greek salad, is made up of fresh ripe vegetables like cucumber and zucchini and tomato and olives chopped up and topped with olive oil, spices and a slab of crumbly feta cheese. Common desserts include custard topped with honey, grainy loose honey cake and Greek yoghurt drizzled with honey. This just covers the food we actually tried, there were other dishes such as Greek meatballs and lamb chops that we never got around to ordering. Mostly because we got stuck on the gyros and didn’t want to try anything new.

View from the Acropolis Park

Ferries continue to be the cause of my rapid posting rate. I got off my last ferry today, and am in Ancona for a night before moving on to France in the morning. I treated my ferry trip like a mini cruise, enjoying a Warsteiner with peanuts on the sunny upper deck and such things. I enjoyed a last evening in Italy tonight, having appetizers and a drink followed by gelato and a stroll through the center of Ancona. Tomorrow its on to the next big thing, the quaint city of Annecy, France, called the Venice of France because of its canal roads and the last stop on my tour of southern Europe. I’m hoping that the baguettes and brie will abound!