Athens

We just returned from a whirlwind weekend in Athens. We visited the port of Piraeus as part of a cruise over the summer, but opted not to go into the city since the temperature was 105 and we were traveling with 2000 of our closest friends and another 14,000 acquaintances on other ships in the harbor. We agreed that we would return this fall and check it out.

Here are some impressions. Several longer posts will follow as I organize my thoughts.

• The airport in Athens is smaller than FCO, but cleaner and nicer.
• Greek shopkeepers are generally nicer than their Italian counterparts. The Greeks can be a tad pushy, but they genuinely want your business.
• The weather was 15 degrees warmer in Athens and that was nice for a change.
• Greeks were friendlier. When we were standing with a map looking for our hotel, 2 people asked if they could help us in the span of 2 minutes. One of them actually gave us helpful directions. Later a passerby helped us find a particular shop Amy was looking for.
• More Greeks know English than Italians and they aren’t shy about using it.
• The Acropolis is spectacular, but there are better preserved Greek temples than the Parthenon on Sicily.
• Greek yogurt is excellent.
• There are LOTS of stray cats and dogs in Athens.
• No street protests, all was calm. Based on the throngs of people in the high end shops near Syntagma Square, there isn’t a real recession in Greece.
• Hadrian liked Athens.
• The peak of Greek/Athenian culture was (unfortunately) 2500 years ago.