Athens, Greece

From the moment you step onboard the plane, you know that the Greeks are very loud and have no sense of personal space. Line cutting is common in their culture I believe (it’s not seen as rude, I hear Italians are the same way), as it’s first come first served, a friggin free for all. I enjoyed watching from my seat as people would line up for the bathroom, at one point -nine in line… and standing basically on top of one another. Even the stewardess was very close to the last person in line… I’m sorry… But back off!!! If I can feel you or smell your private parts while standing in line…. You are too close to me!! I’m adjusting in my seat right now.

Athens… I land at 11pm or 23:00 as everything is on the 24hr scale… I look around and all I see are letters that look like pictures and mean nothing to me. Ahhh… the English brochure, good… bus transit… filled with names that I have no idea how to pronounce… I realize quickly that in order to find my way 30 miles to my lodging, before the bus system stops (midnight), that I am going to have to be quick on my heals. I match destinations names to the map… point and ask… point and ask… point and ask… finally… someone that speaks a little Italian… I speak Spanish… but I’ll take what I can at this point. Bought ticket, board bus… saw IKEA on the way… smiled at something familiar… missed my stop… lucky for me the next stop could not have been worse.

I was thinking… are you fucking kidding me? People that are half-alive from drugs… leaning, laying, swaying, like zombies…. Not kidding… two young girls run up to board the bus… I think (maybe even out loud) if they are okay… I’ll be fine. I jump out. If only I could have taken pictures of this real moment, my face became hot. I paused for a second to see something like 50 people in despair and completely high. Prostitutes to no end. I began to panic in my mind… if these people swarm me, I’ll have nothing, I can’t take them all. Instead of staying on this side of the street, maybe I’ll cross. I look across where some of the same characters were looking back at me… now, I know I’m fresh meat… but this is ridiculous.

Me, my large bag, and wonderful electronics. I ran into the street and onto the median and began backtracking very quickly… thinking… with plenty of cars driving fast at this hour (city was thriving)… they won’t have a chance of stealing my shit and surviving – they’ll be run over. A few blocks later I see three cops conversing -smoking… I ask for directions… they were all attractive (as I would find out the next day… all of the police force that I would see, women and men, are very fit and very attractive… *grin*) something was a bit off though on my night one… the main police officer I spoke to seemed like he was peering through me, as if thinking, how can I benefit from this situation. You get the feeling in your gut and you run with it… so I did… “I think it is over here, thank you gentleman.” I didn’t look back… but I did here laughter. Laughter is better than what was going through my mind. “Hurry.”

I don’t think we are in Kansas anymore.

I arrive with other arrivals and the staff is welcoming… what an evening.

Welcome to Athens… the scene… I decided to get up early, 7am to get an early start for sightseeing… the ruins. Ummm which ruins… the city itself or the ancient 3000 year old columns? I had no idea what Athens was like. I thought initially that perhaps I was in a bad neighborhood… no… it’s all the same after you get to the inner city…. around the ruins… everywhere. Imagine the border of Mexico and any state in the US… it’s very similar… only I don’t share the same family style bond with the people, due to having no knowledge of the language.

After spending time traveling miles on foot, buses, and trains… I realized that this city is kept warm by a giant blanket of graffiti…. Everywhere you can imagine, subway doors, cars, marble pylons that support buildings, houses, and even on some of the ancient ruins. I wandered into a bonanza/bazaar style setting and found that there were paint shops and skateboard shops that dedicated massive amounts of merchandise to spray paint. This form of self expression really gives the city the sense, that you can do whatever you want, with no repercussions. I described the surface of the city to myself, as having the same cleanliness, texture, and warmth as the bottom of my shoe. Just my fair observation.

The People… would look at me as I walk down the street and quiet down as I approach… could be my silly haircut, my self confidence or dashing good looks. Yeah the latter I think. Bah. They were nice for the most part… I was often asked in broken English when I approached people for directions, “Italian? Or Italy?”… I’d say “America,” and our connection of energies would disconnect. I don’t think the fondness of American culture is embraced here… at all. The older men seem the most grounded and calm when approached, the woman tend to have that questioning look in their eye, and the 20 something’s just look like they are about to get into some trouble.

I asked Eddie, my incredibly, helpful, hardworking, happy, and overall great guy, if I had to have something to eat that cannot be missed, what would it be? He told me to have a “giro” (not gyro, as Eddie pointed out) with pork and chicken… filled with a cucumber sauce, red onions, lettuce and french-fries on toasted pita bread.

A little mental note to self…I found out that it is impossible to grab a haircut on Sundays, as I was told multiple times that the Greeks don’t work on Sundays, I wasn’t happy with that answer… obviously.

Eddie mentioned that the “paki’s” or Pakistanians, would have shops open and that if I cover a great area… I might find a barber open. I wander around streets North of Omonia Square… I discover women of all ages standing on different streets, sometimes in/under doorway ledges, or plainly out in the street corner, never ceasing their opportunity to find work – day or night…. Ahhh yes… The women of easy virtue.

As I politely deny them of their services, my mind begins to wonder on what exactly it is that I smell… I see a woman using a powered tool to cut the massive meat on a rotating device for a hungry customer. This must be the giro… only 2 euro ($2.58). She asks what I want… I say “a giro.”

“How would you like it?” she said. I tell her I’ve never had one and that I like everything. She smiles and takes her time… go figure… here too. Woman, I’m going to jump over this counter and lock my jaws on all that meat, and spin around on the thing till I’m full. Hurry! *Finger snap*

She asks me if it’s take away… “For here please.” Outdoor seating. I admire the people on the street as I take my first bite… you ever have that taste in your mouth that you cannot get enough of? I was thinking I don’t want this meal to ever end… it was that good… I’m eating and watching a boy in a yellow shirt across the street, looks pretty put together, attractive… another dude runs across the street to him holding a motorcycle helmet… they shake hands and instantly go in opposite directions… yellow shirt puts his hands in his pocket, takes a look back, 5 seconds later – hand back in pocket… then begins to count money. I think…huh.

Meat lady comes out with cold fresh water… I perk up. I clear my table and the one next to me, she says, “your mother raised you right,” and asks where I’m from. I respond and she nods pretending to understand. I ask her if she knows where I can get my hair cut (by using my fingers as clipping sissors and motioning to my hair)… she says, “yes, but it’s not very good.” I say “it’s easy,” motion to the fading Mohawk, she says, “let me take you.” We walk across the street hand-in-hand (in another direction from where yellow shirt was dealing) where people are drinking and smoking outside (10:30am). She talks to them, only five Euros… They open up the shop, turn lights on… I get the best cut of my life… the dude was cutting, massaging my scalp, and making me so relaxed… now THIS is customer service. And NO… I don’t think he was a gay… from what I can tell anyway, although my back does hurt a bit, as if I was being poked by a stick. Kidding. I am completely kidding.

The Ruins: Well what can I say? From far away they look huge… when you get closer they seem to grow. Breathtaking. I don’t know all that much of the gods and the creators of the dwellings, but just being there was definitely amazing. Tours were going on about in multiple languages, I bobbed in and out and decided that I wanted to leave the city after coming to see the ruins scattered at multiple sites (lots of walking to the various locations)… then I had a quick tour of the museum, and off I was on a thirty minute train ride to inquire at the docks for the Greek Islands. I bought two tickets… one for the vessel that I am currently on (This is not the Uber Yacht that I imagined for my trip, but my fortunes do have a way of coming true, so I remain convinced, you create your reality.), and one for Wednesday to Mykonos. I am about 30 min at this point away from docking, after a 5 hour journey, and very little sleep, thanks to this world cup business… people are eyes locked and voices loud, I sit with the volume raised on my iTouch to the album I’ve been listening to the entire day. Lady Gaga. Oh… guess someone just scored a goal. Yeah for your team, as my friend Aaron would say it, “a single finger clap.”

I think its funny how I have said throughout this planning of this trip that I wanted to lounge in Santorini… this big boat is about to arrive (it’s midnight now)… does anyone have a pen so that I can draw a little tiny checkmark?

Stay tuned for more on the Greek Isle… Santorini and Mykonos. Click here for Google maps to see my location!

View Larger Map