Athens Impressions

Athens hotel: Marble House Pension

• Lovely owner who gave us maps and sightseeing recommendations
• Inexpensive and within walking distance of major sights
• Thin walls... experienced when the inebriated Australians on our floor locked themselves out, chatted merrily at the top of their lungs, and then vomited copiously.

Acclimating to Europe

This was my first encounter with a European shower: a tiny square of porcelain, water nozzle on a hose, and two drains... one in the tiled bathroom floor, one in the "stall" itself. Want some walls, or a shower curtain? No way. And hot water? Well... maybe if you're lucky.

Another common sight in Europe: the scooter. Scooters zipped between the multiple lanes of street traffic, often jumping up to the sidewalk to circumvent slow spots and scatter pedestrians. We saw lots of crazy scooter driving in both Greece and Italy. What we didn't see were helmets!

Athens itself

Our first day in Athens fell casualty to monster jet lag. On our second day, we woke up long before anything was open and strolled down the Dionysiou Areopagitou and Apostolou Pavlou. These streets, which border the Acropolis, were redone for the 2004 Olympics. Flowering bushes and trees lined the wide cobblestone avenues, perfuming the air with the scents of sage and sugar. We had the ruins mostly to ourselves--and we certainly didn't mind sharing with that tortoise.

Outside of this area, Athens was an exhausting blend of the ancient and modern. There were many Greek Orthodox churches and squares--not landmarks, just a beautiful part of the city.

Athens was HUGE! The city seemed to spread forever, a mix of bustling thoroughfares and narrow back-alleys. Even from the vantage point of the Acropolis, we couldn't see an end to the buildings.

It seemed that everyone in Athens smoked. There was an ashtray on every cafe table, and the smell lingered in the air--mixing with the oppressively sweet odor of rotting garbage. Also prevalent in Athens: feral cats. The stray felines were everywhere... in the streets, on porches, or hanging out at the ruins. The only exception was the Acropolis; apparently, only tourists feel compelled to climb that high in the heat!