Athens: Day Seven

 

On our last full day, we decided just to chill and go for a leisurely walk around town. We hiked back towards the Acropolis and found a rocky outcropping to clamber up on top and take in the sights. Behind us, the Acropolis dominated the skyline and the hordes of people that were up on top. According to the sign near where we were, the Apostle Paul spent some time right where we were seated preaching to the locals back in the day. It would have been neat to be able to attend such an event when the Acropolis was in its full splendor. 

We ate the last of our picnic supplies for lunch and then the girls headed off to do some shopping while I stayed behind to check into flights and prepare for the journey home. (There had been more strikes the two days before in Germany but there seemed to be no strikes called for our actual travel day.) I was also charged with finding a place to eat when they returned from their shopping trip. I found a place two blocks away that served traditional Greek food and it turned out to be one of the better meals of the entire trip but somehow I managed to walk away without any photos. 

There were no parking lots in Athens that I ever saw. All parking was on the street and it was rare that I ever saw an open space to park. In fact, there seemed to be no rules to the parking other than you didn't block the main thoroughfare. Small motorcycles and scooters were plentiful and often parked on the sidewalks. Cars were parked anywhere there was space which is why they were often very small cars like the one above.

Another thing I experienced in Athens is that it has its fair share of scam artists. My first experience was eating a piece of bread offered by a person standing with a plate full of pieces, mistakenly thinking they were advertising their wares. Only after I ingested it did they request a donation and then followed me part way down the block repeatedly asking for money. I would have had I small bills or change but that was on the first day of our trip and I didn't have anything smaller than a 5 Euro note. 

Our second experience came as we were eating lunch and a guy came up with a handful of strings and asked my daughter to hold out a finger which she did. He then wove her a bracelet on the spot and despite our protests, kept going until we all had "authentic" Kenyan bracelets. Only then did he say we owed 20 Euro for those strings. We said no and asked him to cut them off but he would only offer excuses about that causing bad spirits and such. Finally we gave him 5 Euro, 4 Euro than we should have just to have him leave us alone which he did.

The last one happened to me as I was out walking by myself. An old Greek man made a comment about my hat and then in the course of the conversation, found out where I was from and mentioned he had a brother with a Greek restaurant in our capital city and said he would write down the address so I could check it out. He asked if I could follow him to a bar on the corner so he could write it down for me. My neck hairs sensed a scam at this point but he seemed harmless. I kept my eyes about me and and was prepared to take off should we get to a uncrowded portion of the sidewalk between there and the bar. Once at the bar, he proceeded to ask me if I had ever had the official drink of Greece and urged me to sit down while he ordered it. I declined saying I was in a hurry and if he would just write down the address I would be on my way. He repeatedly mentioned that he wanted to drink first so now knowing for sure it was a scam, I thanked him for his time, wished his brother luck and exited quickly. As I left, the bartender said in a thick Greek accent, "What are you afraid of? We don't bite."

These were just the scams I fell victim too or got roped into participating. We waved them off continuously during our trip. It certainly puts a damper on things as I love talking with locals and experiencing the local culture but have to be wary of scams all the time trying to extort money from me.

Our flights back to the U.S. went off without a hitch and we made it to Chicago problem free, found our car and proceeded to drive home. It is a five hour drive from the airport and despite stopping for some supper and some caffeine, the last hour was pretty brutal trying to fight the jetlag. But the thought of our own comfortable bed for the night drove us on and we made it home slightly after 10:30 Saturday evening. We made it to the 8:30 mass the following morning with heavy eyes and fought jetlag well into the following week. Wednesday was the first day I felt normal again along with the youngest daughter. My oldest daughter and wife are still fighting some of the symptoms as I write this, six days after our return.

It was a great trip, our first overseas vacation as a family where we weren't visiting other members of our family. I will treasure the memories for a long time. I've been to Athens and I don't think I need to return. There is so much world out there that is on my list to see, but if I do go again, I think I'll pick some place outside of Athens, a nice island or rural mountain village to stay. Some place with less people, more delicious food and less people trying to scam me.