Athens

Athens is dirty. Very dirty. I guess is makes sense if you consider how old the city is. Which is the only reason you should go to Athens, to see the ruins. Don't be fooled either, they are ruins. Getting through customs in Greece was a breeze. After a poor choice of transit into the city I spent over an hour on a very hot bus. I decided on the bus in order to get a scope of the city. It was a bad choice because the city is not attractive. The bus I was on did not get me even close to my hotel either, so I ended up taking a taxi anyway. The city itself is very crowded and well broken in from people living there for many many centuries. Graffiti must be a hobby for everyone as well, I have never seen so much and I have been to Compton and Harlem. Everything with a surface has been tagged. Stray dogs and cats inhabit the streets with confidence. I saw a straggly looking mutt sleeping on the steps of a bank, and he had been marked with purple spray paint! A mobile advertisement for the local middle school gang I suppose. There does not seem to be any infrastructure in place to collect trash. It condenses in alleys and cutters and there it stays. This is all enhanced by the intense heat of the concrete body of the city. Plus dust, lots of dust on everything, but at least it is not humid so sweating actually provides some relief.
I had booked the hotel already, and the pictures looked nice. The hotel turned out to be acceptable as well, clean and modern. What they fail to advertise is that it is located between a brothel and a spray paint supply store that gives extreme discounts if you buy in bulk. I made a note to myself to make sure to be in the hotel at dusk to avoid being tagged, raped, mugged, or fitted for a suit. I get comfortable in my room and take a nap before breaking into the city. He is an interesting fact, in Greece you should not flush toilet paper. In each restroom there is a small trash can for the paper. In my restroom there was also a shower. But not the kind of shower we are all use to. I have instead a shower head attached to a hose going to a tap. To make things more bazaar, the shower is a small square of raised tile with no enclosure. So when you shower the water sprays all over the bathroom (read W.C.)and puddles on the floor. Now the Greeks pride themselves on being innovative in architecture from the stone age, but they have not figured out how to make a proper shower, or septic system. After my nap I get some directions to the metro and am off to see Greece! The metro in Athens is actually pretty good. I read a sign that said it took 200 years to build (how is that possible?). The trains are clean and air conditioned. The subway tunnels are the only place in the city spared from the graffiti as well. My first ride I learn that Greek people do not wear deodorant, or shower. I slightly revel in this atmosphere however, trying to immerse myself in a new culture. Only a few stops from my hotel is the Acropolis. The Acropolis was build before the first Starbucks existed! I think the first Starbucks eventually did open there about 5,000 BC, but it no longer operates. I did not get to walk around in the steps of the great philosophers at this time. The Acropolis closes at 7pm. The area surround is very nice. On the pleasant cobblestone walk up then hill to the worlds first office building there are many cafes and shops and one hidden gem. I collect vintage movie posters, and there was one posted on a wall. upon further investigation I discovered that around the corner is an outdoor movie theater. The theater is not really for tourists, it is where locals go on a nice evening. The movie that night was Klimp with Jane Fonda, old school and fabulous. The theater is in a court yard surrounded on all sides by walls covered in ivy. the screen has marble statues all around it. the seating is lawn chairs with an occasional table between. There was a concession stand when you can purchase beer, wine, snacks and cigarettes. This brings up another point. Greeks smoke, ALOT. They smoke everywhere too. In restaurants, on boats, while checking you out at the super market, and in movie theaters. I actually think the pilot lit up a cigarette while we were landing. Besides occasionally having to time my breathing in cadence with the smokers around me, the movie was great! I felt right in the middle of the culture, there were even stray cats roaming the isles searching for abandoned or unguarded popcorn. One problem did arise. After a few beers
(local beer is Mythos, tastes like Amstel) I had to use the restroom. I could see the doors, but the labels were in Greek with no universal pictures. I had to restrain myself until finally a girl went in one door and using my superior deductive reasoning, I went in the other one. I had a great Greek meal on the roof of a nearby cafe with a panoramic view of the ruins and then returned to the ghetto for bed. The next day I had a full day in Athens before catching a ferry to Rhodes.