Greece in a nutshell

Ancient Greece is considered by many scholars to be the epicenter of culture for Western Civilization. Who can deny Greek culture was a powerful influence in the Roman Empire, from there the influence of Greece was carried to many parts of Europe and beyond. Ancient Greek civilization has been influential with language, politics, educational systems, philosophy, art and architecture of the modern world.
The greatness of Greece is in the history books and has not been seen for over two thousand years. Greece today is a sickening and a pathetic representation of the glory of Ancient Greece.

If you go to Athens today you better keep you hand on your wallet as pickpockets and thieves are everywhere and aggressive about stealing as much of your money as possible. I’ve been in Greece for almost four weeks and I have been sickened by what I’ve seen and experienced. I’ve seen more beggars in Athens my first week here than I saw in three months in Thailand. Yesterday a beggar follow me into a grocery store insisting I buy him some food. The beggar got into a heated argument with the stores management and got chased out of the store. All I could think during this event was, I want to be out of Greece.

My first week in Greece was spent in a hotel near Victoria Square. I did not understand how nice that area was until I moved to a hotel two blocks from Omonia Square. I’ve seen more junkies, thieves and whores in one day than I’ve ever seen in Chicago my whole life and Chicago is where I grew up. It is beyond sickening. This place is a nightmare. My advice, vacation somewhere else. Anywhere else, NOT GREECE!!!!

Three weeks ago I was down by the Acropolis. I asked someone on the street about the location of the market as I was interested in buying a new backpack. The gentleman I spoke with provided me with the directions I was in of then he invited me in to the bar he worked in. He asked if I’d ever had uzo. I said no and he bought me a drink, Uzo poured over ice. It was kind of cool to see as the ice made the Uzo turn fro a clear liquid to cloudy. They some OJ was poured in. It was delicious. As I sat at the bar a girl came over and sat down next to me. She was kind of cute and we began talking. The girl asked if I would buy her a drink. Why not. Someone bought me a drink. I said yes. Then I got the bill for the drink I purchased, one hundred ninety euros. What evil scum. This is Greece today.

Warnings come over the PA system at the metro train about the thieves and pickpockets. The warning is announced off and on all day every day. Be careful with your belongings. I was warned by the manager of the hotel about pick pockets and thieves. Still I had my pocket picked while on the metro train in Athens. They got me for 45 Euros. This is Greece today.

I rented an apartment on the Island of Crete for two weeks. I did not find out the apartment owner lied to me about the apartment until after I paid him. I was told the apartment had WiFi, a microwave and a kettle. All lies. The apartment did not even have a curtain over the 4 x 4 window. Lies, lies and more lies. This is Greece today.

I had lunch in a restaurant near Omonia square two days ago, Club Neon. I ordered the stuffed peppers and they were great. I also ordered a piece of baklava for dessert. To drink all I had was a glass of water. When I got the bill I noticed the restaurant owner charged me one euro for the bread he brought to the table. I never ordered bread or asked for it. This is the restaurant owners idea of integrity and treating customers fair. This is Greece today.

Greece is experiencing an economic crisis. I understand that. Because of the economy many of these people (Not all) are willing to beg borrow or steal from the tourist. This is Greece today.

The greatness of Greece is something you can read about in the history books. You can visit the temples that were built thousands of years ago and marvel at the accomplishments of Ancient Greece. There is nothing great about today.
Greece. Lies, thieves, junkies and whores, this is Greece today.

I was sold a piece of crap backpack in Athens. It fell apart soon after I gave my old backpack away. I took my new backpack to an upholstery shop in the hopes of getting the cheap piece of crap repaired. I got lucky and got the backpack fixed. The gentleman at the upholstery shop did not charge me a penny for their work. They dropped what they were doing as soon as I walked in to their shop and immediately fixed my backpack, and did not charge me. These were really nice people. I went to the bakery down the street and bought them a bag of cookies in return for their kind gesture.

I needed to see a doctor while in Athens because of my leg. The doctor I ended up seeing was an amazing and wonderful doctor (and she was cute). I have a high opinion of the medical profession in Greece because of the experience I had with the doctor. 

The food in Greece was amazing. I cannot say enough flattering things about the food in Greece. Delicious. Delicious. Delicious. The price of food in Greece was shocking. After three months in Thailand, a place where my food cost was five dollars a day, it was painful and shocking to be spending fifteen to thirty dollars a day in Greece to eat. Yikes. I prefer the food in Greece to the food in Thailand but I did enjoy the food in Thailand. My fat belly is all the proof I need to demonstrate my fondness for the culinary delights this planet has to offer.

Good food is one of life's greatest pleasures along with good wine, good conversation, good music and (dare I say it) good sex.

There are nice people in Greece and I do not wish to suggest otherwise but they are in the minority. Why go on vacation to a place you are forced to be on guard 24/7? It makes no sense. What kind of a vacation is that?

It's on to Italy...

Athens Greece day 6 Tuesday, April 2nd 2013

I went to the hospital to see a pain specialist. It was a lady doctor, she was very nice. She gave me a series of injections in my leg, ankle and foot. They were painful. Then she gave me a pain patch. I was only charged 16 euros for the doctors visit.

I took the train to see the doctor and got my pocket picked while on the train. Got 45 dollars stolen. Man that hurts. Man that pisses me off. The pain of losing 45 euros was offset by the fee by the doctor.

Now I have a much better understanding of the value of countries or cities that boast low crime rate, places like Chiang Mai Thailand or Leon Nicaragua. All the good people in Greece warn you about the thieves and con artist in Greece. Warnings not enough. Between the 190 euros I got clipped for in the bar and 45 euros I got clipped for by a pick pocket, that’s 235 euros, about 250 American dollars. That hurts. That is painful.

I’ve spent time in the museums here and have watched documentaries about the greatness of Greece in its glory days, days back in antiquity but Greece of today is not great. There are thieves and beggars everywhere. It’s sad.  

I packed my lunch today. After visiting the doctor I took my lunch and sat in front of the temple of Zeus. I ate and thought about the old Greece, about the great Greece. It was a good lunch but even while sitting there a begger came over to me and asked for money.

 

Athens Greece - Day 5 Monday, April 1st 2013

I’m back at the bank, trading money for money. After I leave the bank I go to the travel agent and purchase my tickets for my trip to Crete and back.

  

Bait and switch:

After the banking I headed to the hotel. I passed a store selling backpacks. I stopped in. I need a bigger backpack. I looked at one of the backpacks, it was really nice. I was told, 25 euros. Ok. That’s a good price. I think I’ll take care of my business then head back here and buy that backpack. Then headed out of the store. One of the other salesmen chimed in, 15 euros. Wow. Ok, maybe I’ll come back. Really. I walked out and another salesman said “10 euros”. ok, I’ll take it.

He put a backpack in a bag and handed it to me. I took it out of the bag to look it over. It did not look the same. It was not the same. I told them, “no deal”. this is not the same backpack. This is a cheap knockoff.

“if you want that backpack it will cost you 15 euros”

What a bunch of assholes. I gave them 15 euros, took the backpack and left.

It was not until the following day I noticed a flaw in the backpack I purchased. They really are assholes. First class assholes ripping off people.

Lunch today was at Club Neon. The travel agent recommended it. I ordered a pork and spinach dinner. They serve the meal with a lemon cut in half as you are to squeeze the lemon over the pork. I did and it was fantastic. Fantastic flavor. After lunch I ordered a Greek coffee for the first time. I like it very much. A small coffee and it was very strong.

Small strong cups of coffee are popular over here. I think the amount of water used in coffee over here has something to do with the amount of fresh drinking water. In America fresh drinking water is not a problem so we drink more cups of coffee but those cups of coffee are weaker.

Athens Greece Day 4 Sunday, march 31 st 2013

9:15pm

I had to get out, I needed some air. Some fresh air and fresh faces, and some liquor. Maybe even some conversation. 

When ever I start to get an anxiety attack I remind myself of all the people working in an effort to come here on the briefest of visits. I am in paradise. Beyond that, I try to remember it’s possible to find peace no matter where I am. Evil does not dictate my state of mind and I will not join evil in its misery and in the gutter.

Two of the most powerful words in the English language

“I am”

Tis important to remember this.

Flashback (American TV commercials)

If you’ve ever been up late at night on a Tuesday, watching star trek at 3am it means you have no job nor do you have much of a life or both.

They put the saddest commercials on tv late into the evening. Commercial number uno, they show an IT specialist working on a printer and having no fun. Then the narrator chimes in, if you are not happy with your job come to our bartending school and learn how to be the life of the party while behind the bar. You can make lots of money and have fun.

Commercial number two. They show a bartender, maybe in his thirties. They portrait him as having no future, then the narrator chimes in, are you stuck in a dead end job with no future, come to our IT school and learn about the fantastic world of Information Technology. Leave that dead end job for a carreer in IT.

I met someone once that made 150k per year. His job was working in hotel casinos. Though he lived in the burbs of Chicago, he needed to travel across the country on a regular basis and he needed to get an apartment in Las vegas as this was his base of operations. He confide it in me that all he wanted to do was to be at home with his wife and kids while he was on the road and away from home. When he would come home all he would do was complain about how much is wife hated him and how she made his life a living hell. I asked him, “why did you say you missed being home with your wife if all she does was humiliate you and make you miserable? He gave me no answer. All he could do was produce a look upon his face as if he was trying to figure out a math problem in his head but came up with no answer.

This person is the perfect example of someone making a very good paycheck and being miserable with his life. He hated being home and he hated being away from home.

The past two nights I had dreams about family.

I left home Jan 2^nd, 2013. Today is Sunday march 31^st and it’s dawning on me that traveling around the world is no big deal. Its like traveling across the country of America except from time to time someone asks to see your passport, then they stamp it.

99% of all the countries love to see the American passports. They view it as tourist dollars coming to their country.

Athens Greece - Day 3 - Saturday, March 30 2013

Today I  went to see the temple of Zeus and The Panathenaic Stadium. Two more sights of wonder. All the walking is brutal on my leg but it's difficult to keep my enthusiasm level in check. 

Years ago the Temple of Zeus housed the statue of Zeus which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

The Panathenaic Stadium is built entirely of white marble and hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. 

I walked around the  base of the stadium today then across the stadium field. As I made this walk I tried to imagine what it might have been like for an athlete all those years ago when the Olympic games first began. 

Today  I overheard a couple different groups of people talking about having to rush from one exhibit to the next and then they had to rush to the airport. Rush through the vacation. When do you get to stop and smell the roses. When do they stop and enjoy their trip? Afterwards? 

This place is magical.

The Temple of Zeus:

It is fantastic. I read about this in school years ago. I watched a documentary about it on TV. Today I walked around it in awe. Even in it’s present state the temple of an amazing sight. How I would love to have seen it before it fell into ruin and became the victim of an earth quake. Who knows, maybe I did. Maybe in a past life I was here?

The Panathenaic Stadium. This is where the first Olympic Games were held and where the first Marathon race in the Olympics ended and won by a greek runner. The crowd was said to have erupted like a volcano when the greek athlete crossed the finish line in the stadium. Before the Olympics this is where Greek athletes competed for millennia.

After today’s visit to the temple of Zeus and marathon Stadium I headed down the street to look for another backpack. I need a larger backpack. I asked someone on the street about this and got some advice. Then the nice person invited me to the bar he worked at. I had a uzo and OJ, met a girl and she asked me if I would buy her a drink. “sure” why not. After I got the bill I realized I’d been skinned out of some money, 190 euros. I wanted to get sick right there in the bar. “Welcome to Greece” I thought. The girl told me she wanted to come over to my hotel after work. I thought, maybe if she come over and we end up in bed it will make the loss of the 190 euros a bit more palatable.

She never came and the loss of 190 euros still stings.

Today was perfect weather. It must have been eighty degrees outside. No clouds. Very little wind. I’m sitting out front of the hotel right now. I’ve had some conversation with a couple other hotel guests, an architecture student from Boston and a rabbi from New Jersey.

It’s only taken a couple of days and I’ve become somewhat comfortable with the train system in Athens. 1.40 Euros will get you anywhere except the airport. I think the train going to the airport is a little more expensive.

So many of the Greeks in Athens speak English and that makes this place much more comfortable to be in, unlike Thailand. In Greece, most everyone under the age of thirty speak some English. People fifty and over speak very little if any English. It’s my understanding most of the younger generation here in Greece speak three languages.

Things making traveling easier:

1.    Don’t be in a rush. Don’t vacation in a rush and this is what I have seen and heard, people rushing from place to place.

2.   Having courage to go out and explore

3.   The trains and buses are a much cheaper way to travel instead of using taxi’s

4.   Make everything an adventure

Observation:

I’ve noticed a lot of tall women here, really tall. I have the impression they are not tourist. These really tall women still wear high heals. I was told once by a six foot girl wearing high heals while at a party “it’s a girls prerogative to wear heals. I agree, it absolutely is but if you are looking for a date I’d rethink the heels.

Athens Greece - Day 2 Friday, March 29th 2013

It's noon. I'm in the National Bank of Greece down at Omonia Square. I've been told this is the roughest area of town and I should beware while visiting this part of town. I did not look that rough as I walked through it but who am I to say. I'm new here. I stopped into a number of banks trying to buy Euros but they all directed me to Omonia Square as this is where there are exchange offices. One of the banks referred me to the National Bank of Greece and I thought this might work out better it being a national bank and all. 

I walked past an archaeological dig right outside. I'm not sure what the story is behind that dig but it looks like they stumbled upon something and now it's a major excavation. It's history being uncovered. I think it's amazing. There's history everywhere I walk.

I got to the bank at noon and took a number, 662. They are on 559. It looks like it's gonna be a long wait which means it's time to get out the journal and get comfortable. I decided to take a trip to the mens room and this was a new experience, a hole in the floor. A porcelain hole in the floor but still something you need to squat over if you need to take a shit. 

Finally at 12:45pm they call my number and guess what, I was in the wrong line. Sounds about right. I get directed to the correct room and take a number. This room is not nearly as populated so I'm only there for a few minutes. They  exchange dollars to Euros at :

1 dollar to 1.29 euros

500 dollars get me 389.95 euros

With my banking done I head to the Acropolis and it is fantastic. It took a while to get up there. My leg is still throbbing. I stood at the foot of the Acropolis just like Zeus, Apollo, Poseidon and Chip Knight. Sounds right. 

The tourist industry is alive and well here as the top of that hill is busy with tourist. I imagined it would be quieter. I imagined I would find a place alone, some solitude for a couple of moments of profound contemplation. It was not too be. ---- I ate a snack. Took a few pictures and went back down the hill. This experience was every bit as powerful as Tiger Kingdom and Elephant Park.

Athens Greece Day 1- Thursday, March 28th 2013

I get up around 10:30am, I'm not sure long I slept, 5, 6 maybe 7 hours. I tossed and turned but I did get some sleep. I made some coffee and a bowl of oatmeal and slowly came to life. I think about the fact I'm in Greece and I smile, ear to ear. I'm in Greece. How cool is that. I did some research on-line about my surroundings and went out for lunch. After lunch I headed to the National Archaeological Museum. It's just down the street and it was excellent. The museum was not that far of a walk and I needed the walk. After the 22 hours of travel time I needed to get some exercise. The museum was just far enough to stretch my legs without incurring too much pain.

About the exhibits at the museum. I've read about most of them and what I've not read about I watched documentaries on. I'm familiar with so much of this stuff. I am in the minority but I believe the Greek Gods existed. I believe the demigods (Achilles, Heracles, and Perseus just to name a few) existed. I believe this will be proven in the not too distant future. 

Some of the streets here have been around for thousands of years. I'm walking down the lanes of history. Something about this place feels comfortable and familiar. It feels like I've been here before. It feels so much better than Thailand. Nothing about Thailand felt comfortable or familiar. Thailand was a hot smelly filthy place. I'm still hacking up smog and pollution from Thailand.

As I walked through the museum I wondered if I'd some across something I might have seen, held or touched before,maybe in another life? Would I recognize something? I thought I might. I hoped.

The accident was three years, eleven months and seven days ago. The power of the accident slowly yet reluctantly slips into the past.

It's amazing to think, last week I was in Thailand and now I'm in Greece.  

Who's luckier than me :-)