Greek positives: mountain scenery, cheese, fish, squid, octopus, olives, yogurt and honey, fruits/vegetables, white wine, beaches, islands, coastlines, swimming in the sea, sunsets, conversations, music, weather, art, architecture, history
Greek negatives: grime and crime in Athens, hassles with transportation almost everywhere; higher per capita grumpy people than I usually experience

Would I come back? Islands–yes–with preparations made to drive in some places. Athens–probably not–if I could avoid it. Now that I have seen the must see sights, the place is less alluring to me.

The economic and political situation is very complex. Based on what I have seen and heard from a variety of people, my impressions are:

*There is lots of corruption in government and police.
*Cheating is an accepted part of the culture and is talked about openly. Lest you think I am talking about unions and government workers, some of the worst offenders are the entrepreneurs. These are the people who could be innovating them out of some of this mess.
*They truly do have an immigration issue with the porous nature of the northern border and the people streaming through Turkey. Lots of these people are poor and desperate.
*I sense an invasion/victim mentality. When you see their recent and not-so-recent history, they have been overrun frequently and this makes them extra crazy about the current German/French dependency.
*On a related note, I heard quite a few conspiracy theory explanations about politics and the current morass. They make the “birthers” look like amateurs.
*Culturally, they express strong pessimism in most conversations. These by the way are paraphrased but represent things I heard in conversation with tourism workers and owners, a civil servant, and random people I met in cafes, etc. “This is the way it is. This is Greece. We will never change. This who we are. People work to get a comfortable place and then they quit working and do their best to keep others from joining them in their comfortable place or taking away their comfortable. Those other people are to blame. It’s politics.” I even had a business owner say that Greece can’t handle democracy.
*Much of the news on the US outlets is about the economics of it all. I thought the cultural elements were more worrisome. Overall, I think it’s bigger situation than they spend to much or pay too little tax.
*I found a Greek website that was helpful when tracking strikes. http://livingingreece.gr/2011/06/26/strikes-in-greece/
It’s from an American who has lived in Greece a long time. This Q and A seems to fit what I experienced, but it puts it into a larger context.

Many on the bus are unaware that their travel plans may be toast on Tuesday and Wednesday. I had the misfortune of sitting in front of a loud and obnoxious American complaining about the cost of things due to the strike, etc. His wife/girlfriend was trying to calm him down but he just got worse and worse as if he was drinking. This is why I dislike tours—getting trapped with annoying people—but I would have had trouble navigating this.

It was a 11 ½ hr day. Good news when I hit my hotel! My flight has been moved up 1 hr to leave before the air traffic strike! I received an email from British Air. (Lesson learned: always provide an email or phone number when traveling abroad. Trying to call them directly never did work.)

I went upstairs to the hotel bar for the rooftop view of the Acropolis and the sunset. It turns out the wine and beer is super cheap and I should have made it up here before. Lots of Canadians and Aussies and a few American Special Olympics affiliates were hanging out. Although it was enjoyable overall, I heard many more Athens crime horror stories that made me nervous. I decided to skip dinner and say safely on my rooftop! I have to leave for the airport at 4:45 am (by cab) so this is for the best. I think.

When you pay for the Acropolis, you get add on tickets for many other archeology sites. So, I used this to visit the ancient agora. This is the word for market and it’s where Socrates hung out and the apostle Paul tried to convert folks. Some parts were intact, but I really needed the guide book to figure out what I was looking at.
Before I had left the hotel, the Kildeer woman called me and asked if I would join them for drinks at their hotel (they have a balcony with an Acropolis view.) The hotel was near the Acropolis Museum and as good luck would have it, it was my final Athens site to see.

We hit it off very well. After drinks, her daughter, grandson, she and I headed out for Italian food. The place she picked was Italian (outside again) and in the Plaka within sight of the Greek Orthodox prelate’s house. Saw lots of guys in priestly black walking around—sort of like the Greek Vatican. The dinner was pricey, 3 hrs, but good and fun. Her husband and son-in-law showed up and the husband picked up the tab. I would have been more forceful, but I think it might have been awkward with the daughter and son-in-law. So, another late night. I still haven’t been to the rooftop hotel bar at my hotel!

I haven’t been in a Starbucks yet, but I decided to stop for an iced coffee and a cookie near the Plaka Old Town and the power was off! Whether it was a politically motivated blackout or just a normal not enough electricity black-out, I don’t know.

My goal was to go to the Acropolis late and leave when it closed around 8 pm. I took the long way around and up and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It is something. Of course it is falling apart and there is plenty of scaffolding, etc. in y pictures. Picture taking got compulsive. Along the way, I saw the famous caryatids that are columns in the shape of women. There are rip-off versions at the Museum of Science and Industry. When traveling solo, people see you take pictures of sights only and frequently, they’ll ask if you want one. This happened twice and I met 2 very nice people.

The first was an advertising guy from the US, moved to Thaos in Greece, running his own island promotion firm. He had guests in town and I saw him 2 days in a row. He was helpful in providing advice about the upcoming strikes and I learned that he spent 4 years in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The other was a Bangladeshi woman doing her post-doc in biomedical engineering at Texas. She was a very nice woman—we were the last 2 people off the Acropolis. We ended up hiking up Mars Hill (of Apostle Paul fame) and going shopping together. I saw a sweater from a Greek designer in Mykonos that was ridiculously expensive. When I saw it again in Athens and it was merely expensive, I decided it was a sign that I should buy it. We had dinner outside at a taverna in the Plaka in a different area than the previous night. We managed to sweet talk the waiter into cutting up a fish for us. It was another late night. People don’t even start eating in Athens until 8 pm and 9-11 is more typical.

*As I write this, I have talked to 4 people who have been ripped off on the mass transit or streets of Athens. One had her luggage taken from the metro running from the airport to the city center. Nothing valuable taken, but she has no clothes, shampoo, etc. She says she isn’t a rube—has traveled a lot in London and Chicago, etc. Here the deal is lots of pickpocketing, etc. Typically, I usually get nervous when there is no one around or creepy people are around. It seems that this situation is one where the crime is more likely to happen when you are surrounded by people. I haven’t been on the subway or a public bus since that first awful experience from the ferry and my paranoia and supporting habit have been justified! The Special Olympics people (contestants and their family) wear signs around their neck hence my unwisely comment.

I wanted to sleep but there was a loud Good Morning Greece type show on the TV in front of me. Since I don’t understand a word, I should have been able to tune it out, but frequently I would hear George Clooney, Catherine Zeta Jones, Michael Douglas or Ben Affleck’s voice for a movie promotion and I’d be drawn in. Then the news came on. Again, I don’t understand a word until the British or German finance ministers give their quotes. Immediately, the men in my section haul out their worry beads and start them in motion. They don’t look happy.

The port is teeming with people and is rather confusing. I had a Ricky Steves map, but our ferry came into a different dock than scheduled so I was disoriented. I found someone from my hotel that was on the boat and knew the city and she pointed me to the metro train. I had heard pickpockets worked the route and I could see why. Hot, crowded and very smelly beyond belief. I managed to find a seat where I could have all my zippered bags facing me. The train didn’t stop at my stop and some nice lady explained that they were fixing stuff and that the train would reverse in a minute. OK. When I exited the Metro train, I looked up and saw the Acropolis. It’s like the Eiffel Tower or the Sydney Harbor bridge–you can’t quit looking at it. However, you could be run over if you aren’t careful.

First impression of Athens: The government can solve the financial crisis by taxing the sales of spray paint cans. I have never seen so much graffiti in my whole life. The traffic is insane and getting across the street the 4 blocks to my hotel was a challenge. I suspect that the contrast from Naxos is emphasizing these observations! This is a very big city. I am about a mile or two from the square in front of the Parliament and don’t see anything scary. (Scott: I know Fox News says tear gas, rocks, and general anarchy, but they may have never been to Athens before and are confused–or lying.)

My room is comfortable and I’ll use it to plot my strategy for the end of my visit. Two days and an evening in Rome and a day trip to Delphi and then my trek to the airport.

But wait! As rumored, the announcement for a general strike for Jun 28 and Jun 29 has been made. The good news–it won’t impact my sightseeing plans. the annoying news–I will need to take a taxi to the airport instead of taking public transportation. The bad news–there is a chance if the air traffic controllers strike that my flight won’t go. AND there is a strike planned in London on the 30th. The web sites say that decision will be made on Saturday. The Hotel Attalos desk promises to help me navigate through this and says “just politics”. So far, only the news of the strikes have marred my trip. I haven’t yet been inconvenienced (or scared) one moment because of them in nearly 3 weeks.

I venture out of my hotel after 7 and stroll part of the city walk toward some restaurants under the Acropolis. I’m very close to the Agora, the Plaka and the Acropolis. I spot the Roman Forum and this little Cycladian village in the middle of Athens. I grabbed dinner on a restaurant with a view of the city. Rome it isn’t! I think it is because the many, many smaller Greek Orthodox churches don’t pierce the skyline like all the Roman Catholic ones do in Rome. It was a nice sunset and I found my bearings a bit. Again, I am overlooking the centers of protest and I see nothing.

I walked back around 10 pm through the Plaka and the streets are full of people. Admittedly, I am in a tourist area, but I mean jammed pack full of diners, walkers, cars, taxis and scooters. One of those scooters sneaks up behind me on the sidewalk and nearly runs me over. The Old Plaka or market is very charming lit up after dark and OMG there is a Starbucks! I haven’t been drinking coffee much, so I doubt that I will visit. But I continue to be amazed at how they get these prime locations. There is a roof-top bar overlooking the illuminated Acropolis, but I’ll check it another night. The guidebooks say 2 days in Athens and I see their reasoning. I will definitely take the day trip to Delphi. Tomorrow is art and archeology day for me.

Wednesday I went to the in-town beach called St. George’s. It’s about a 7 minute walk from the hotel. I had been there previously but on this day the waves are rolling. (The winds and waves have been bad since Tuesday and it’ll continue it appears.) I had Mexican food at a place recommended by Lonely Planet. It was pretty good although I think there were some non Tex-Mex spices included.

Thursday I had grilled calamari at my regular place at the harbor. I took the bus to Plaka Beach. It has a view of Paros and is backed by tall sand dunes. This was the nicest beach I visited and it is very long. So, I decided to do some walking. My trusty guide books didn’t mention the large number of “naturalists” at the end of the beach. Right after the EU flagpole on the road, some especially painful sunburns were happening. The voices I heard were German—no surprise there. As is the case in Hawaii, the prurient value is rather low. I decided to check out sunset again at the harbor and it was spectacular. The sky glowed for 50 minutes after the sun set. I went in search of wine and hit 2 wine bars. At the second, I talked to some British vacationers and some French expats a bit about politics. Suffice it to say, that various conspiracy theories abound on the various world events—past and current. Also, there is a whole lot of 70’s/80’s music in the background. I have heard an astonishing amount of Journey. I even heard Bob Seger! I stayed out too late for my early ferry, but it was the only night in Greece where I attempted any night life. It was fun.

Off to Athens!

The good side of the wind was it didn’t feel hot. This is helpful when walking around ruins in the sun. Delos is an island sacred to the ancient Greeks because Apollo was born there. No one lives there and visitors must leave at 4 pm. Supposedly it ranks up there with Delphi, Olympia, etc. as a major Greek site. Okay. It was interesting and my Ricky Steves walking tour saved me 10 euro. Having said that, I heard 2 years ago that the best Greek ruins are in Turkey and I can see that now. There were some beautiful mosaics, the Naxian lion statues and a fascinating obsession with Hermes. (I don’t know much about that god, but it turns out he is Mr. Phallus.) There were 2 of these mounted on a pedestal. Yes, I have pictures but be advised that much of it has fallen off!

The 20 minute boat ride to Mykanos took much longer due to the winds. I tried to ride on the top–it’s just 20 minutes right–but I got wet and terrified. Down into the cabin I go.

We were just 3 hrs in Mykanos, so I just bummed around the town. The wind was a problem and I gave up with my Jackie O sunhat. I had lunch on the sea at a place founded by Mykanos’ first female sea captain. It was pricey and delicious. I mainly walked around the Old Town lanes, took pictures and soaked up the atmosphere. Mykanos is known for its beaches, but all require transport to get to so I didn’t scope them out. There were many nightclubs, bars and fancy shops. Mykanos is only 100 minutes away from Naxos, but the terrain is very dry. So I was totally touristic and took pictures of the famous sites. I am also glad I didn’t endure the hassle of moving there for 2 or 3 nights, but I would go back if I had the chance.

The ride back was slightly better as we had the wind at our back except for the 20 minutes navigating to the port of Paros. That was THE WORST. Some American next to me asked one of the crew how bad does this compare. He said it was a 6/10 and that they go out even when it gets to an 8/10. I had planned to go to the Little Cyclades on the 22nd, but cancelled my plan when the winds were predicted to be worse than the 21st. Shoulda went on Sunday when the wind was calm.

I stopped by my regular place to see Eddie and John at the Relax cafe. I had some wine and a yogurt dessert and watched the sunset. The town had a music festival on the harbor square and I listened to the first band that started at 9:30. They played rock music–some in Greek, some in English. You haven’t lived until you’ve heard Hendrix’s Purple Haze or an Animal’s oldie with a Greek accent.

Monday, I took a day trip around Naxos in an bus tour. As I don’t have a car and the public bus schedule requires a decoder ring to figure it out, I went organized. Naxos is relatively big for a Cyclades island and has lots of agriculture. (This is Dionysus’ island–it figures that I’d stay a week.) It’s a rather green place and it grows/produces potatoes, citrus fruits, olives, figs, grapes for wine, corn and honey. Also some fire-water liquor called Kitron made from the leaves of a bitter lemon tree. Kitron is very smooth but not exported–darn.

The tour took us to 2 mountain villages (Halki and Apiranthos). Halki is a postcard with neo-classical villas, a Venetian flavor and bougainvillea dripping from everywhere–Lonely Planet gives it a full page. There was a very tempting pottery shop there… Apiranthos is a town with marble streets and settled by Crete exiles. Every time this town is brought up, the sentence trails off. Sounds like the are talking about some holler in W. Virginia or something. We also visited a fishing village (Apollonas) on the north coast. It was mistakenly named after Apollo when they found an ancient statue nearby. Turns out it was actually Dionysus. We ate in a harbor-side taverna and went for a swim on the sheltered beach. I sat with an Aussie couple. The Greek-born husband was back on a roots tour. They took pity on me after the guide snapped at me. (I am pretty sure she was German and she did not get a tip.) We also saw 2 significant historical sights–a Kouros (boy statue) of Dionysus and a very, very old so-called miracle church– Panagia Drosiani–with interesting 7th century frescoes. They also quarry marble here and there was one blinding white mountain that allegedly rivals Carerra.

The drive through the middle and the west part of the island had many hairpin turns and switchbacks–around Mt. Zeus and down to the coast. Glad I wasn’t driving. It reminded me a bit of Maui–both driving and the island feel.

I stopped by Happy Hour (starts at 6 here) at an Irish bar and had a beer. I also went for a swim early in the evening at the local beach here called St. George’s–sandy, clean, shallow. I traveled without ID/credit cards and just put my money in a swimming container. The only thing in danger is the camera, but what can you do? I placed buried in a bag near 2 German women. It turns out topless women when they turned around–but they took good care of it.

Lunch was light as I planned to swim, so I went to one Meze2 on the harbor for dinner and had local fried shrimp and a delicious baked potato tureen with tomatoes, cheese and parsley. I had never heard of Naxos potatoes, but heard that they are exported to Germany and Austria. They tasted less starchy than the Idaho ones and I am now a fan.

I have a bazillion pictures and should have some time to manage these before I leave Naxos on Friday morning.

Today I ventured away from the port and walked through Old Town (Greek Bourgos and Venetian Kastro). The passageways are narrow and covered like arcades. Lots of beautiful doors, flowers and interesting angles. All the stone and the overhangs lowers the temperature whihc is a treat in the midday sun. I also stopped into the Catholic Cathedral where the classical meditation music must be a diocesan standard. It was nice and Mom you got yet another candle lit for you.

I just dawdled, window shopped and took pictures. If I had extra money and luggage space, I could do some serious damage. Cute cotton clothes, art, home furnishings–all tempting. A map was useless–those darn Venetians–but eventually I found my way back to the port. I went back for a coffee frappe and a salad to the place from yesterday. Apparently I missed a raucous party on the port until 3 am with dancing on the sidewalks, etc. Oh, well.

Next to the port, is the Temple of Apollo. It’s mainly ruins now, but it’s a great place to sit and listen and watch the sea. It’s on a elevated point jutting into the sea–very dramatic. A German tourist took a picture of me to prove that I am in fact in Greece. I’d like to say that I’ll organize and post pictures on the next rainy day, but it doesn’t look like they’ll be one while I am here.

During the hot time (3-5) I sat outside the historic Greek Orthodox Cathedral in the shade on the cool marble and read my book. I saw lots of cats and dogs do this here and in Santorini and I thought it’d be worth a try. It’s effective. I read more of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and desperately tried not to think of Nicholas Cage. It is a wonderful book and it was a bad movie. I bought some groceries for the room. Yogurt, crackers, fruit, water, potato chips, and wine. I couldn’t figure out the chocolate. (Some European and American brands here (Lays, Amstel, L’Oreal, Nivea, Garnier, Dannon) but I noticed mainly Greek-looking brands in the stores which slowed down the shopping.

I booked some stuff: my ferry to Athens on Friday, a day trip to the mountain towns of Naxos on Monday and a piano blues/jazz “improvisational style” concert at a mansion in the Venetian Castro tonight. I couldn’t understand a word the Greek/Armenian fast-talker pianist said, but I recognized Muddy Waters, Gerswhin, Jimmy Hendrix (yep), Michael Jackson, and some familiar Greek/French/Russian pop/folk variations. He threw in a few opera arias and show tunes at the end. He was a genre-bender, for sure, and a good musician. At intermission, they served Kitron which is a local liquor made from a lemon-like fruit. It wasn’t syrupy and it wasn’t firewater. Very nice.

When I walked back, the town was jumping. I followed 2 couples who were headed back in the direction of my hotel and managed to stay out until 11:30.

I really like this place—Naxos. I picked this as on the way to somewhere else, but it turned out to be a happy accident. The place is easy for a traveler to navigate, but not particularly rush-rush-day-trip- touristy. Lots of people are here for a week or more just like we might have gone to a cabin in Wisconsin. It feels like the Greek or perhaps more accurately European version of that, I think.

Coincidence… There was a guy sitting out by the Temple of Apollo for a long time and I was wary to go to near him–gut feel–even though he was in a good photo place. When I got to the concert, Mr. Scary Looking was in fact the featured musician at the concert today.