On the plane coming home, I overheard an American girl describing her trip: "We flew into Athens, then went to Santorini and Mykonos."
That, unfortunately, seems to be how a lot of people "see Greece."
Dodging volcano ash, strikes, and occasionally violent demonstrations, we accomplished our long-planned two-week trip to the birthplace of democracy almost without a hitch. Of course, two weeks could only give us a sampling of the varied geography and multilayered history of the country, but you can do a lot more in a fortnight than island-hop to tourist-jammed beaches. Besides, we're not beach-vacation people; we're tramping-through-historic-sites vacation people. Hence, Greece.
Delta (a Greek letter) offered a nonstop flight from New York to Athens, something hard to find. But that meant our trip commenced with a nine-and-a-half hour bout of claustrophobia courtesy of the airline's jamming its rows of seats so close together you can't even lean forward to give yourself a break from sitting back. Nor can you stuff anything significant in the magazine pouch any more—your knees need that room; at least they do if you're 5'11".
To compensate: free beer and wine. In coach. That's right, free beer and wine in coach. Was I ever surprised.
Peaceful demonstrators march by Syntagma Square (Constitution Square), Athens. Yes, that's a McDonald's in the background. The deadly firebomb incident happened a couple of days later.
The second surprise: transportation within Greece was efficient, professional, and on time, both the public transport and the for-profit boats. Maybe we just got lucky, but it felt like we were in Germany, not the sleepy Mediterranean bastion of debilitating welfare-state excess Greece is stereotyped to be.
The Stoa of Attalos at the Ancient Agora, Athens.
Of course, we did have some luck in our timing: a strike a couple of days after we arrived closed the airport. And we picked up our rental car on the day of another strike which would have prevented us getting out of Athens any other way.
Article comments
1 - Victor Lana
Jon, I was last in Greece in 2000, and this article makes me want to return. Looking forward to your next installment.
Free beer and wine in coach? Amazing!
2 - Joanne Huspek
I can't wait for the update. My grandfather was Greek and I've always wanted to visit there, although now doesn't seem to be the optimum time.
3 - Ruvy
I hope you have enjoyed/are enjoying your trip. Something to bear in mind - in places like these, there is a whole lot more history than you want to know, and chances are the events surrounding you now are linked directly to that huge pile of - history.
Like Joanne, I look forward to your next installment.
4 - Dr Dreadful
Free beer and wine in coach? Amazing!
On an American carrier, it's unprecedented.
5 - Jon Sobel
Peanuts and pretzels were free, too (and they provided meals). Funnily enough, you could BUY Pringles.
6 - Mat Brewster
The wife and I spent 10 days in Greece last fall. Beautiful country with more history packed into than one can really fathom.