Thursday , March 28 2024
Free beer and wine in coach—the eighth wonder of the ancient world.

Two Weeks in Greece, Part 1

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.

Athens Syntagma Square Greece unrest
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, Greece
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.

Like poor weather conditions on the slopes of Everest, a strike also kept us from climbing the Acropolis on our first attempt. Athens' most popular historic site closed early the day of our arrival because some protests had gotten violent. For us, it turned out just as well: the first day of a trip to Europe is always marked by late-day exhaustion as you battle jet lag trying to stay awake through the evening. With our body clocks seven hours behind, we weren't in the best frame of mind to appreciate the Parthenon.

Church of the Holy Apostles at the Ancient Agora, Athens Greece
A peaceful moment outside the Byzantine Church of the Holy Apostles at the Ancient Agora, Athens

We did see the more manageable Ancient Agora that first day, where everywhere you look there's a sublime site from one millennium or another.

And we would have another chance at the Acropolis. Click here for Part 2.

About Jon Sobel

Jon Sobel is Publisher and Executive Editor of Blogcritics as well as lead editor of the Culture & Society section. As a writer he contributes most often to Music, where he covers classical music (old and new) and other genres, and Culture, where he reviews NYC theater. Through Oren Hope Marketing and Copywriting at http://www.orenhope.com/ you can hire him to write or edit whatever marketing or journalistic materials your heart desires. Jon also writes the blog Park Odyssey at http://parkodyssey.blogspot.com/ where he is on a mission to visit every park in New York City. He has also been a part-time working musician, including as lead singer, songwriter, and bass player for Whisperado.

Check Also

Film Interview: Andreas Eidhagen, Director of ‘Philosopher of the Sea’

Andreas Eidhagen shares stories about following 83-year-old Swedish sailor Sven Yrvind for his new documentary.