Metro from
Monastiraki to Victory station to go to the National Archaeological Museum.
Metro is easy to use. Excellent collection of statues, Archaic stuff, and
ancient Egyptian stuff (could be better than MET!) .
Dog & Cat fight in about 510 BC
Outside of the museum
Near the museum
Metro back to Monastiraki. On the
way to the hotel, had creamy Greek frozen yogurt with honey and nuts, entered
Metropole church (under renovation),bought pistachio and almond sweets for
work at an patisserie since 1930 near the hotel.
Interesting mixture of different
architecture style (19th century, art nouveau, and modern)
on Apolonos street where the hotel is located.
Cold Jacuzzi (as is, accoriding to the hotel)and sunbathing at
rooftop. Last look at Acropolis.
Dinner. at a
casual and busy Greek restaurant near Syntagma Square. Complimentary shot of Tsipouro and olives.
Excellent Greek salad, very fresh tomato, cucumber, red pepper with excellent
dressing.
Around Syntagma Square. Walked to the biggest bookstore in Athens, but closed.
Getting Sunday paper on Saturday night.
Back to hotel, had cappuccino, Baklava and tangerine sweets from the patisserie, then packing, nap, last
cigarette, and wrote journal.
Mykonos and Santorini (except Fira and Oia) Islands were
mellow because it was off-season. But Athens was very much alive and didn’t
seem like bankrupted except some gathering (not protest) and lots of graffiti.
I expected it was eaten by foreign capitals, however, I got an impression that
local business still kept going and less foreign business than expected. For
example, 2 or 3 kinds of Greek beer, and Amstel and Heineken were available
anywhere. Like any other cities, there were H&M. Zara, Sephora, Footlocker,
Addidas and some luxury brand stores, but less
Mcdonlad and Starbucks than expected.
However, I couldn't find Greek specicality such as leather goods with reasonable price and good design as a souvenir. They have lots of debt and buy foreign goods like any other city and not much to sell except tourism, agriculture and shipping., so it explains part of the reasons why they're bankrupted. According to Greek myth, Athena created olive trees and Poseidon created horses. Since gods judged that olives are more useful to humans, Athena won Athens. It seemed like Greece was already doomed to its bankruptcy from the beginning. Horses are cars and hard power, and olive means soft power. For the reasons of Greece bankruptcy, too much pension or too much wages for public sector workers and tax evasion have been mentioned, but I also thought that hard power was not fully-progressed and soft power has declinined. Unlike other EU countries, no Greek companies known worldwide and only a few Greek artists and intellectuals well-known internationally. Even the biggest bookstore in Athens was closed around 8:30 PM on Saturday. But still, people are very proud of themselves, especially if they know they're good, as I experienced the Santorini Tavern which serve excellent Greek dish.
However, I couldn't find Greek specicality such as leather goods with reasonable price and good design as a souvenir. They have lots of debt and buy foreign goods like any other city and not much to sell except tourism, agriculture and shipping., so it explains part of the reasons why they're bankrupted. According to Greek myth, Athena created olive trees and Poseidon created horses. Since gods judged that olives are more useful to humans, Athena won Athens. It seemed like Greece was already doomed to its bankruptcy from the beginning. Horses are cars and hard power, and olive means soft power. For the reasons of Greece bankruptcy, too much pension or too much wages for public sector workers and tax evasion have been mentioned, but I also thought that hard power was not fully-progressed and soft power has declinined. Unlike other EU countries, no Greek companies known worldwide and only a few Greek artists and intellectuals well-known internationally. Even the biggest bookstore in Athens was closed around 8:30 PM on Saturday. But still, people are very proud of themselves, especially if they know they're good, as I experienced the Santorini Tavern which serve excellent Greek dish.
Greece seemed like a very Chauvinistic society. In Athens
and islands, I saw working women, but they' re much less visible than men.
Working or non-working, men were happily hanging around since morning, but
women were less visible. I saw women with families, but seems less girls/women
and couples than it could be. However, according to my Greek friend in NY,
there is no obvious sexual discrimination at workplace. Also, grand parents or cheap illegal
immigrant nannies take care of kids, it's much easier to work with children than
Japanese mothers. On the other hand, there were some Gypsy-like children, who
played accordion and beg money in touristic areas.
Greece is a part of EU, but I saw some examples that it is
not advanced as German or France. The most noticeable is its infrastructure.
There are lots of utility poles, not only in islands, but also in central
Athens and they hurt the views which are precious asset for their tourism. Toilet paper were non-flushable in public
bathrooms or non-expensive hotels and it should be discarded in litter bins
(like China). Some people in souvenir shops in Santorini and Mykonos were not
talkative, but gift-wraped without asking even though those gifts are 8 olive
oil soaps (1 Euro each). Their service was thorough, but relatively slow and
inefficient. But of-course, an island's charm is slowness and Athens is
relatively faster and people's face look more severe. However, the business hotel we stayed in
central Athens had only one elevator carrying up to 3 people. Why 3? Second couple needs another ride!
Most of the young people related to tourism speak fluent English and older generations' English varied. Some people seemed to experience more strain of speaking secondary language than German people. Also, it was welcome to take photos of people with business smile with permission, but sometimes met strong rejection from off-guard store person and people on street. I saw how to draw a line between private and public for the people dependent on tourism and I respected it.
Overall, it was a great experience: awesome views and ruins, plenty of friendly and lively cats, kind people, and delicious food. Definitely, Greece is a great place to visit and made me think a lot about its past and present in our current world. I would love to go back to Myknos in September and rent an apartment and say "Kalimera" to cats each morning!
Most of the young people related to tourism speak fluent English and older generations' English varied. Some people seemed to experience more strain of speaking secondary language than German people. Also, it was welcome to take photos of people with business smile with permission, but sometimes met strong rejection from off-guard store person and people on street. I saw how to draw a line between private and public for the people dependent on tourism and I respected it.
Overall, it was a great experience: awesome views and ruins, plenty of friendly and lively cats, kind people, and delicious food. Definitely, Greece is a great place to visit and made me think a lot about its past and present in our current world. I would love to go back to Myknos in September and rent an apartment and say "Kalimera" to cats each morning!
