My Big Fat Greek Weekend
Ancient Agora
View of Acropolis from Temple of Zeus
Fallen Column at Temple of Zeus
Erechthion
Two days after the lady at the spa nearly cut my big toe off (you know it is a bad spa day when you leave the salon in bandages soaked in blood) and after I accidentally left my passport at the US Embassy, I left to meet Dan in Athens, Greece for a long weekend.
Top Things I Loved About Athens:
- The weather. (Just like San Diego)
- The history. (It makes Rome look modern.)
- The gorgeous views. (Like the ones from Lycavittos Hill.)
- The food. (Svoulaki, moussaki, baklava, ...)
- The wines. (Especially the Peloponnesian ones)
- The people. (Although one Greek told us that she thought that the Greeks were extremely rude compared to the Americans. What is surprising is that she was using New Yorkers as her standard of reference!)
- The metro. (Greece has, hands down, the nicest, cleanest and prettiest metro system I have ever been on. The stations are little museums in and of themselves.)
- Anyone driving on the sidewalk will have their car confiscated!
Things I Could Have Done Without in Athens:
- All the cigarette smoke! (At one restaurant, there were 16 people eating. Dan and I were the only ones not smoking. I swear Athens must be a walking research project for lung disease.)
- The pollution. (See above reference to lung disease.)
- The urban sprawl.
- The tacky American tourists. (At dinner one night, we heard a group of tourists from North Carolina tell the waiter that the bartender needed "to learn how to make drinks the American way." Dan and I were mortified! We overtipped just so that he wouldn't think that all Americans were that way.)
Copyright 2006 by Cindy Lane. All rights reserved.
posted by Cindy Lane at 4:38 PM
4 Comments:
Ohdeargod, I'm so jealous.
I needed that weekend ... the only problem would be in getting me to return :)
Oh my god, what rude Americans. Thank god, you and your hubby are decent folks.
Here we go with the "rude" American bashing, God please spare us all.... Of course we all know that no one visiting the U.S. as ever showed their rear-end in a rude, condescending and outright boorish manner, right? Having lived, worked and traveled extensively throughout the world I've come to understand and accept that while customs may differ people are pretty much the same across the globe. While some individuals simply louts most are kind, generous and friendly. Thank you Cindy for keeping us all thoroughly entertained with your exploits and experiences. One Texican to another.
Hey Anonymous Texican,
If you grew up in Texas, then I am sure that your momma raised you better than to yell and carry-on the way this group of tourists did in this very nice restaurant. (I left out the part where the group yelled across the restaurant, "you are just a bunch of damn yankees.")
The way I see it, rude is rude, no matter what nationality you are. Sorry you see it as American bashing -- I just called it like I saw it!
Thanks for reading and I agree with you -- most people are kind, generous and friendly.
Cheers,
Cindy
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