My brother Soheil and I travelled again. After our epic stay in New York we choose Athens for our next trip. I went to Athens with my Family in the late 80s. Back than we wanted to go to the Acropolis but it's not easy for a Family with five small kids that speaks neither Greek nor English to get around in a strange city. Therefore, we had to leave without visiting the Acropolis and the rest is ancient history. Also this time we barely missed the Acropolis. We stayed over Christmas and the Acropolis and almost everything else was closed from Christmas eve till Boxing day. Fortunately, we could use the last day of our stay to see the Acropolis. Beside the Acropolis, we went to a Christmas celebration downtown, where we saw a group performing the Sirtaki. At that celebration, a caricature of me was created. While the artist was drawing the dance group finished there act. The spectators were thirsty for more entertainment, found some amusement in the drawing. A big group of people suddenly gathered behind the artist and were laughing while I had to wait till the caricature was finished. To not infringe copy rights, I'm not going to post the caricature here, instead you can enjoy some selfies.
The weather in Athens was just few degrees below room temperature, that's winter weather in Greece. All the natives were in the winter jackets, buttoned all the way up. My brother and I, we liked the pleasant temperatures and went swimming in the sea. It's nothing new for me to swim while most natives avoid the "cold" sea.
Here some further impressions:
What surprised me most: You can find your way around with English. In France and Italy I had problems and I heard from some friends who don't speak German about their troubles in Germany. The Greeks on the other hand speak English and all the signs there are in Greek and English.
What was very funny: Using my GPS navigation. I haven't changed the language settings from English to German on my device. It's funny how it pronounces with an English accent German street names. But that is German. It doesn't even tries to pronounce the Greek street names. Instead, it spells the names which takes for ever. "In 60 meters turn left on Pi Epsilon Lambda Lambda Alpha Sigma Kappa Alpha Gamma Phi Iota Psi."
What was not funny: Fanny packs; lots of them.
What I didn't like: Athens smells a bit like New York.
What I liked: Palm, lemon, and olive trees in the streets.
The weather in Athens was just few degrees below room temperature, that's winter weather in Greece. All the natives were in the winter jackets, buttoned all the way up. My brother and I, we liked the pleasant temperatures and went swimming in the sea. It's nothing new for me to swim while most natives avoid the "cold" sea.
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| Technically another selfie |
What surprised me most: You can find your way around with English. In France and Italy I had problems and I heard from some friends who don't speak German about their troubles in Germany. The Greeks on the other hand speak English and all the signs there are in Greek and English.
What was very funny: Using my GPS navigation. I haven't changed the language settings from English to German on my device. It's funny how it pronounces with an English accent German street names. But that is German. It doesn't even tries to pronounce the Greek street names. Instead, it spells the names which takes for ever. "In 60 meters turn left on Pi Epsilon Lambda Lambda Alpha Sigma Kappa Alpha Gamma Phi Iota Psi."
What was not funny: Fanny packs; lots of them.
What I didn't like: Athens smells a bit like New York.
What I liked: Palm, lemon, and olive trees in the streets.
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