Wrap Up : Athens

Date : July 11 – 15, 2011

Highlights :

• Parthenon & Acropolis (of course!)
• Temple of Poseidon and night out in city
• Syntagma Square and changing of guards
• Monastiraki Square and shops

Safety :

Have heard from friends and acquaintances that Athens is not a safe city to be in, mainly pertaining to pick-pockets and snatch thieves.  I personally felt fairly safe in the city, even when I was out till 3am in the city (though was with a local, and would not have ventured on my own at that hour!).

Additionally, though the riots happened just a couple of weeks before my arrival, everything seemed to be back to normal, and I hardly felt that the country was in a crisis! People were moving about their daily activities and enjoying all that summer has to offer – sitting in cafes chatting, enjoying the beach etc. Hardly saw much poverty in the city.

People :

People were generally nice and helpful (although beware of getting directions, they may give you the wrong ones – though I don’t think they did it on purpose).

Was told on several occasions by various friends that Greek men are good looking, even cleaners on street were “Va-va-voom”! Perhaps my expectations were set a little too high, and when I did not get the eye-candy that I was hoping for, I was a little disappointed.

I did feel that many women in Athens had pretty good figure. Not that they are all skinny and hour glass shaped, but they dressed in a way that it flattered their figures (though not necessarily extremely well-dress in posh attires).

Language :

Didn’t have too much problems using just English in the city, though many of the locals English language capabilities aren’t very strong.  Most places have signs in English and Greek, especially in the city centre.

It helps that I still recall some of the Cyrillic alphabet, and though Greek and Cyrillic alphabet are not the same, they share a lot of commonalities. 

Of course, I may not necessarily know what it means even though am able to read it, but it definitely helped with reading some of the signs (when English is not available!) and mapping it against a map.

Transport :

The city is very well inter-connected, with various transportation modes – metro, buses, trams.  For Euro 4 per 24hr block (there is also the option of weekly tickets at Euro 14, or per 90 min trip tickets at Euro 1.40), one is able to travel on any of these transport systems across the city, which I felt was rather reasonable as compared to other European cities.

The system runs on an honesty system, where one is required to validate their ticket at the beginning of each trip on a new ticket. 

Overall :

Airport clearance was very efficient (unlike some European airports), and was surprised that I was out of the airport in less than 30 mins from the time of arrival.

Also felt that the cost of living in Greece was not too bad as compared with the rest of the European countries around – seen some bargains which I would not even get in Asia (eg. Cherries at Euro 1.99 per kg)!

There were lots of trees in the city, and the architecture of buildings and its layout added its own special identity for Athens, which is different from other European cities that one may go to.

Truly enjoyed myself in Athens, exploring all the various historic ruins and other sights! 

Will I come back again?  Definitely!