On May 31, 2000 I arrived in Athens with about 25 other
intrepid travelers from the University. We landed around 10:30 AM.
Our hosts in Greece, Kirk and Tatiana, greeted us at the Athens airport.
Athens is by far the largest city I've ever seen....I've
been to NY, Chicago, Atlanta and I'm from Miami...but they just don't compare
to the sheer size of Athens.
I found Athens to be dirty, just garbage everywhere,
multitudes of stray cats and dogs, people who should NOT be driving, dry-warm
weather, with cool breezes. Most of the buildings are white and not
too tall, which is why I think the city spreads out as far as the eye can
see. Most Greeks live in Athens, about 70% of them. Many Greeks
spoke English, and I personally never had a problem with any of the natives.
All the merchants and cab drivers I encountered were very nice to me.
I enjoyed shopping in the Plaka...bartering is good there...plenty
of cheap silver and souvenirs and many little cafes.
One great thing I found about Athens, (well, Greece in
general) was that everyone gardens with beautiful flowers. Flowers
everywhere, pink, purple....red. Many flowers cascaded from the second
story balcony onto the ground below.
One day, I walked for what seemed like 5 miles, to a
large hill with a shrine on top. From there I took these great pictures
of Athens.
You can see from these, the sheer size of Athens as it spreds out into
the Mountains.
My favorite store downtown! Great name!
To the right is my favorite picture of Athens, though the scan didn't
turn out so great...those are all buildings, under the rays of the sun...it
was lovely in person.