Athens
5-31-2000 through 6-3-2000

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.


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