Athens

It's been more than thirty years since I was in Athens, so my memories of the city were hazy. What I noticed this time, more than anything, was the harsh grey concrete nature of the city. It's a dense amorphous urban mess, with hardly any green spaces except for the areas around the Acropolis. From the Areopagus the view is a concrete plain, surrounding the green of the ancient excavated sites. The valleys between the hills have been filled with ugly housing and roads, which are in turn filled with cars which park on pavements and into the roadway, impeding both pedestrians and other vehicles. You may gather that I didn't much like the city, this time.

Even the ancient forum areas were not as spectacular as I have seen elsewhere, but then I had a very limited time for tourism, so the Acropolis was closed when I was free. Two tourist hours in four days isn't enough.

On the other hand, an attempt was made to pick me up, which could be regarded as flattering. The last time I was there I was young and pretty with long fair hair. While waiting near the station for the next train towards London, an older guy (who was probably younger than I am now) made a concerted effort to get me drunk & chat me up. He succeeded in the former; I remember stumbling onto the train in a haze of ouzo, unsure of what the hell I was doing, but convinced I needed to get away.

This time, it was a guy who was younger than me, and an attempted street pick-up, but the lines were the same. Is it Greece, or is it me? I suppose I should be flattered.


:0)