Thursday, December 3, 2015

Northern Immersion - The Russian and the Elephant

Today, we got up early, so we could get an early start on a full day of activities.  It turns out that it was a waste of time, because apparently the Sacharidous take longer to get ready in the morning than the Knottses.  We didn’t leave the house until around 11:00 a.m.  So, with a half a day wasted, we headed to the parking for the subway.

Apparently, today the subway workers decided to strike, so the subway was only working on select lines at select times.  They were nice enough to leave a note, though, so we knew to find alternative transportation.  It took us another 20 minutes to find a place to park, and we ended up walking several miles to the nearest taxi stand.  It turns out we didn’t need a taxi after all, because there was an open subway line next to the taxi stand.  So, we headed off to Syntagma Square. 

The subway let out right next to the Parliament House square, which was packed with hundreds of people waving protest flags.  Ignoring them, we pushed our way across the street to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier where they were changing the guard (the Evzones) at that exact moment.  So, we got to watch the complicated ceremony, which features the guard dressed in traditional uniform, complete with skirt, stockings, and shoes with pom-poms.  It’s pretty cool if you’ve never seen it.  This would be our first unexpected gem of the trip.

As we made our way down to the Benaki Museum (Μουσείο Μπενάκη), we realized just how dangerous the protests could be.  There were police and military everywhere, armed with machine guns and riot gear.  Hurrying along to avoid getting caught up in anything, we arrived at the museum to find that admission today was free.  You can’t beat that!  The museum houses an impressive collection of sculptures, paintings, jewelry, pottery, artifacts, and traditional outfits from thousands of years of Greek history.  The beauty and detail of some of the pieces is remarkable considering the tools they had to work with at the time.

From there, we headed out to lunch and coffee with Anna Papaeti, one of my wife's childhood friends, at the Rock and Roll Café.  The food was just okay.  The company was great…and I’m not just saying that because Anna spoke English the whole time, so I wouldn’t feel left out.  She was very nice and sweet.  The biggest drawback to the experience was something that I had completely forgotten about Greece.  The number of cigarette smokers in this country and Athens in particular is ridiculous.  You can’t get away from it.  It’s everywhere.  And they let them smoke in the restaurants, so you can’t even enjoy your meal without it being encompassed in a haze of smoke.

We found ourselves in a corner booth, and all three of the tables around us had smokers at them.  At one point during the meal, I counted seven cigarettes and one cigar being burnt and puffed in my general direction.  At that one moment in time, I inhaled enough second-hand smoke to kill a large elephant.  And there was no reprieve.  As soon as they finished one, they’d light up another.  The guy next to us didn’t even stop smoking while he ate.  He had a cigarette in one hand and a fork in the other!  Needless to say, my eyes were burning, and I had a headache by the time we left there.

After saying our goodbyes to Anna, we headed to Monasteraki to try to do a little shopping before everything closed.  We didn’t get in much, but we managed to buy a few souvenirs for friends before heading home.  While in Monasteraki, I was confused as a Russian mobster.  Some Russian guy sitting on a stool started chasing me down the street and speaking Russian.  When I ignored him, he said in broken English, “I’m sorry, but do you speak Russian?”  I politely replied that “no I do not,” and he left.  I figured he was about to take me upstairs, share a bottle of vodka with me, and plot out a plan to take down the Turks.  My wife said that I looked Russian, so that’s probably why he made the mistake.  I’ve never been confused as Russian before.  Interesting…

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