I recently moved in Athens. When I say "recently" I mean like "a year more or less". I know exactly how much I've been here, because I count each day, but I prefer to say "more or less". My feelings about Athens are mixed, and that's obvious, since I haven't posted anything here for a long time. But maybe other people can do that for me.
That's why I asked a friend to write a piece for my blog, and he did. You probably want to know more about the author, but I'm not going to give you any more information than he does in his piece. So, this is his take on Athens. Enjoy:
Tripping in Athens
I was really desperate when Lisa left me. We were arguing about everyday issues, she wanted a mortgage in order to buy a house, I wanted a pizza with salmon and pepperoni. She left the house. "She will return, as always" I said. She didn't. Someone famous once said: Desperate times call for desperate measures, or something like that. I couldn't stay in my small town anymore. Everything reminded me of her. The corner where we first kissed, the coffee shop where we got high together, the big poster in the center of town where she was posing for a shampoo or something like that. I needed to leave my town, but that meant that I have to break the oath.
The oath was made by me to myself when I was an Erasmus student in Manchester. I was young, full of hope and believing that living abroad will open my wings to new experiences, ideas, girls, cultures. Instead I found myself in a dark industrial town, with no music, a lot drugs, moisture, bed bugs, no sleep and no memories. I was really sociable, I had met a lot of new people, I was attending a lot of meetings, parties, pranks but I had no real friends. Everything that I thought that a foreign country will give me was a lie. I was meeting people that had traveled all over the world (been there, done that) and I realized that there isn't anything new to learn or to feel. My home town had everything that everybody was discussing as new, trendy or whatever. So the promise was made. I promised my self that I will never leave my sweet town again!
In Manchester I also met a Greek guy (I named him "A", because he was just A friend). A Greek extravagant guy with a loud sense of humor (really loud), who had special taste for the filthy kebab next to my house, liked a lot travelling and adore to make trips usually by trying every substance known to man. "A" was also mythomaniac, I never realized if he was really Greek or not. In our psychedelic trips, "A" was always talking about the Greek islands like Chios - Mytilene - Crete (I never understood why the Greeks give 3 names for 1 island). He was talking hour after hour about the blue seas, the clear sky, the hot sun and the sweaty bodies of young adults (It was never clarified if he was talking about women or men). "A" returned to Greece one day, but we kept contact with e-mails describing what new substances could be eaten and what new toppings a pizza could get. Anchovies was always a clear winner for both of us. In the e-mails of "A" had some attachment of photos of him sailing, swimming in the sea, in the town, his new creation trying to cook something. I decided to accept his regular invitation and visit Greece, the blue seas, the beaches that reminds you the paradise.
I took the plane to Athens, I put my mind to a calm state to absorb all the beautiful images. I arrived in Athens but didn't find anything nice. I was waiting in the luggage claim area for over an hour to get my stuff. As I got out, hot humid air rushed to my face that made sweat all of my water out in 3 seconds (many people say that water is 70% of my body, damn that means I am still fat even without water). I took the blue line of the metro, and still nothing nice on the way. I was standing next to a half open window with a fly trying to smash the closed part of the window but with no luck. I got to the apartment of "A" (in a totally gray area of Athens that time seems to have forgotten). "A" opened the door and he was quite surprised to see me. "What are you doing here?", he asked with complicated emotions. "You invited me to come, so I am here", I told him. "You should have informed me before, in order to organize something", replied. "But you Greeks are unorganized", I said quoting someone famous again. "Well, you are not going to see any islands, or sail somewhere, you are going to stay in Athens because I am working this week and I don't have any days off left", replied angrily.
So Athens it was. Up until then, Athens was a miserable place, gray buildings, without any parks or city life. The first afternoon we went to the really tourist places, the Acropolis, Plaka, Thiseio. Everything I saw was some ancient ruins that made no sense at all (really: Check out the Acropolis, it has no roof!), packed with tourists! I thought I made a huge mistake coming to Athens (another huge mistake was ordering the salmon - pepperoni pizza, terrible combination). Athens has one or two things that everyone says that you must see, but I never understood why.
In the Evening "A" returned from work. "A" was carrying a bag, inside that bag was his little baby (a mac book pro) and a lot of weed. Every time "A" was returning from work, he always had tones of weed with him. I think he is getting paid with weed. After a couple of joints (I think I lost count between 2 and 54), "A" had a great idea a cycling trip around some areas in Athens. What a great idea! In the city where drivers are mad, the pedestrians do not care about the rules of the road, cycling is lethal. I agreed in cycling because I knew that he didn't have a second bike and we weren't in any position to talk to anyone and especially with an owner of a bike rental. Let's go to Harry's place he continued, we will find a bike there. "Damn", I thought, "my plan backfired".
The first thing you notice about Harry's place is the the door. It is covered with many front-pages of a local communist newspaper (Rizospastis). "Is Harry a communist?", I asked. "Nobody knows not even himself, the newspapers are there in order to keep the Neonazis out. That way his guests are safe from Fascism.", he replied as everything was normal. Did he know that his sentence didn't make any sense? "His Guests???", I thought... "A" takes a pair of keys and unlocks the door. "Why do you have keys to Harry's house?", I pondered! "Everyone has", he replied as everything was ok. Inside Harry's house I met a Pakistan couple, 3 Peruvian Girls, 1 British Cyclist, 2 Russian Brides, a crazy Dutch couple and a German independent reporter. All of them were in the living room, I didn't proceed to the other rooms to find the rest of the guests. "Where is Harry?", I asked in amazement. "Harry isn't here! Harry is travelling 25 miles away in order to water and take care his vegetables & tomatoes." We took the Harry's bike, we called him on the phone and we learned 2 vital pieces of information: a) WE had to inflate the tires, and b) in order to brake in time you have to believe it!?!?!?!?! We locked the door with all the tourists inside and we started our short trip.
Getting to Harry's place, without any Harry in it. Neonazis that are afraid of a local newspaper. A group of tourists stuck in an apartment. Locking a door that everyone has a key. A bike that brakes with belief, and having an ecological mind means that you burn gazoline, drive 25 miles, watering your garden in order to get 2 tomatoes and 3 small potatoes instead of buying it cheaper from the next door store. Welcome to contradictory Athens.
Talking about contradictory Athens: In my first day trip I couldn't find any parks, but on the afternoon and on a bike Athens is full of it! In the sea of cement, there are always some small green oases. Parks with a lot of trees, ducks, turtles, horses and whatever else you might think. The weed and the bike made everything nice, I was cycling through a town of differences. A town that is the border between West & East civilizations and yet totally different. A city that has something European, but also something African. "A" made me travel to a park that is on top of a hill! From there you could hear the noise of the cars and how lively the town is. The vibe and energy completely overwhelms you.
The small neighborhoods of Athens are really different from each other. You can find safe ones, where you can park your car have a coffee or a drink but you can't speak to anyone, and the dangerous ones ("A" told me there is an area that I should always avoid) where you can see kids playing on the road, lively with caring neighbors making you feel more safe than ever. In a city that nobody cares about time, nobody is on time in his meetings, the town always keeps track of time.
I saw many Greek girls in this cycling trip, but I didn't like them. They are way overdressed and they have a behavior that they are rulers of the living world. You are afraid to speak to them, they might kill you just because you were in their way. But in these "dangerous" areas I found the love of my life. A girl with a small skirt, shinny eyes, red hair and a wonderful smile. I had an instant crush with her. I really believed that it was love on first sight. Because I really believed it, the bike instantly braked and I crashed head first on the tarmac.
On the way to the hospital I realized that I had just got over Lisa. I may never again find the mysterious Greek Girl, but that's also ok. Athens has everything, from good to bad. The tourist must embrace that to get the full experience. Athens is very contradictory town, but in a beautiful kind of way....
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