Welcome to Greece!

FINALLY!!!!! I have been waiting a year and nine months to be back in Greece. Fuck it feels good to be back. Don't let me leave!!!!!

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Lost in Travel Agent Translation

In order to go on the Athens-in-one-day cruise I had to get to the port of Pireaus and find my boat. Here are the directions from Niko the travel agent...



Wtf right? But despite my fears I didnt get horribly lost!

Holy Moley

The Greeks refuse to demolish any church. So instead of tearing this little church in Athens down they simply built over and around it

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One thing I am definitely going to miss about Greece is the public transport system in Athens. You can get anywhere you need to be in less than an hour. You really dont need your own car here



*cant think of anything funny to say about the metro... dammit I'm losing my touch!*

Lost in Translation

- Have a cookie. Its peanuts *heavy greek accent*
*a green cookie? maybe he means pistachios*
- ok, thanks *takes a bite*, *swallows hard*
- oh...... you mean its spinach

its peanuts = its speanuts = eets speenats = its spinach

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Syntagma Hot Spot

Syntagma has free wifi, with excellent signal strength by the metro, perfect for wasting time while waiting for the metro or while having coffee

Stamati & Grigori

Back in the day when my parents generation left the village to find work in Athens and beyond they werent given much but they were given some good advice. Bear in mind that most villages in those days didnt have luxuries such as electricity and running water. So to avoid a whole lot of village kids being squashed by cars they explained the phenomenon of traffic lights in a very simple way: the red man is called Stamati (stamata in greek means stop), and the green man is called Grigori (grigora in greek means quickly)

Pita!!!!

On a rainy day Glykeria and I decided to play Trivial Pursuit, the Greek version. I officially know nothing about Greek Geography, Entertainment, History, Arts & Literature, Science & Nature or Sports & Leisure. Actually I know nothing about any European country in those categories. All I know is that Liverpool Football Club's stadium (?) is in Anfield. The rule was she had to speak English and I had to speak Greek, and no I still didnt know the answers. Glykeria kept giving me clues and extra turns, I bet she was wondering if we really are related and thinking 'didnt they teach you anything at school?!?'

Milate Anglika?

Athens Deejay is a radio station that plays only English music, yay! High repetition of songs but they play good music so its alright. http://www.athensdeejay.gr/

Look what followed us home

Train disruptions, metro closures. Lady Luck sent us an American Greek! As we made our way to the port (Nikki and I went to Hydra for the weekend) via a series of public transport disasters good ol James asked for directions and took us where we needed to be. James. James who travels in his sleeping bag so he can pull it over his head and be in his own nest. James who brushes his teeth in McDonalds. James who promised me a tour of Athens that got rained on. Good ol crazy James who tried to trick me with a chocolate chip cookie, that aint no dagga cookie James! I planned to eat it to prove he was lying but the Albanian bitches who cleaned our room in Hydra stole it.....!

The Music scene in Greece

Athens is most definitely on the map in terms of music, some of the names that have concerts lined up this month: Tiesto, The Killers, Placebo, Duffy, Joss Stone, Santana, Scorpions, Michael Bolton (hey, my mom and her friends think he’s a star)

Remixed 80’s music is big here, perfect for drinking and dancing *longs for the Tiger Tiger days, no wait, Night Fever!!!*

Athens is obsessed with Lady Gaga, even more than Johannesburg is! Oh and of course Michael Jackson’s death is still big news

Eurovision songs are also a big hit here

Glykeria and Choleva always have either Rythmos (http://www.e-radio.gr/player/player.asp?btID=1&sID=215&cID=undefined&rID=undefined&partnerID=undefined) or Sfera (http://www.e-radio.gr/player/player.asp?btID=1&sID=143&cID=undefined&rID=undefined&partnerID=undefined) playing in their cars

Songs that are ranked high on the playlists here and that will always remind me of Summer in Greece 2009:
- I know you want me (Pitbull), practically the national anthem of this summer

- Change (Daniel Merriweather), cant find the original video so here’s the lyrics version
- Tha 'Mai Allios (Elena Paparizou), also a juice ad
- Fonazo (Giannis Ploutarxos)
- Pano ap’ola (Miron Stratis)

- Varethika (Nikos Vertis), heart wrenching sad break up song, reminds me of Glykeria and Katerina’s messed up relationships!
- Ti Na Mas Kanei i Nixta (G. Sampanis & Stereo Mike)

Okay yes their music videos do need some work!

Athens in One Day Cruise

Niko (the travel agent, www.passepartout-tours.gr) organised the cruise for me. Its supposed to be a one day cruise but of course Niko has a connection on one of the islands who owns a hotel (www.hydroussahotel.gr) so I stayed over for a night (yes of course his friend is also called Niko).
First stop, Hydra, an island that doesnt have any cars or motorbikes - the only means of transportation is by foot or donkey, I'll walk thanks. Spent the evening is Hydra and absolutely loved it. Hydra is a stunning island and my favourite of the three we visited.


Next stop Poros, pretty much the same as any other island, lots of coffee shops and restaurants. Apparently there is some or other navy base on Poros, I didnt see a single boy in uniform *sigh*

Our last stop was Aegina, famous for pistachio nuts, Agio Nektarios church and the Temple of Afaia. The pistachio ice cream isnt all that, dont waste 4 euros


Thanks to Niko and Niko for a fabulous trip! mwaaah!

The New Acropolis Museum

Glykeria and I were lucky enough to get tickets to the new Acropolis Musuem (yes of course a Niko organised them for us, standard). I am not an avid museum-goer but this museum is definitely worth seeing, the layout and structure are phenomenal, all the pieces are displayed openly (not in those tacky glass boxes - but you arent allowed to touch them), and the view of the Acropolis in the background is stunning. Each level has glass tiles so you can see the levels below, the third floor is definitely not for those with a fear of heights - we'll just walk on the frosted tiles.
There's a huge fuss about pieces that are in the British Museum. They were stolen long ago and up until now the Brits have refused to give them back claiming that Greece had no facilities to properly display them, so the Greeks got rid of the small old museum and built the fab new give-the-Brits-the finger museum.... they are now insisting on the return of the missing pieces. There are spaces open in the museum for these pieces and plaster casts of the British originals are very noticeably placed next to Greek originals. Will the pieces be returned? So far the Brits are keeping mum

Clubbing in Athens

I am finally certain that I am Greek. Went clubbing last night and for the first time ever I was ready to go out on time; my hair was straight, I had a full face of makeup, my nails were painted, I was wearing jewellery, I had my shoes on and was sipping on a glass of vino waiting for the girls to pick me up. Lets view the same scenario in South Africa: girls are hooting for the umpteenth time, I'm trying to finish doing my hair, no time for makeup so just slap on some eyeliner and mascara, screw it no time to put any jewellery on, girls hoot again, I run to the door with my shoes in my hands and smudge my nailpolish. Whats the difference? The south african girls arranged to fetch me at 8:30pm but they are 15 minutes early, the greek girls arranged to fetch me at 11:30pm and they are 15 minutes late!!! I'm definitely greek.
Its Choleva's birthday (thats her surname, but there are so many Katerina's in the social circle that they get distinguished by their surname) and we are at Delano Club in Glyfada. It's a summer club, has no roof and overlooks the sea, really nice couches and fancy bars. In order to sit on the couches you need to book a table (which means pay for a bottle of alcohol that the people around the table will share, yes athens alcohol prices), if you dont book and buy a bottle you aint sitting. Four girls and a bottle of Amaretto, this is going to be a good night! One of the girls assumes the role of fancy barlady..... rubs a slice of lemon around the top of the glass, swirls it in some sugar, pops the lemon in the glass, adds a few ice cubes, pours a generous amount of Amaretto but then dilutes it with way too much lemon juice (which tastes more like lemonade and is the first sign that we are not going to get out of hand). I teach the first glass a quick lesson and am about to pour myself another one when more ice cubes and lemon juice fill my glass... two drops of already diluted Amaretto, more ice cubes and lemon juice just aint gonna cut it, let me get drunk girls!!!
So we're sitting on the couches drinking Oros when the remixed 80's music starts (very big in greece... almost as big as big in japaaaaaan), the crowd goes wild, the girls jump up to dance (around the table cause there is no dancefloor), hold on, i'm way too sober to 'want somebody to daaaaaance' *sung in my best Whitney voice*. this is the kind of music they play at Tight Beaver at 5am to get people to go home, but of course when you have had enough to drink you just loooooooove the song thats playing and you're loving all the free space on the dancefloor to show off your new old moves, the only way to get you to stop is to suggest breakfast at bimbo's. This kind of music sober is really not the same, oh and lets not forget the chorus (the only part the crowd knows) is sung with a heavy greek accent * i tzust wunt sumbudy too dans*
I spot some familiar faces in the crowd.. .the couple that needs to get a room (the Helleniko Hotel is rumoured to be just the place), the skinny girls that definitely dont throw bimbos down their throats at any time of the day or night, the ugly girl who has demolished her eyebrows in the hope that it will make her beautiful (yes i kept staring at her eyebrows), the boy who thinks he is the shit (fists up under his chin, elbows pushed out, bopping up and down and lifting his knees high, with each bop he pushes his chest and hips out, yeah i know you've seen him all over fourways too). No talent in the crowd tonight (thinking I might have to lower the standards or I'll never fulfill Liezl's 10 rule), at least in SA we could drink the boys pretty
A lot of boys are wearing shirts with rhinetones (yes i know sparkly shirts are for girls), slightly disturbing to see the boys with sparkles jumping around singing Brother Louis Louis Louis (if i was drunk i would be in heaven, a haze of sparkles and cheesy music!)
No one mingles with people they dont know, each group sits around their table the whole night. Long live dancefloors and cheap alcohol in SA where you squeeze your way through the crowd, get smooched along the way by some random hottie and make a new best friend forever in the bathroom (the girls here dont go in groups, everyone goes alone, i know!!!!!)
All in all a good night, would have been the best night ever if we had enough alcohol in our systems to looooove every song, dance with our hands over our heads all night, stumble out the club while the sun rises, munch on greasy food from bimbo's, our voices croakey from all the singing. erm i sound like an alcoholic

Arriving in Athens

Always carry coins with you.

I arrived at the airport in Athens at 05:30 and had to walk about a kilometre to Baggage Claim, dragging my 10kg hand luggage and 9kg hand bag and 7kg cat along with me (yes I know it should have been less than 7kg in total but I need my stuff!) Really going to wear comfy shoes on the next flight and wont give a shit if they dont match my nailpolish!

My luggage arrived in one piece, hallelujah! Really glad I have a silver makeup kit and bright pink suitcase, spotting them was a breeze. You need to pay 1 euro for a trolley, the smallest denomination I had was a 10 euro note and the machine doesnt accept anything bigger than 5 euro notes - and of course the foreign exchange desk wasnt open (despite the man sitting behind the counter not seeming productive at all). I hung around for about 15 minutes until a very kind lady gave me one of her coins. Always carry coins with you!

Proceeded to Customs... not a soul in sight..... I walked straight through Customs and out of the airport *note to self: smuggle drugs at 05:30am*