Winter at the acropolis

Oli and I went to Athens. sky europe had a huge sale and weren't charging airport fees or taxes, so it cost us about 80 Euros. i found us a cheap room near the plaka that had a view of the acropolis.

I like Athens. It's the way I remember Greece 20 years ago - dusty shops selling stuff that you wonder anybody would want to buy. And the Greeks so conservative and CLEAN - I've never seen people that somber and tidy - and all of it amidst this dirty noisy city - street vendors and butchers hacking up meat on the corner, 20-year olds that hardly look any different than their mothers, everybody drinking nescafe and frapees all day long.

Oli didn't like Athens. He's too young and doesn't have any of those memories of old europe. every country was individual and interesting in its own way, and you could sure tell them all apart. what he did like a bit was the more trendy area - expensive, great boutiques and shops that we've seen in every other modern european city. we had a fabulous meal there sunday night and the waitress smiled. we must have talked for an hour about that. somebody actually smiling in greece.

i guess there is a place for both in athens - the old and the trendy. the old should probably be remembered for what it was though, so that the other can be embraced through new eyes.