Xenophilia

Very many thanks for all the comments, stars and hearts on yesterday's wedding girl. A different mood today with this butcher at closing time at Athens Central Market.

I knew it already but I've been reminded since we got here that Greece is the land of 1,000 small kindnesses. It started the moment we arrived when on the bus from the airport a woman alerted us to the fact that B was entitled to a concessionary ticket and then went to the ticket office herself to change the full-price one we’d bought.

It continued today when we went to a travel agent to find out about the bus to a new port for a new ferry service to Skopelos where we’re going on Wednesday. He couldn’t sell us our bus tickets to the ferry port because he isn’t licensed to do so, but he phoned to reserve them for us. He couldn’t sell us our ferry tickets because the new service isn’t on the ticketing system yet but he kindly made the phone calls to find out everything for us. So he had no commission but he refused to let us pay for the phone calls.

In the café where we went for lunch our non-existent Greek and their not-quite perfect English combined to mean we were brought something we hadn’t ordered. ‘Never mind,’ they said, ‘have it on the house.’

Later, when I was delving in my bag for my wallet to pay for a postcard, the vendor said that if I couldn’t find my money he’d give it to me. Then when we arrived at Athens central market at closing time we were offered free fruit.

Everyone knows Greece’s reputation for friendliness and  hospitality (and of course it can’t always be perfect) but finding people constantly being so generous with their concern and time for each other is almost overwhelming. If they can, why can’t we all?

More from the central market at closing time, plus a his'n'hers that might make you laugh.