24 Oct 1985, Posted by Scott An Chora in Travelogue, No Comments.
10/24 Athens, Greece
On the trip into Athens we were joined by another young lady and young man who had been pursuing her. She wasn’t interested in him but tolerated him because she liked the attention. At least that’s what she told us. We discussed renting a van and exploring Greece’s mainland. I wanted to visit Delos and then each extension of the Maurice Cross but Athens was first on our agenda and we decided to postpone making a decision until later. When we reached the mainland and while waiting on a train into Athens Tony and I went to search for a good bottle of wine and ended up buying two. On the way back toward the train depot we noticed the rest of the group sitting outside of a small café. Pizza was on order and the idea of hot food hit the spot. That pizza excursion assisted in making the two hours we had to wait pass by almost unnoticed. Prior to the arrival of our train we decided to open the bottles of wine. They were passed to the left and again to the right. That began to increase our group’s size and in turn the bottles didn’t last long. Somebody else and then somebody else began donating bottles to our cause. By the time we got on the train we were pretty unruly and eventually the conductor gave up trying to control us.
It was late and we were all tired. Not one of us felt like trekking around Athens looking for a room. We were willing to sacrifice location or even reasonable rates for an immediate bed. We just wanted to shower and sleep. When we first came through the main door of the station there were two elderly men fighting over a cab. Arms wailing in the air and though I don’t speak Greek the gestures telegraphed that punches were on their way but never to arrive. We all stood there watching the comedy unfold. We did a pretty good job creating enough confusion in the lobby of the hotel we had selected. That made it easy to sneak a few up into the rooms and then we divided the entire bill among the group, anything to save a penny or two.
I was up early and took advantage of the empty streets, getting a feel of my new surroundings. Everybody else was still tired from the previous day’s trek and since the curtains were drawn they didn’t have any idea that the sun was up and approaching noon. Tony had his mind set on locating a weight room and getting in some lifting. Tony definitely kept himself in shape. Tony was black, tall and could be physically intimidating. I persuaded him to join me for a meal before he worked out and perhaps along the way we could locate a phone book to help him find a gym. We walked around for awhile and then selected a small restaurant that appeared clean enough to give a try. When we approached the door of the restaurant a homeless man approached the two of us. I assume he asked us if we could spare some change. I tried to explain that we didn’t have any change but once we finished our meal I would have some available to give. I believe that I was responsible for helping out anybody that asks for help and try my best to live by that principle. Perhaps he had misunderstood what I tried to explain. While we were sitting waiting for the waiter to take our order, the homeless man entered the restaurant and repeated his request. Almost before I could react the owner darted out from the kitchen and struck that man in the face. While he lay on the floor bleeding the owner turned to us and apologized for the man’s rudeness. I understood why he didn’t want people begging in his establishment but the violent outburst made us both uncomfortable so we got up and left. I gave the beggar a large bill on the way out. I guess in hind sight it turned out be a lucky break for us because we then wandered into another restaurant that was everything we could possible dream of. Since neither one of us spoke Greek the waiter suggested that we follow him into the kitchen and view the meals being prepared. Most of the entrées were just prepared for the early dinner crowd and our timing gave us first pick. Hands down that was one of the best meals I have ever had.
Tony headed out to find a weight room while I wandered about towards the Acropolis. Our group had planned on reuniting there late in the afternoon. That gave me hours to begin taking in some of the other ruins. After surveying the Acropolis I laid along its outer wall enjoying the sun with the view of the amphitheater below and the countryside in the distance. Eventually we all gathered and then began deciding what to do next. The girls still had their minds on shopping and convinced the group to hit the shops before we settled down to a meal. They were probably right. After a few bottles of wine we men usually cross shopping right off the list. I know shopping is never really on the list we just say that to accommodate the women. Dawn enjoyed trying on mink coat after mink coat. She enjoyed acting like the quality she was seeking just wasn’t available. “We’ll just have to go back to Manhattan or Beverly Hills” she said with snobbish overtones. It was fun pretending. Since we were all traveling on a budget it took awhile for everybody to agree on a place to eat. In the meantime I enjoyed bulking up on fresh shredded coconut and almonds. It seemed everywhere we went there was another street vendor pushing carts of assorted nuts so I was never too close to hunger. After we had finished dinner we headed out into Athens’s streets and came upon what looked to be a celebration. It was a kind of a parade. So while we were in a festive mood we joined in. But after a few minutes the crowd began chanting “Death to Regan”. It was obvious that this was an unshaken cocktail of influences, so as Snagglepuss would say, we “Exited stage left”.
