Athens: The Good, The Bad, and the Delicious

The first time we were headed to Greece, we were going to island hop around the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea for a couple of weeks. We were flying into Athens, but our friends advised us to skip the city. We love cities, and Athens is the birthplace of civilization, so how could we ignore it?

I’m glad we didn’t. Yes, there were some downsides (I’ll get to that), but overall, it’s a great city to walk around, absorb the history from the ancient buildings, and enjoy the enthusiastic Greek hospitality. And you’ve got to get a personal guided tour of the Acropolis and Parthenon. 

I mean, look at the Parthenon, built in the 5th century BC, just sitting there on the Acropolis in the middle of a modern city, like it landed there from outer space. 

Don’t skip the National Archaeological Museum and the Acropolis Museum either, two of the best museums I’ve ever visited.

The restaurants are the most fun. Many of them are just small tavernas with lots of tables and chairs precariously sitting on the steep steps outside. The waiters are boisterous and pleased to see you. (When you ask for something in Greece, they don’t say “ok”, they say “Of course!” as if no request is too outrageous.)

The food, of course, is simple, delicious, and uniquely Greek. Don’t leave without sharing a huge Greek salad with fresh feta, tomatoes, cucumbers, and Kalamata olives, dressed with olive oil, red wine vinegar, and dried oregano. 

Order a plate of baby lamb chops and a bottle of Greek white wine (there’s plenty to choose from, but I like the Katsano wines from Santorini), then kick back for a couple of hours, soaking in the sun and the friendly atmosphere. Nobody’s in a hurry here.

I love to visit markets wherever we go. There’s something about the individual vendors bringing fresh foods to a central place where people can shop daily and prepare food from scratch. Compare that to the modern supermarket, where everything is pre-packaged in plastic, days (or weeks) old, shipped from some distant agricultural area, and often not seasonal. 

The Varvakios Agora, also known as the Dimotiki Agora (Athens Central Market), is the main working market where the locals shop. But wandering through the ancient Agora and the Roman Agora marketplaces is a different experience. They are closed, but you can pay an admission fee to walk the ancient streets where Socrates and Plato once walked. 

The original Panathenaic Stadium was built about A.D. 138 and fell into ruin in the 4th century. Then it was built again in 1896, duplicating the dimensions and design of the original. It is the only stadium in the world built entirely of marble.

Want some light entertainment? The "changing of the guard" at the Greek Parliament is a ceremony performed by the Presidential Guard (Evzones) at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Syntagma Square. 

I know these guards look very serious, but for you Monty Python fans, it sure looks like this is where the “Ministry of Silly Walks” comes from.

So, we were glad we didn’t skip Athens for those reasons. Any downsides? Sure. A few I can live with. 

Athens cabs are the reason Uber was invented. The cab drivers are thieves (Sorry to those honest drivers I’m sure exist; I just didn’t run across any.)

The cab rate from the airport to downtown Athens is €40 during the day (€55 at night). That’s what it says on the airport website. We took a cab from the airport to our hotel. About half a kilometer from the hotel, the driver said the traffic was too slow and dropped us off at a street corner.

Dumped our luggage on the sidewalk and demanded €50.Since I had just crawled off a 12-hour flight, I was too zonked to argue, so I paid up, and we schlepped our bags in the scorching heat to the hotel. (Note, we got dropped off where there was no one, like a hotel doorman, to complain to.)

Funny thing is (well, not so amusing), our next-door neighbors back home had the same experience. It seems that’s the game with tourists.

Whenever we hailed a cab, we would ask the driver if he had a meter.They never did, and they quoted ridiculous prices. Clearly, the cab drivers are loath to pay taxes and love to screw tourists.

So, we just used Uber. They were way cheaper, very friendly, spoke impeccable English, and were always entertaining.Plus, they were good drivers compared to the maniac taxi driver who picked us up at the airport. (He was an ass. When we told him to slow down, he doubled the speed. Really, so childish.)

Note to Athens cab drivers.When ride services like Uber put you out of business, who are you going to blame?

My second complaint was the hotel: a 3-star hotel that thinks it’s a 5-star.

Our hotel seemed to be the default upscale choice for visiting Americans, because when we asked friends for recommendations, they all said the same thing. (Okay, it was the Hotel Grande Bretagne. It might not have been a Marriott when I stayed there, so you should read some current reviews.)

It was a classic grand hotel in a central location.The staff is friendly and efficient, and the rooms are comfortable. Plus, the concierges were extremely helpful with excellent advice. 

Unfortunately, too many things were annoying.

Starting with the check-in/check-out.Check-in took half an hour, an excruciating process of standing in line after a 12-hour flight. The same with checkout. Five-star hotels in Asia greet guests with a refreshing drink, a cool facecloth, and a comfortable chair while they efficiently process the paperwork. This hotel could use some updated systems to speed up the process and more customer service training.

These days, high-speed Wi-Fi with automatic and straightforward login is standard even in the cheapest hotels. They had a system from 1999. I had to log in with my name and room number; select a low-speed connection if I wanted free Wi-Fi; and was limited to four devices (Why four?Seems a bit arbitrary), and I had to re-sign in every day. 

Want to use the hotel phone in the room? Forget it in our room. It was dead as a doornail.

The water ran hot and cold during a shower. I haven’t had that exhilarating hotel experience in a decade or two.

Since it was hot during the day, we wanted to come back in the afternoon and rest from the heat. But the room was never made up when we came back at 2 pm. That usually meant that they’d turn up to clean the room at about the time we’d want a nap. So, we’d shuffle off to the bar and wait for them to finish.

We could have waited at the rooftop pool, but there was never a lounge chair available because the staff didn’t check for towels left on the chairs. So, every chair seemed occupied.

The management is clearly old-school and needs to visit their competitors from time to time and experience truly great 5-star service.

The night view of the Acropolis is a highlight. Don’t bother with the $500 room. Just go up to their lounge on the top floor, have an expensive drink or two, and enjoy the view.

So don’t skip Athens because of a couple of bummers. Just find a nice hotel and use your Uber app. And enjoy the food, antiquities, and hospitality.