Greece Day 1: Athens - "Oh babe, you're so naive"

The title of today's post refers to what Jac would've said to me had she been with us to witness what I'll describe to you all further down.  But for now, let's start from the beginning of the day.

After a long and delayed 10-hour flight, we were happy to get up and stretch our legs.  Despite this being primarily a nighttime flight, it still didn't lend itself to a refreshing sleep. We did each manage a few hours however, just not all in a row.  An upgrade to first class on the way home is looking better and better. (Don't worry Jac, I'm only joking.  Or am I?).

Anyway, we immediately made our way to the baggage claim, almost missing the amazing landscape that presented itself through the floor to ceiling windows of Athens' International Airport.  Jesse's bag was out first, and after an additional 20 minutes or so, and a smidge of anxiety on the thought of the airline losing my luggage, it finally made its way onto the conveyor.  We rushed out to the exit to meet our driver who would take us the rest of the way to our Airbnb.

As we wound through the roads linking the airport to Athens centre, I thanked the Greek gods for protecting us as our driver weaved in and out of traffic at 130km in 70km zones, all the while refreshing and reviewing his Facebook feed and answering messenger txts from his lover (the kissy face and heart emojis gave that one away).  Anyway, we eventually did make it here alive.

Our apartment is on the 4th floor of a perfectly located building, adjacent to many of the historical and archeological sites we'd planned on visiting.  Our balcony stares directly at the Temple of Zeus not 500 metres away.  Location was definitely a win.  But the apartment itself is also quite nice.  Except for the fact that we can't flush toilet paper down the toilet (apparently very common in Greece), it's a pretty perfect home base for our short time here.

Our first order of business was to go out and find a universal power adapter.  I'd thought of pretty much everything, except for that.  Within a few minutes we'd found what we were looking for, but not before we treated ourselves to gelato and espresso.  We brought the gadget back to the apartment and decided to go straight to the Acropolis Museum.  This was a pretty interesting museum inside, but the most amazing exhibit was the excavation site outside.  The ruins being excavated gave a picture into the life of the ancient Greeks who inhabited the once exquisite residences.  I always find it a bit overwhelming to think of civilization in full swing in these very locations thousands of years ago.  Especially when comparing to Canada's history.

It was on our way back to our apartment to have a quick nap that the "scenario" influencing today's title began to unfold.  So first, a little context.  I wouldn't say I'm naive per se.  But I do tend to trust people right off the bat, and generally believe that people are good.  This can sometimes lend itself to a misjudgement of some individuals who really don't deserve any sort of kindness... With that out of the way, here goes.  As we were walking back to our place, a Greek gentleman notices my tattoos and pays me a compliment in Greek, which he kindly repeated in English once he noticed that the look on my face was telling him I had no clue what he was saying.  Apparently I look Greek, he says.  We introduce ourselves, and Peter starts telling us about his cousin who went to Calgary in the 80s and never came back.  Married a Canadian women.  Some more small talk and when he's struck with the news that I've never had Ouzo, like he'd never heard of such an atrocity, he made it his mission to guide us to the bar where he works the door so we can try our very first glass of Ouzo with Orange juice.  Very nice gentleman, and I had no reason to believe his intentions were anything but kind.  The round bar had maybe two other customers around it.  The bartender working, and the waitress not working were in their 40s.  One at the lower end and the other clearly trying to hang on to 49 as if 50 would kill her.  Anyway, they kept the conversation going, asking what we were doing in Greece.  Typical small talk.  Next is where things started to turn.  The quinquagenarian-averse lady asked if we would buy them a drink.  Now, the only time that's ever happened is when I've frequented less "pure" establishments where this practise is generally expected.  But this is Greece and I've never been to Greece.  Perhaps this is normal.  So in my typical Canadian way, I kindly agreed to buy both ladies a drink...It was when they got their drinks and they invited us to come back tonight that my spidey senses started to tingle.  Apparently they have private rooms for "dances" upstairs and lots of ladies.  Oh shit! What the fuck is this place?  Next, as we quickly shot down the rest of our Orangy-liquorice flavoured drink, the ladies offered to buy us a drink.  "No thank you. We gotta go.  I'll just pay the bill".  But apparently buying them "drinks" wasn't for drinks. As Peter came back in to the bar, he discreetly warned us (a bit late there Pete!) that we buy them drinks so they will "touch" us.  So in the spirit of just wanting to get the hell out of there, I paid the inflated bill, feeling slightly humiliated, and we walked back to our apartment so I could sleep the hurt away and start fresh for dinner.  For fucks sakes, we've only been here a few hours.  We walked by the place again tonight on our way back from sightseeing and saw that it looked quite different at night.  With its invisible-in-daylight sign turned on, it was clear to me then, the mistake I had made.

See what I mean?

Yaaaaa, pretty clear now.

Oh well. Time to move on.  Freshly renewed from a quick nap (ego included), we made our way to an area we walked through earlier that offered more restaurant choices we could ever hope to pick from in a reasonable amount of time.  With that in mind, we settled on the second restaurant that had a guerilla marketing host ushering people to their tables.  Jes and I shared a meat platter which was indeed delicious, but way too much meat.  We did meet an older lady at the table beside us who was having dinner by herself, and who offered to take our photo.  Having not learned my lesson from earlier, I naturally introduced myself and we sparked up a conversation.  

Jenny is visiting Greece from Ireland and meeting her 18 year old son who offered to meet her here, and travel with her, since her husband died suddenly a year ago.  At one point, she did refer to Jesse as my partner and I just ignored it.  Not wanting to embarrass her on her mistake, I continued on with the conversation, making sure to slip in a comment about my wife at home.  She immediately caught my intentional "slip" and offered an apology that she had assumed we were just a "cool young gay couple", her words, not mine.  I did try to relieve her embarrassment by letting her know I was flattered she thought I was young enough to date a 27 year old. Maybe we need T-shirts. "I'm the Dad", "I'm the Son".  Jes paid the bill and we wished Jenny a great trip and she reciprocated the sentiment.

We ended the day by simply walking around the Plaka district for a few hours. Stopping for a beer to watch the sun set its orange rays on to the towering Acropolis, and engaging in chit chat with the local stray cat community..  After a few hours of watching the city change into its night attire, we decided to head back for a good night's rest so we can attack the Acropolis as soon as it opens tomorrow morning, in an attempt to beat the July crowds.  

So that's it for now, but here's a few more photos of today's adventure.  Talk to you tomorrow!