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20 - 21 October : Taxi From Hell

Parthenon, Prostitutes & Paranoia

Trippin'.
We've been looking forward to Athens for quite some time, but Athens took us both by surprise in more ways than one-- neither of which were good. Expensive, polluted and overcrowded, time certainly have taken its toll on this great city. Today, it's overrun with rebellious teenagers, street beggars, prostitutes, dealers, users and abusers. Somewhere hidden behind the graffiti plastered walls and underneath the trash covered streets is the ancient city Greeks love to hate, which leads me to wonder what Athens was like pre- Olympics "renovation" in 2004.

But through it all, what Athens lacks in instant beauty, it redeems itself in preserved history. It's probably one of the few ancient cities where the modern and classical can coexist. For this, we managed to look past all the negatives and made the most of our stay soaking in the history, food and shopping.

Taxi cab rip off
After a long day of train and plane transfers, we arrived extremely late to Athens and were not prepared to deal with cab issues getting to our hotel. But you know our luck, we managed to land a newbie driver with no sense of direction! After a quick pull over on the freeway for a pit stop (the driver, not us-- we were still in the car), he proceeded to drive us in circles asking for directions along the way, and all the while on our running meter. But alas, after a few detours, we made it. But of course we had a dispute when it came to our bill. On top of our 20 Euro bill, we were completely blindsided by a hidden "luggage fee" of 3 Euro per person. Whether it was legit or scam, I was not going out without a fight. But I failed to reason with the non- English speaking pompous jerk and managed to only save us 2 Euros for getting us lost. G is not one to be confrontational, and looking back, it's was probably pointless to get all wild up for just a couple of bucks. It only makes us better taxi travelers for next time. Tips-- we should have had him call our hotel for directions. Most if not all taxi drivers have cell phones so why not. We did just that later in the trip when we arrived in Istanbul.

Sleeping: Art Hotel. 27, Marni Str, tel: 210 524 0501. Staff will make you feel right at home. Best of all-- free access to internet! Our latest hotel's "must have" amenities when traveling abroad.
Eating: O Thanasis. Don't be fooled by other neighboring restaurants attempting to forge the signature name that is Thanasis.
A Must: Frappe- Order up! It's like instant coffee from a can but so much better.

More Photos.

View full gallery here.