The most complete informaton guide about Athens, Greece
Greek
life in short
Time:
In Greece, GMT stands for Greek Maybe Time. Nothing
is too urgent to require immediate attention so
expect someone you are going to meet to be late.
The siesta, which takes place between about 2pm
and 5pm, is built into the day, and in many villages,
the Sunday volta - or promenade in the French
sense of the word - is still the highlight of
the week, when villagers have a walk to pass the
time of day and boys watch girls go by. The common
sight of unfinished houses in Greece, with girders
sticking out of the top floor, is a testament
to the Greeks' relationship with the future; enough
of the house is made ready for the family's present
needs; when they need more room, they just build
more.
Cinemas:
In summer, most cinemas in Greece are outdoors
and have bars selling whisky, cognac, ouzo and
snacks. There is also an intermission halfway
through the film so you can replenish your drinks
and decide whether you are enjoying the movie.
The projectionist won't have to wait until the
intermission for his cigarette. Smoking is allowed
throughout the show in Greek cinemas. Unlike some
other European countries, Greece does not dub
foreign films into Greek but uses subtitles instead.
Coffee:
Known as Turkish coffee until 1974 when Turkey
invaded Northern Cyprus. The coffee you get in
Greece is not for the faint-hearted. The young
in Greece prefer frappé, instant coffee
with milk. In villages, the kafeneion, or local
cafe, is the local gossip point, where Greek men
go to play tavli, or backgammon. Until the early
'80s, there were always at least two kafeneia
in every village, no matter how small it was.
Each one was decorated with different colors,
signaling the political leanings of the kafeneion
owner. This way you avoided political quarrels.
In larger towns and cities, local coffee bars
still deliver trays of coffee on foot to local
businesses.
Eating
habits:
Cross-generational dining, with grandma and small
children of the same table, is always more entertaining
even if' it does take longer. The Greeks aren't
in a hurry where food is concerned, late night
dining means sitting down to the evening meal
no earlier than 9pm. Even on Sunday nights taverns
are packed until late. Eating alone is unheard
of so the solo diner will find it hard to get
served. Meals in restaurants are paid for in cash,
not credit cards or cheques and Greeks always
have enough money on them to pay for others.
Island
hopping:
Greece has 227 inhabited islands divided up into seven island
groups: the Ionian Islands, the Dodecanese, Crete, the Cyclades,
the Saronic, the North Eastern Aegean Islands and the Sporades.
An impressively efficient ferry system operates between the island
groups and Greeks island-hop for weekends away. In fact, the islands
may be the reason Greeks are so reluctant to holiday abroad and
who can blame them? August is best avoided by those who hate crowds.
Attempts
at traffic solutions: Instead of an administration-heavy
congestion charge, Athens instituted a system
of driving days a few years ago, whereby motorists
can only use their cars every other day, as dictated
by the last digit of their number plate. This
was aimed at combating both congestion and pollution.
Unfortunately, the canny Athenians got round the
restriction by buying a second car (often second-hand
and therefore more likely to pollute) with the
opposite number plate. Nice try though. The Athens
metro, another traffic solution, could be seen
as the eighth wonder of the world, and not only
because it's a wonder they ever finished it at
all. Finally opened in January 2000, the new subway
system looks like a museum. Check out the station
under Syntagma Square for the highest concentration
of ancient exhibits.
The
luck of being born female:
Most Greek parents build a house for each daughter
but not for their sons as they are supposed to
marry a girl who will get a house from her parents.
Often it is also the daughter that inherits her
parents' or grandparents' house when they die.
Do expectant Greek parents pray for sons?
Name
days: Few
people in Greece celebrate their birthdays but
almost everyone celebrates their Name
Day. This
custom stems from the Greek Orthodox religion
in which all children are baptized with a name
that is acceptable to the church. This means that
most names in Greece are those of saints or of
some holy quality. Clearly the list of saint names
is limited and when added to the tradition of
naming children after their grandparents, you
will find a fairly defined set of names in Greece.
Each
name has a day, based on the day when the saint was born into
the life hereafter, usually through an act of martyrdom. Thus,
on your name day everyone you ever knew (and those you barely
know or remember) will call you, stop by your house or otherwise
contact you to wish you the best. If you're feeling especially
celebratory, you'll take your friends out for drinks or dinner
- but you have to get the bill.
Each
Greek Orthodox Church is also named after a saint, therefore there
are community celebrations on the appropriate name days. These
celebrations, panigiria, include food, fireworks, and fairs.
Plate Smashing: The Greeks love to throw things.
They throw carnations to singers and smash glasses and dishes
when beautiful girls dance the zeibekiko or the hasapiko on the
dance floor. Back in the '30s they used to throw knives, a sign
of respect and manhood, at dancers' feet. Due to injuries, that
tradition gradually changed to the present-day plate-throwing
tradition, which has stuck. Luckily the Greeks take their recycling
seriously, so it's not a complete waste!
Wacky
beliefs:
Superstitions and strong religious beliefs always
make life more interesting. When Greeks move into
a new house, the local priest comes over to exorcise
and bless it. In Greece, Tuesday the l3th is the
unlucky day (not Friday) because it is the day
on which Constantinople fell to the 'Ottoman'
Turks.
Periptera:
Incredibly useful street kiosks that sell everything from tobacco
to cold drinks, maps, newspapers, key rings, ice creams, worry
beads and hundreds of other things. It's always worth asking if
they have something as they probably will! There are around 46.000
of these kiosks in Greece.
Pleasure
in living: A
little inconvenience seems trifling in a city
where the enthusiasm for life's pleasurable pursuits
is so infectious that visitors are easily swept
up in it. For the most part the Greeks are youthful
(even those who are not young), fashionable, attuned
to the outside world and surprisingly friendly
and outgoing. Many of them speak English. Even
on weeknights, streets, cafes and restaurants
are jammed with people long after the hour that
workaday people have gone to bed.....