Athens: Cars, Cars and More Cars

by Iva Skoch on

Americans have a reputation as car-loving people. I would rephrase that. Americans don’t love their cars. They need their cars. They use and abuse them. They don’t love them with passion like, say, the Italians or Greeks. Where else do you see men lovingly polish their old Fiats on a sunny Sunday afternoon? Most Americans wouldn’t treat a Porsche with such affection.

I just got back from Athens last week. The car-inspired street fight aside, I was generally surprised what a car-culture Athens is. Everybody drives and parks wherever they want. There are hardly any sidewalks or pedestrian zones, let alone parks. You certainly don’t feel welcome or safe as a pedestrian. If you ask me, it is a mistake that they accommodate drivers so generously.

This NY Times article talks about some of the civic groups trying to fight back by placing stickers on illegally-parked vehicles that the police seem to ignore. They also point out that Athens has the highest per-capita car ownership in the European Union: 450 registered cars per 1000 residents, which is close to the US-level of car ownership. Of course, Greece is a lot more congested than the US…hence the gridlock. Yet, their public transportation is great. I don’t get it…

Comparing the food in Athens and Rome is unfair. But still…

by Iva Skoch on

Without realizing it ahead of time, I toured two of the great ancient empires this week: Rome and Greece.

I am in Athens this week and–aside from witnessing a street fight–I have had a good time. Part of the reason is that I am a foodie, and I love Greek food. Fortunately, most of my friends and travel buddies agree that a large part of the appeal of traveling is “the search for the next great meal”.

Last week, I was in Rome for a journalism conference. Cancer-reporting is probably not what you want to hear about, so I will stick to writing about food. I swear it is simply not possible to have a bad meal in Rome. Every little trattoria will be able to offer treasures that make your mouth water instantly. I would say the service is better in Rome that it is in Athens, and so is the bread. However, I love what the Greeks can do with an octopus…grilled, fried or marinated. It is always delicious.

I wonder which of these two cuisines is better for you. You don’t see very many fat people around in Rome or Greece…

3 easy steps to getting a black eye in Athens

by Iva Skoch on
  1. Drink a little too much (mixing Mythos beer with ouzo is highly recommended)
  2. Get a little cheeky with strangers
  3. Tell a random local man he should drive that “piece of junk car” a little slower

As I mentioned before, I am in Greece with a bunch of friends this week. It was supposed to be a chilled-out, long weekend with great food and a little sightseeing, yet it somehow all went “pear-shaped”, as one of my friends likes to say it.

Three of the (drunk) men we are with got beat up by a big (sober) dude who overreacted to a silly drunken comment and–horror of horrors–an assault on his car. Long story short, one of my friends now has a broken nose, 10 stitches in the face and looks like Frankenstein. Another one got his eardrum punctured. A third made it through the marathon with a bruised knee.

Needless to say, they haven’t done much sightseeing. Instead, they have spent the last couple of days doing a tour of the local hospitals…which, by the way, are not bad, should you ever need them. That’s all paying cash, too! X-rays cost some 14 Euro and antibiotics only about 11.

I am trying to think what the lesson here is. I guess it would be “do not underestimate the temper of strangers” with a disclaimer: “alcohol severely decreases the ability to fight back.”

Photo of the Day (11/05/07)

by Iva Skoch on

Because I am in Athens this week, looking at the Acropolis from my hotel, I figured I would use a local picture.

Noamgalai took this great reflection shot in May. The Acropolis is another one of those world sites photographed millions of times, yet this is a new, creative way of seeing it.

***To have your photo considered for the Gadling Photo of the Day, go over to the Gadling Flickr site and post it.***

Running a Marathon from Marathon

by Iva Skoch on

New York wasn’t the only place with a big marathon going on yesterday. The “original” Marathonas to Athens marathon took place on Sunday. The 42.195km (that’s 26.2 miles) course traces an approximate, possible route of the legendary run of Greek soldier Pheidippides, who ran from Marathon to Athens to announce the victory of the Greeks over Darius’s Persian army in 490 B.C.

Of course, since it’s ancient history, there’s disagreement over whether the run happened at all, let alone which of two (or more) routes the runner took (south along the coast, then around the mountains, or simply over the mountains). (Worse yet, Herodotus has him running 145+ miles to Sparta to ask for help in the battle, rather than to Athens afterwards.)

Depending on who retells the legend, the runner either said, “we won,” “masters, victory is ours,” or “victory!” Either way, he died immediately at the end of the run. (Athens’ triumph over the Persians was somewhat short-lived, as Darius’s son, Xerxes, came back ten years later and burned Athens to the ground, following the famous Spartan stand at Thermopylae, popularized in last year’s movie, “300.”) It also makes you wonder why people actually run marathons.

Anyway, probably the best part of the current official race is the fantastic finish into the ancient Panathinaiko stadium (pictured right), which got it’s beautiful, and famous, white marble around 329 B.C.

This year was a record turn-out of over 4,000 runners for the 25th anniversary of this exact course. And, I’m happy to report from the ground that all made it, joyous and victorious.