Sopravvivere ad Atene

Metro It took 3000 years but now Athens finally has a top-notch metro. Perhaps the most efficient and beautiful in Europe. The work to build the metro went very slowly for years because of all the archaeological finds that were unearthed along the way. Every time they dug they ended up finding a tomb, an urn or something else. So the main problem was not digging through the rock, but sifting through the archaeological finds. It was worth the wait because today Syntagma Square, for example, is more than a metro station. It's a real museum, free and open every day and at all hours. At the entrance, besides glass display cases with archaeological finds of great interest, there are also photos of Athens from 100 years ago, when it really was one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.

The very long marble corridors leading to the platforms strangely have no advertising on the walls and while walking through them I remembered what I always imagined as a child thinking about the afterlife, a sort of walk toward the light...

The trains, on the other hand, aren't much. In fact they resemble the old trains quite a lot, just newer, cleaner, sleeker and above all faster. Completely automated anyway, with a suave female voice from the loudspeaker announcing which stop you're arriving at. Every station of the Athens metro is there to be discovered, even the seemingly most out-of-the-way one displays various works by contemporary artists and for just 2.90 euros you can buy the daily ticket that will let you travel undisturbed from one end to the other.

Athens contained in a few streets and modern Athens The beating heart of Athens is the area enclosed by the two main Squares of the City, Syntagma Square and Omonia Square. In these streets the frenetic rhythms of Athenian life are somehow balanced by the slowness of times gone by... Here you'll find lots and lots of shops, the modern ones a true hymn to consumerism and the traditional ones such as, for example, the fabric merchants, mostly Jewish, tied to tradition: sometimes right next to each other on the same street. And then above all an endless stream of people... so many people... at all hours of the day and night. If instead you want to understand what Greece is becoming, take a taxi, a bus or the metro and head north toward Kifisia or south along the coastal road Leoforos Poseidonos to reach Glyfada...

It's here that you breathe a new international air, where luxury is visible to everyone and out of reach for many. These are the new residential neighborhoods, the new Greek capitalism lives here. Luxurious shops, trendy bars and nightclubs, a high concentration of companies, advanced tertiary-sector firms, banks and fashionable venues packed with beautiful, golden youth.

Acropolis A few words about the Acropolis, about which you already know everything. Just one piece of advice: visit it on Sunday, better in the morning so as not to roast in the sun, you'll also avoid paying the ticket! The monuments that have survived to this day are works dating from the classical era, believed to have been erected between 447 and 406 BC. The mastermind behind all this can be considered Pericles who with his ambitious building program clearly aimed to promote the image of the Athenian state. On top of the sacred rock the Athenians therefore erected one of the most perfect creations of human genius, a universal symbol of classical beauty. Personally I consider the Parthenon the very measure of the world. The sight of it is one of the things that has penetrated most deeply into me in all my life.

Not even after seeing a thousand photographs are you prepared for the emotion you feel before the immensity of this building which is, moreover, probably the most recognizable structure in the world, along with the golden arches of McDonald's, of course! Around 1450 the Turks turned it into a mosque and later into a gunpowder store. To drive them out a Venetian general did not hesitate to fire cannonballs at the Acropolis: one of these blew up the Parthenon. Much of the Parthenon has therefore been dismantled and has been put back together with parts that have been replaced to make up for wear, cannon fire and air pollution. The numerous scaffolding present at the moment will ruin your photos a bit. Together with the Acropolis and with the same ticket you visit the museum where all the pieces that Lord Elgin wasn't interested in are kept.

You've undoubtedly heard of the controversy surrounding the Elgin marbles. These are the friezes of the Parthenon, and many other artifacts that were sold to the British lord Elgin by the Turks who were occupying Greece. They are now kept at the British Museum although the Greek government, the Greek people and anyone else in the world, with the exception of the British government, believe that these works should be returned. North of the Parthenon stands the Erechtheion, the second temple of the Acropolis by size, dating from a later period. It's a rather original construction. What immediately catches the eye, to the south of the building, is the portico with the caryatids, the six statues of the korai, the graceful maidens who gracefully support the entablature.

The statues have actually been replaced by casts and the originals are in the Acropolis Museum, except for one which is instead in the British Museum

When you're on the Acropolis, look at Athens down there 4 or 5 times at different moments. You'll thus see a different city each time... ancient, Byzantine, neoclassical and modern...

Below the Acropolis is the Odeon of Herodes Atticus built by the Romans and still used today for classical concerts, ballets, and events of high cultural value. At the entrance to the Acropolis and along the paths leading to it, licensed guides swarm who for a fee of around 30 Euros will give you information about what you're seeing. If you're an enthusiast it can really be worth it

Plaka

Plaka is the oldest part of Athens. Most of the streets are closed to vehicle traffic. It's above all the area of restaurants, tourist shops and cafes. Almost all the restaurants are typical tourist spots, in some the quality of the food isn't bad but be careful because in some tavernas they serve skewers as hard as the marbles of the Parthenon... As for the tourist shops most of them have junk but you might also come across some interesting items. Almost all the shops sell the same things and at the same prices but there are some that stand out and sell antiques, hand-painted icons, wood sculptures and paintings. moreover there are quite a few museums, for the description of which I refer you to the traditional guidebooks.

The cafes are generally very expensive if they're on the main streets (Kydathineon, Adrianou) and around the squares, but very often exceptional for the view they offer. If you sit in one of these cafes long enough you can understand a lot about Greece by observing who walks along these streets. People are still the greatest show in the world! You may notice that there are quite a few restaurants with menus displayed on the street. In fact it will be hard not to notice because every time you pass by someone from the place will try to pull you in to look at the menu. Many of these restaurants aren't bad. Typical dish: moussaka, pastitsio and souvlaki, although they'll recommend you go for the shrimp and lobster because they cost more.

But if you want to eat something quickly, you should know that in Athens, in every square and at any hour there are small kiosks (periptera) that sell everything, food, drinks and whatever else, from gum to postcards, including Italian-language newspapers and other international press.

Syntagma Square

In the center of the city, it's the best place to get your bearings. Syntagma Square has a long history. It seems that every major event in the modern history of Greece has been celebrated here. One thing is certain: now it's probably the most beautiful metro station in the world. In the upper part of Syntagma, which means constitution, is the Parliament building, previously the King's Palace, built between 1836 and 1840 by King Otto and financed by his father Ludwig I of Bavaria. The original idea was to put the king's palace on the Acropolis but fortunately that never happened. The classical style of architecture, known as neoclassical, is the dominant style of all the old buildings, houses and public edifices of Athens. To the left of the square is the Grande Bretagne, an extraordinarily elegant hotel.

It's considered the best place to stay in Athens, it was built in 1862 to receive heads of state, a purpose for which it is still used. Moreover it's one of the best-known hotels in the world. In the lower part of the square, on the other hand, is McDonald's.. It's also the beginning of Ermou street, closed to car traffic and the main shopping spot in Athens, which leads down to the Monastiraki flea market. If you're out and about and need a clean bathroom, the first place that comes to mind to recommend is precisely McDonald's. You'll find soap and toilet paper. And anyway you don't need to buy anything, also because for eating there's certainly better.

The National Garden

The National Garden was previously reserved exclusively for the royal family. Now it's open to the public but very poorly maintained. The entrance is right opposite Syntagma Square. It's an orgy of lush plants! There are flower beds, tree-lined avenues, very tall trees, ponds, little bridges, statues and countless benches. At the time of my last visit it was in indecent condition. Let's hope that for the Olympics they get it back in shape. Leaving the Garden you can go onto Vassilissis Sofias avenue, one of the main arteries of Athens, lined with Embassies. At no. 91 is the American one from 1960, a work by Gropius. Adjacent to the Garden is the Zappeion, a center for conferences and exhibitions in neoclassical style.

The Doric columns of its facade, the imposing atrium, the stairways of the main entrance are framed by very green tree-lined avenues that serve to highlight the magnificence of the building. This area is much loved by Athenians for taking walks.

The flea market around Monastiraki

The market is spread out among the alleys around the little church of Agios Filippos, between the Thissio and Monastiraki metro stations, right in the same area where in ancient times retail trade was carried on. Sunday morning is the time to be here. Dive into the crowd. You'll have the chance to rummage among the most incredible merchandise... Cuban cigars, smuggled Iranian caviar, just-chipped Limoges porcelain, latest-generation cell phones of dubious origin, Hungarian salami amid used blenders, shoes resoled several times and often mismatched, porn videos and handleless irons, piled on the asphalt by Bulgarians, gypsies, Crimeans, Trans-Siberians, Trans-Danubians. A ragged army that the shipwreck of ideologies, revolutions and counter-revolutions has stranded in the streets of Monastiraki and that sells here everything it dragged along with it in its exodus...

Maybe walking along certain narrow streets you'll find yourself turning up your nose a bit or getting scared and turning back. Well, if you like, this is one of the few places left not yet contaminated by the global village syndrome that now infects a good part of the city with the fervor of a malarial fever.

The central markets

Walking along Athinas street from Monastiraki square down toward Omonia, you'll find yourself at the Athens market. This is my favorite place! It's a dirty-white building, very dirty, a sort of big box with an iron-and-glass roof like a fin-de-siècle railway station: a perfect display of the delights that day after day bring relief to the insatiable hunger of Athens. The fish market and the meat market are right beneath this gigantic structure: a truly Fellini-esque display of every human type! Morning is the time to be here. It's a scene from a film. Some of the butchers come from generations of butchers who have had stalls in the market for a century. Then there's the fish section. The ground is all wet. You wander around and look at all the fish, some fresh, some frozen, and you listen to the voices of the traders shouting their prices at the top of their lungs.

Bordering the fish market on three sides is the meat market. Extraordinary too are the stalls that sell olives. A sight to see!... taste them all. If you love olives this is your paradise. There are also spice shops, cheese shops, canned goods, dry goods, live chickens. Well, if you want to be creative with your shopping and make original gifts, by all means take a look around here.

And if you then get hungry... My go-to places to eat were here. A taverna right inside the market, behind the meat stalls, packed to the brim with all the shopkeepers of the neighborhood... Another taverna I love is instead in a basement nearby (the door is barely visible, it's in what's called the "olive building"), a smoky little room with the typical barrels of retsina on the walls... nonexistent menu and only language spoken... Greek... the best thing is to go up to the pots and point at what you want to eat.... In these dives the clientele is almost always Greek, plus a few tourists who wound up there by chance... Of course, little places not suited to overly sensitive souls, but where at least you can, besides eating well and spending very little, grasp the true essence of these people.

If it weren't for these things, all to be enjoyed, one must admit, Athens would be nothing but a hypertrophic monster of concrete suffocated by that toxic blanket that has shaded it for twenty years. No, this is the real Athens, the bulimic and sleepless one that seduces and stuns with an overdose of flavors, sounds and languages.

Omonia Square

If you keep walking down Athinas street you'll finally arrive at Omonia square. This square until recently was really a mess. For years in fact this space was completely fenced off with sheet metal and therefore inaccessible. But now it has finally been redeveloped. In reality this "design" is still a mystery to many, or rather let's define it as a true tribute to minimalist architecture! If by chance you intend to bring a skateboard along you'll find good reasons to appreciate the design idea anyway! Then the metal sculpture in the middle of the square is truly bizarre. Personally I would have liked to see less concrete and more trees, maybe that's why many Athenians still wonder whether the work has actually finished...

At night for many it's a place to avoid since it has unfortunately turned into a sort of hangout for drug dealers and the desperate of the night; but it is still safe during the day since it's still the primary shopping area of Athens. The square is surrounded by fast-food joints, the pedestrian streets on the other side of the square are interesting. If you then enter the metro station you can see the old photos of the square's glory days. There are quite a few hotels, many of which have been recently renovated. In this square, however, you'll necessarily pass through since all the main road arteries of the city begin or end here.

On Panepistimiou street there are many historic buildings from the 19th century one after another: the seat of the numismatic museum, a work by Ernst Ziller, the Catholic church of Agios Dionysios, the Bank of Greece and in Ionic style the building called the Academy with a central body and two wings. The university (precisely called "Panepistimio") is the building located in the central part of the street. The ceremonial hall is truly majestic. The National Library is the third building after the university and is in Doric style: it holds over a million volumes! On this side of Panepistimiou street is Stadiou street which begins at Syntagma Square and is one of the main arteries laid out as part of the 1832 urban plan. On the street called "28 Oktovriou" you'll find many shops and other public buildings, including the Polytechnic, another neoclassical building from the 19th century.

The student demonstrations that took place in this building in November 1973 brought about the end of the dictatorship. It won't exactly be a tourist destination, in short, but this building is certainly a symbol of resistance. Walking near the Polytechnic you can easily reach the Exarchia neighborhood with its square, noisy and very crowded, a meeting place for university students, with an intense nightlife.

Lycabettus Hill

In ancient times this hill was surrounded by countryside and its slopes were covered with pines and inhabited by wolves (Lykavittos indeed means "the hill of the wolves"). Today, of countryside and wolves there's not even a shadow; on the other hand you'll find yourself facing an endless expanse of buildings, so many that you can't take them all in with a single glance... but also facing a very significant view of Athens. It's worth climbing up here to take incredible photos of your vacation. The panorama, in short, is guaranteed! From here you can admire the entire city, from the central areas to those along the coast and the surrounding mountains. At the top of the hill is the church of St. George. You can get there on foot, but you sweat a lot, or with a convenient cable car service that departs from the Kolonaki neighborhood and covers the route in two minutes.

On the hill there is also a restaurant and an open-air bar, with, they say, rather high prices. A walk through the streets of Kolonaki at the foot of the hill is also a must, the fashionable neighborhood of the Athenian ruling class: a meeting place for all the golden youth, to see and be seen! A real festival of trendy looks and designer clothes. It's here that you'll find the most à la page shop windows, the grandes maisons and the petites boutiques alternating with fitness gyms and beauty institutes. Be careful what you consume at the bars, because here they fleece you.

The island of Aegina Aegina is the island closest to Athens and probably one of the easiest to reach with the frequent ferry service (about an hour and a half by conventional ferry, less by hydrofoil, at least every hour from the port of Piraeus) Now I convince you to visit. If you don't want to spend too much you go on the conventional ferry, alongside peasants, mothers with children, dogs, cats, chickens, and vans loaded with everything. Nothing special that I know: there are tourist sites in Aegina as well, but the old part of the capital stands on a hill overlooking the sea and that in my opinion is worth a nice stroll, certainly more than the few local restaurants under the portico near the water's edge that promise unattainable seafood banquets and not hard to reach, of which the large photographs on the trays in the shop windows are also witnesses

Yes because, if there's one thing I mostly remember about that holiday: the FOOD It must be said that this thing I noticed convinced me mostly in the area of Aegina mainly. Everywhere exceptional food, fish (grilled and not fried and even fried when it is mentioned), tomatoes, and their typical cheeses (especially Kefalotyri), not to mention olives and grapes. The essence: the way they prepare food testifies that more than "Greek cuisine" exists "patrida cuisine" — not always suitable for local and non-local consumers.

Most of the lucky discoverers of these small countryside trattorias, the so-called Tavernes, may bring little gift-shop items as memorabilia, and plenty of hard-to-forget memories, sometimes just photographs with the barbecue saying: "the recipe begins here!" And one thing is also true: there are places where, being friends with the barbecue saint, playing at modest famous chefs and showing your friends photos of bright images (trendier than clothes and art in Vogue) laying out the steps of food preparation and photographing before consuming is second to none nowadays important in the world of diners... but above all, then, you don't watch the sunset anymore! Pericles (not the Greek one) and Mrs. Maria (for neighbors "Beba"), who today thanks celiac disease by serving vacuum-packed dinners, they understood this.

Or maybe not...[all clearly written to take under consideration at mealtimes in Aegina clearly includes some hard-earned unique-laxative first courses and clear home sparkling and coca-coca served. Also and in this order, today's specialties (known throughout, restaurant because it's an actual museum-shop like "Il discorso" however has few parallel unique flaws and at Sounio less! ) its not needed info the real details.

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Opinions/: My sincere farewell to ARGOSARONIKOS while for coming it was immediate impact with law enforcement intent only vaguely intimidating empty square between Ministry tends. VOTE: So more than positive: perfect 6.9 today at Ristorante con Cameriere sbadato "Kaparem" (offering obviously water offers etc accompanied local certainly inviting card co ADMINISTRATION 40 € four more I wouldn t think and add water wait we go OT

Content could also ADD for actual normal conditions: Like why so still (I conclude the giant place about unknown... There are laws but W not??? In Omonia a club very crowded the peak place for others private (we tell) Saturday pool, Latin and multiethnic music with him contained new release and hotel rooms from and in the world of vice, (Current note: three drug dealing categories from The school but let s limit ourselves alone possible state of absolute ordinary administration to indicate today to understand them no longer tellable GIVEN what context W of white drugs in the area called (toponomastically VATHI)

Jokes NEWS aside: On site security local various information offices give few and hasty news free info tel nothing even the free beach at AEGINA (or the worst ugly free precisely) reported however ON THE WEB In particular maximum and wrong site https whatever URL belonging state aegina now of other not by chance physical capital formerly or wanting the OLD ELLINIKO airport buildings "abandoned" every real destination (funny thought because already poorly depilated at margins airports small otherwise not identifiable port now says: TO LOCALS DON T FOLLOW THIS not help).

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ENGLISH free: CLOSING UBER-F****** ALLES

In Greece there are no first courses, although recently Athens restaurants have started including pasta in their menus too. However, I don't recommend ordering it! It is almost always paired with tomato sauce (to which they add sugar!) or meat sauce... Appetizers, on the other hand, represent an important moment of the Greek meal. The "mezedes" often constitute the entire lunch and consist of one or several courses: olives, feta or some other cheese, grilled peppers, anchovies or small fish, the ever-present octopus, the "dolmades" and an endless variety of sauces such as taramosalata, tzatziki, melitzanosalata... or the very tasty "tiropitakias", melted cheese baked in small triangles of puff pastry. For those who love vegetables there is also the spanakopita variant, where instead of cheese there is spinach.

Among the cheeses, besides the omnipresent Feta (a salty cheese, with numerous and different stages of aging), you should taste Mizithra (from sheep's milk, soft and flavorful) and Kaseri (a type of aged pecorino). Moussaka, on the other hand, is one of the musts of Greek cuisine; it closely resembles lasagna, made with ragù and tomato sauce, while the pasta is replaced by eggplant and potatoes, filled with the ever-present béchamel and baked in the oven. What you don't expect are the french fries (patates tiganites). In Greece they have kept the healthy habit, in restaurants, of using fresh potatoes and not frozen ones, cut by hand and very, very tasty. The most usual way of cooking meat is certainly over charcoal with frequent use of the spit. Lamb and pork are often cooked skewered on large spits over glowing coals.

That said, there is also a large variety of meat dishes cooked in the oven. A very particular dish is "kokoretsi", made with lamb offal, cooked over charcoal. During the Easter period it won't be hard to find. A dish particularly appreciated by tourists, especially by children, is certainly the "bifteki", minced meat like a Swiss steak with a somewhat particular flavor given by the local spices, and then the classic "brizola", a large pork steak. In restaurants the main courses are often served in the style of a single dish and therefore arrive garnished as desired, usually with rice, potatoes or cooked vegetables.

As for fish, especially in summer, dishes of baby squid (kalamarakia) are very widespread, rigorously fried, the sublime octopus cooked in various ways, shrimp and then real fish: the fry of small fish (maridas) often offered among the appetizers and other varieties of fish in all shapes and sizes, splendidly cooked in foil, in the oven, or grilled.

Greeks usually drink water that comes from the tap, and therefore in tavernas, if you don't specify that you want mineral water or if you don't look too much like tourists, they will bring you tap water in a jug to drink. Be careful, because it is drinkable but has a lot of chlorine, so if you have a delicate palate, you've been warned! You can easily find every type of beer. To accompany meals, the most widespread are certainly the half-liter bottles produced locally starting from Heineken and Amstel under Dutch license and from Mythos. Draft beer, on the other hand, is not as widespread as in Italy. As for wines, Retsina is the most widely produced wine: it is obtained mainly from the vineyards of Attica according to an ancient process that involved the use of pine resin to preserve the product longer. I am not a connoisseur, but personally I find it poorly suited to our palates.

But the vineyards of the various Greek regions produce wines of various qualities, both white and red, but also rosé, up to muscat or liqueur wines of excellent quality.

In Greece, as in many Mediterranean countries, it is customary to drink an anise-based liqueur, "ouzo": it can be an aperitif, diluted with water, but it is also served straight. Be careful, because it is pleasant but packs quite a punch. A variant of it is tsipouro, produced especially in the region of Macedonia, with characteristics more similar to our grappas, although the anise flavor continues to prevail. Another typical liqueur is certainly Brandy, which owes its fame to the Metaxa brand, whose little stars indicate the years of aging.

The desserts are almost all of Turkish origin and therefore extremely sweet, at times with a flavor that is nothing short of bewildering... still, they deserve a taste: Baklava (walnuts, pastry and honey), Kataifi (walnuts and honey wrapped in pastry) and Rizogalo (rice pudding with cinnamon). On the other hand, if you go into a pastry shop to give someone sweets as a gift, the packaging they will make for you will always be impeccable!

In Athens, and in Greece more generally, know that you can choose between different types of places to eat: the "Estiatorion" is the equivalent of our restaurant, an elegant place, where form also has its value and the dishes available are varied and numerous, with a cuisine that looks beyond national borders. The waiters are (or at least should be) discreet and obsequious and may even pour your wine, rigorously from the bottle! The "Taverna" is the typical place where you eat and drink: the owner and members of his family often prepare and serve the meals, and the prices are very moderate compared to those of restaurants. Let's say it's the equivalent of our country osterias, with wooden tables and chairs, often wobbly, paper tablecloths attached to the table as best they can.

Usually the cutlery is brought together with the glasses and the bread, and the task of setting the table is entirely up to the diner! The wine, by the glass, is served in a jug... In less touristy areas or in the more "rough" tavernas, the menu isn't even used; information about the available dishes is given directly by the waiter. Some dishes are displayed prominently in the restaurant's food warmer. If you insist, though, they'll find you some kind of menu... The courses available are not very many and in any case rigorously belonging to the tradition of Greek cuisine! So, what could be more romantic than a nice dinner in a Greek taverna, with good food, wobbly tables, straw-bottomed chairs, kitchen glasses and the feeling of almost being at home?

The "Psistaria" is a "Taverna" specializing in grilling and spit-roasting, while in the "Psarotaverna" (fish taverna) they prepare good fish dishes, generally caught near the beach or the port.

In the central area of Athens and also in the more popular neighborhoods, new fashionable cafés are now popping up like mushrooms, bars as vast as aircraft carriers, places with minimalist furnishings and techno vibrations, charming restaurants frequented by Athenian high society and ready to satisfy the most demanding tourists, in case you are one of them.

If after lunch you want to relax sitting at a café table, remember that Greek coffee is what used to be called "turkikò caffè". Personally I can't appreciate it... it's diluted and bitter. The key word to get a coffee a bit more similar to ours is nescafé! Remember: sketos is the bitter coffee; metrios is the one containing one or two packets of sugar; glykys is the decidedly sweet one. And finally, a couple of words about the famous Greek salad: it is proverbial and nutritious enough to replace an entire meal. In it there are, to a greater or lesser extent, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, green peppers, feta cheese, oil and oregano. Don't leave without ever having ordered it! Finally, remember that Athenians have lunch from two to four in the afternoon and dinner never starts before ten in the evening.

Telephones in Greece

Making a phone call in Greece could cause you some problems.. The phones work by card and after all at not excessive rates, at least if you're calling Italy. The problem is that there are too many cell phones in circulation. Everyone has a cell phone. Even small children. So, since few people use the phone cards, the Greek telephone company doesn't worry too much about repairing them and in some places they have even removed them. By the way... Carefully avoid making calls from your hotel unless you want to pay five times the normal rate!

Money and costs

Greece is no longer as cheap as it once was. The Euro, in fact, has arrived here too... The cost of a Hotel varies enormously depending on the season - you can save, for example, at least 30% off the official rates if you travel outside high season (which runs from mid-June to the end of August). For a shabby two-star hotel you might spend from 35 up to a maximum of 90 Euros for a double room. For a "B" category, which would be a three-star with air conditioning, television, towels changed every day and a standard of hygiene and cleanliness more in line with what we are used to in Italy, you should budget no less than 90 euros for a double room. Anyway, there are all kinds of Hotels in Athens, from extra-luxury ones to the more disreputable ones... immediately recognizable. Naturally the prices are in keeping too...

in short, don't think the Sheraton in Athens costs much less than the one in Rome! If you're not traveling in high season, a good tip might be not to book in advance! The prices will certainly be lower than those offered to you from Italy... if you rely on an Italian agency, it will have to contact a local agent and of course it will charge you the expenses. For eating you do much better. The prices in many cases have remained exceptionally low compared to the rest of Europe, and make a meal in a taverna competitive even with one based on sandwiches.

For the more penniless, here's some advice on where to look for lodging and food at low prices: there are many small hotels in the Plaka district, in Monastiraki and in Psiri. It could also be a good idea to stay in the district of the Larissis station, where the Youth Hostel is located. The best value-for-money accommodation in the city. After all, the cheap hotels in Athens are all a bit sad and above all on their last legs... let's say many of them would certainly have appealed to Henry Miller! One thing it is really not worth skimping on, however, is air conditioning, or at least ceiling fans! In Piraeus, moreover, the hotels are cheaper than in Athens and it is also easier to find them: they are almost all on the seafront and around the port square.

Anyone who doesn't intend to spend anything at all can always sleep at the port, at Gate 6, where there are public bathrooms, not exactly clean, a drinking fountain and the police. To eat during the day you can resort to the classic gyros pitta and souvlaki stands (but a couple of Fage yogurts bought at the supermarket might also be enough to fill you up) and the drinks that they also sell at the kiosk-newsstands. In the evening, though, do stop by a taverna! Those in Plaka are very tourist-trappy; I rather recommend some hole-in-the-wall place near Psiri and in the area of the central markets. The right ones have dim neon lights and the television at full volume... Recommended menu: the classic Greek salad and spit-roasted meat, with fries of course! Fish is quite expensive, though certainly less so than in Italy.

Almost all shops, restaurants and hotels accept credit cards. Most banks have ATMs where you can access your account in Italy. Prices, in most shops, are clearly marked and non-negotiable, but the art of haggling can instead come in handy in the markets. It is also always advisable to negotiate the price of hotel rooms, especially if you intend to extend your stay for several days.

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To visit this city it would be best to avoid the months of July and August, both because the multitude of passing tourists drives up prices and burdens the Athenian tourism machine, but above all to avoid melting under a relentless sun: don't let your vacation turn into some kind of nightmare. Better May, June and September then, but also the Easter period and especially between Christmas and New Year, when the city offers worthwhile events. The month of May is in any case the best period to experience this city to the fullest.

The language could be a problem. If you speak a little English you can rest assured, though. From thirty years old downward everyone practically speaks English, and many also Italian. Greeks, in any case, are usually courteous with Italians, especially young people, many of whom study or have studied at our universities. You may also happen to meet shopkeepers, especially in tourist shops, who correctly speak an endless number of languages. I warn you, though: Athenians are not all so open and hospitable; it may happen not infrequently that you meet grumpy people, a bit rude and not at all friendly, even when it's just about simple information...

As for shopping, most of the shops are in the area of Syntagma Square and its surroundings; the handicraft items in marble and alabaster, in worked and enameled brass, coins and medals, icons, antique books, as well as local food specialties are certainly interesting. Also very interesting are the trinkets, pendants and jewelry in gold and silver, but pay a lot of attention to gold: don't let the price attract you, but check the purity, which is often not 18 kt but 14 and sometimes even 12 kt. And if you should then need a helmet or a gas mask... the most outlandish merchandise is always for sale on Sunday morning at the Monastiraki flea market!

If you want to experience the nightlife, the Athenian scene is called glentie and in terms of intensity it has nothing to envy of Barcelona's. In Gazi, along the Pireos and the Iera Odos in the former industrial area around the municipal gas plant, there are the coolest venues of the moment. But Athenians are not afraid to cover kilometers and move incessantly from north to south like crazy pinballs. So the most chic and cosmopolitan venues are in Kifissia in the northern belt, but in summer there's a lot of action especially in the Glyfada area, by the sea, where Athenians gather to escape the muggy heat of the city. Here a series of venues alternate along the sea and pump music until late at night. For the most fashionable disco-bars you have to go to Odos Vouliagmenis... there's no point naming them, because, as everyone knows, fashions change quickly.

Many Athenians then end their evenings near the meat market on Odos Athinas, where you can also eat something inside the market. For those looking for more cultural evenings, from June to September the Athens festival offers a whole series of concerts and shows in theaters with exceptional acoustics and a magical atmosphere. Ask beforehand.

If you have arrived in Greece with your own vehicle or intend to rent one, I recommend a prudent driving style. Greek asphalt, in fact, is very different from ours; sand is added to the tar mixture, and this makes the surface decidedly lacking in grip. Athens, in any case, is not the most suitable place to visit by car. The traffic is too frantic and heavy, memorizing the streets is not easy, the road signs are not at all clear, parking is scarce and moreover Greeks have little inclination to respect traffic lights and right-of-way. Also be careful of the numerous taxis that speed at full tilt and brake suddenly to pick up passengers.

Taxis in Athens are fundamentally cheap - in short, it's enough to keep an eye on the meter - but if you take one from the center, especially on certain occasions, the most complicated thing might be actually managing to get in! In fact, to stop a taxi you just have to wave from the street, even if there are already passengers on board, but keep in mind that the driver might not always like your destination and therefore the possibility of seeing him screech away is not at all remote. In short, don't count on it much. If you absolutely must be somewhere on time, a radio taxi, certainly more expensive, will save you from this kind of problem. Finally, remember a few fundamental things: Athens is a city that lives around the clock, 24 hours a day, which means you will never lack something to drink, eat, smoke or whatever else you might need.

There is plenty of police everywhere, as well as stray dogs and cats... belonging to everyone and no one, there is always someone leaving food for them on the street... Athens has also by now become a mixture of races... Indians, Turks, Albanians, Egyptians, Russians... there's absolutely no one missing... and above all never forget that this is still the city of general disorganization: services are often what they are and in any case it is absolutely mandatory to always ask and ask again to be certain of the time, the departure point, the destination... especially for public transport.

The future of Athens Greece has experienced extraordinary development in the last ten years. I have seen the progress year after year; the results are beginning to be there for all to see right now. During 2004 the perhaps most important project for Athens should be ready: it is called the unification of the archaeological sites, already in implementation for five years. It involves redeveloping the various archaeological areas and connecting them with a pedestrian route that will pass from the Stadium through the Agora, the heart of the public life of ancient Athens, all the way to the Kerameikos. In short, the capital is preparing to become the largest open-air museum in the world, with an ideal walk through Hellenic civilization.

The buses have been completely renewed; they are now all new, and, again on the occasion of the Olympics, the train connecting the outskirts of Athens with the Center and with the Airport should be ready. Even the taxis should soon all be new: the state is giving strong incentives to taxi drivers to scrap vehicles more than seven years old. Finally those yellow-painted jalopies that were passed off as taxis will disappear... On August 13, 2004, the inauguration of the new Olympic stadium took place, a true technological jewel: it has the largest and most spectacular steel and glass roof ever built. Two gigantic steel arches up to 72 meters high hold suspended in the air, through the use of dozens of steel cables, a structure weighing more than 19,000 tons. At night, moreover, the transparent blue glass roof lights up, leaving everyone breathless.

Perhaps it is the most tangible sign of the new that is advancing.