Olympian Metros

If Athens' unique word is chaotic, then mine must be efficient-maybe that's why I love Germany so much. I came to Athens under the assumption that it would be orderly and organized like all other major cities in the European Union. I thought that the city had invested millions in new urban development for the Olympic Games of 2004, and that meant they had now joined the world of the polished European city. I was totally wrong and should have left all my assumptions at the sleek new airport.


I asked each of my Greek couch surfing hosts about the effect of the Olympics on Athenian life (not to channel my Berlin buddies). They both just shrugged and said, "Ah, not much changed at all." The only real improvement was the installation of two new metro lines which made transportation easier and more reliable, and cut back on the number of cars within the city limits. The inner city roads, like most European cities, were not built with the width of two cars side-by-side in mind. On several occasions I've had to squeeze by as two cars were locked in a battle of wills as to which one would stop honking and back up to let the other pass.

I do have to say that the new metro lines are pretty cool. They are all lined with freshly polished white marble and are actually much faster than the four previously existing lines. They also have museums in them; one is dedicated to archeology and the other to art.

Other than that, things apparently went on much the same before and after the Olympics.

When heading into the metro, there are always people hawking their wares; the Africans head towards Syntagma Square, their backs loaded down with a large white sheet that holds a bundle of fake designer purses or sunglasses. They'll lay out the sheet on the ground and then entice you into the land of faux Fendi. The Asians prefer Omonia Square with the bottom of a cut-off box that they attach a strap to and hang it from their necks, much like the Las Vegas cigar girl's mobile display box. They mainly sell small electronic toys with multi-colored lights. My favorite of these was a small silver plastic crucifix that has flashing neon blue lights on each point of the cross and was purchased by a small round Greek woman. The older Greek men and women can be found around Academia selling off complicated looking lottery tickets hanging from home made easels.