cycle scribbles: Athens

We exited our bus to Athens at the bus terminal which we assumed would be somewhere in/near the city centre. Roaming around the station we soon realised we were not in Central Athens but wedged between a motorway and a footpath-less industrial wasteland. We asked the ladies at the desk labelled "Information" whether they had a map (contemptuous "no.") and later returned to ask for help getting to the city - contemptuous "bus 51" and when we asked where this was, a vague gesture toward about a hundred buses. Great. Athens was not winning us over. Greece has been really bad for tourist information (i.e. we have never seen a tourist info centre anywhere). A Greek Canadian we met in the mountains who has lived in Toronto for 40+ years mentioned that the recently shamed Greek politicians have been damaging to Greece's tourist industry through their neglect and underfunding, which he believes is driving tourists elsewhere e.g. Turkey. We can definitely see his point.

We eventually made our way to the centre - largely thanks to the help of a generous Greek lady who took us under her wing - and walked the few kilometres to our hostel because the metro line we wanted was down (and has been for some time) and we couldn't find the bus we were told would take us there instead. Arriving at our comfortable hostel two hours after arriving at the bus station, we were relieved to be off Athens streets. So far Athens had given us the constant feeling you sometimes get in parts of a foreign city when you suspect you have wandered into the "wrong part of town". Graffiti absolutely everywhere (including parked cars), litter, restless people, bad driving, a generally bad vibe. We saw a group of three people being arrested and were asked for money by a self-confessed junkie just on the way to the hostel. We feel sad that things in Athens seem to be much worse than we had realised, and we are wondering how much recent economic events have caused this or whether Athens has been struggling unknown to us for some time. We are also wondering why people don't seem to be telling it like it is, everything about Athens we looked at online seemed to be in denial over the obvious problems we were seeing there, particularly the Greek tourism industry pages which made it sound like a utopian dreamland where you could "breathe the air of the Gods". We are not ones to be disturbed by a bit of grit in a city and often even prefer it to super squeaky clean places, but Athens was on another level to anywhere else we have been on this trip. It felt deflated, uncared for and often made us feel uncomfortable and on edge.

Heading out for a walk in the evening, we started to see some of Athens' charm. A beautiful mountain/sea setting with the majestic Acropolis and Temple of Zeus towering above the city, a really cool and lively area near the polytechnic filled with cafes, book shops and hip young people and ultimately, potential for a good city to live in. We really hope things get better in Athens soon, it should be a great city and from what we have heard, its politics of recent years have really let it down. I should note that the super touristy area near the Acropolis and Parliament is mostly clean and grand looking, and they seem to have herded most beggars from here too. We also saw some excellent busking! Maybe if you stick to the tourist track you see less of Athens' struggle, but then do you really see Athens?

We certainly don't want to kick a place when it's down and discourage people from travelling there, but we also feel that denying the problems will only make it worse. We wondered sometimes whether maybe we were overreacting or being sensitive, but it really did feel downtrodden and the extent of it took us by surprise. Have other people had similar experiences? Anyone's thoughts or experiences are welcome (and requested!!) We're quite curious to hear other opinions.