The Greek sewage system is too antiquated to handle flushing any amount of toilet paper down the drain. At 2 inches in diameter, the pipes are much too narrow and have an increased risk of clogging in comparison to American pipes that are 4 inches in diameter.
Greece went bankrupt in the mid 2010s. What does this mean given that the vast majority of countries are in debt? (The US national debt recently surpassed $38 trillion). It means failure to repay debts.
There are around 6000 Greek islands and only under 300 of them are inhabited.
The water in Greece is stunningly clear due to the low levels of phytoplankton. The Mediterranean is also nearly landlocked, resulting in a low level of water and organic material exchange with other bodies of water.
I can float in the Mediterranean ocean. This is a result of the high salinity which creates more buoyancy in the water.
The door locks and keys are confusing because they twist many rotations.
They are well-versed in how to fry fish. Sea bass is a delicious white fish I tried for the first time that I think about constantly.
Yasus means hello, goodbye, and bless you.
In Greece, everyone will call Turkish coffee Greek coffee. It is the same.
The country is overrun by cats of every kind.
Athens:
If you stroll Athens, you will discover a car, moped, scooter, and pedestrian medley on the sidewalk. It may give you anxiety and you may receive a dirty look from a man atop a moped causing you to question your right to the sidewalk as happened to Ilana. Law states no one belongs on the sidewalk except for pedestrians. Remember your right to the sidewalk.
If you ascend the Acropolis it will be very crowded and you will shuffle upwards like a herded sheep. This is intended. The Acropolis entrance was designed to create a bottleneck at the entrance to defend against invaders.
Out of the corner of your eye, you may spot a small tortoise and believe your eyes deceive you. They do not. Tortoises are the most prevalent wild animal in Athens and native to the area. They roam archeological sites, green spaces, and the city center.
Athens is covered in graffiti, which is illegal, but there is an unspoken rule to graffiti everywhere except the ancient ruins.
If you wish to complete a project on time in Athens, you should avoid digging. Every time digging is involved, you will discover more ancient ruins, delaying your project deadline by a few years as the excavation team must come and carefully clear the area.
There is a statue of Socrates and Confucius in the Roman Agora. It is not to be interpreted literally as they clearly never met. Symbolically though, you may imagine the union of western and eastern culture and philosophy.
In efforts to tour a church, I stumbled upon the funeral for influential Greek singer-songwriter Dionysis Savvopoulos. I witnessed a large-scale procession involving many religious figures, news reporters, and citizens of Athens. I felt a strong sense of nationalism.
Naxos:
The temple of Apollo is an archaic site constructed in 510 B.C. What remains today resembles a large door frame.
There is one university on the island with one industry: tourism. Other industries are agriculture and marble.
Greek people value cooking. Their feta tastes better.
The olive oil press crushes olives into a paste and then olive oil is made by separating out the oil. Cold-pressing is when the extraction process is done below a certain temperature to ensure quality. Extra virgin refers to the maturity of the olives at harvest.
The Kouros of Apollon is a giant abandoned statue in the hills of Naxos that has a crack running through the center. At 80 tons, it’s not clear where they intended to install it.
Paros:
If you board the ferry and present your prepurchased ferry tickets which are in the wrong direction, they will be chill about it and let you exchange the ticket for a small fee.
There is a delicious restaurant called Saffron. It is like fine dining without the prices. The fish ceviche, stuffed grape leaves, fried capers, amongst many other dishes will live in your memory indefinitely.
If you snorkel, you may find a red octopus peering at you from within the rocks.
In grade school, the students will do half-assed marches around lunch time and catcall you.
While it normally doesn’t rain in October, it still might rain the whole week you are there. You may encounter the most severe thunder and lightning storm of your life.