Now that you've read about many of the sights in Greece that I expected to see, let me share some of the things that I wasn't expecting...here goes...
One of the very first things we saw as we came out of the metro station on our first day in Athens was this sign. We were both like, wait, we did not just spend 12 hours traveling to see a SUNY school!
One of the biggest things that surprised me about Athens was how sprawling a city it was. We live in New York, so I guess I expected Athens to be...smaller? But even though there were few skyscrapers to speak of, I found the city's size to be quite impressive! According to my guidebook, 40% of the population of Greece lives in Athens, so I guess that's not surprising! In case you're a dork like me and were wondering, less than 3% of the population of the United States lives in New York City :)
We were also surprised to find a Roman toilet astonishingly well-preserved. Almost two thousand years later, who would have thought that an Athenian toilet would be one of the few pieces of the Roman Agora still standing? Not I.
We also weren't expecting the extremely sexual nature of Greek humor. I guess we probably should have, given some of the famous Ancient Greek pottery that you always see, but it still surprised and amused us, what can I say? Hey, we are the same people who took pictures of a Roman toilet...
I couldn't help but chuckle at the number of pizzerias we saw. For some reason, it just seemed odd to see pizzerias in Greece, but Italians probably think the same thing about American pizzerias!
I found this restaurant on Santorini to be particularly amusing because it seemed to be an eatery with a serious identity crisis going on. It advertised itself as a Mexican restaurant and even had a huge (we're talking 20 feet tall) cactus out front, but then had signs all over saying that they served Barbeque food with potatoes. Huh?
Mr. Star didn't want Chinese in Greece either...
One day on Santorini, a rain shower rolled in during the afternoon, and the streets were almost instantly turned into practically rivers! Many of us tourists hit out in shops because the streets all became unwalkable! [Note: I am fully aware that this picture is extremely unflattering, that just shows how much I love you all]
By far the most surprising thing I found in Greece was that nearly no one takes credit cards. And the few places that do almost all use the old ka-chunk credit card machines that were out of fashion in the U.S. before I was old enough to have my own credit card! When the rental car agency guy busted one of these bad boys out, I started having elementary school flashbacks (which is the last time I remember seeing my parents using one of these things!). Just a heads-up so you don't expect to be able to go cash-less in Greece!
What is the most unexpected sight you've encountered on your travels? Please share! :)
If you're following along, the Star honeymoon recaps are:
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