Greece Revisited

God(s), I can't believe it's almost been a year since I went--of course I'd love to go again. Of course right now; I bet stuff's gotten super cheap there!

Anyway, considering how little I remember of my childhood, and considering the fact that I originally got this to write down the important things (before I stuck it on Facebook and publicized through Twitter, which's effectively shamed me out of posting anything personal...because I'm normally so personally effusive), I've decided to post a short list of the everyday things I remember. I should have done this last year, but well what the hell.

* Smartcars. Damn, I miss seeing those little bitty vehicles in a thousand different colors and patterns crisscrossing the streets with their weird intersections (there was one intersection that I was always almost crossing just before the huge rush of cars).
* The trains everywhere. Athens has really clean train stations.
* The light. Greek light--people have written about it; it's not a lie. Greek light makes the sky a bluer blue.
* Graffiti. There was so much, and it's all so creative; the little I saw in Paris, and the littler I've seen here, are positively distressing in comparison. They've practically turned it into a science. (I even saw a graffitied website.)
* The paper. Paper's a different size in Europe; so's the money--nothing fits into American folders or wallets quite right.
* Slippery sidewalks, for some reason they were always being washed and I didn't have the time to buy new sandals before I went. Everything's sloped (to the point where there was one area I didn't even bother going up, though it looked interesting); I slid a lot.
* The bakeries. In the morning you could roll out of bed, scrabble around on the cold floor for a while before walking the twisty way downstairs and then up and back down and around the side (watch out for cars!) to buy fresh pastries. Those chocolate filled croissants, especially the mini ones where you take one bite and your mouth is flooded with the soft flaky warmness and good not-too-sweet dark chocolate.... Also, profiterols are eclairs. I didn't know this.
* The way people look at you weird if you're eating on the go. It's just not the culture there; everything's laid back (that explains a lot, probably).
* Everyone yelling 'malaka,' even kids.
* Stray cats and dogs, tempting to pet as long as they're healthy.


...There's probably more, but...whatever.