There is a program available through the Greek government called "My Athens". On their website you fill out a questionnaire about your likes and interests while in Athens and they match you up with a volunteer with similar interests. Arrangements are made to meet with your volunteer and you spend three hours together seeing Athens. This morning we met a proud Athenian named Makis.
However, I first have to tell the story of "it happened on the way to meet Makis".
We were scheduled to meet Makis at Syntagma Square at 9 am near the metro station. We arrived exactly at 9:00 after a 20 minute walk from our hotel. We were supposed to have a picture of him but in the photo we saw his face was in shadow so we weren't certain exactly who we were looking for.
After a few minutes I spotted a man that I was sure was Makis, and Danielle agreed so I walked up to him and mispronounced his name (adding an extra R in there somewhere ), reached out and shook his hand while he looked a tiny bit confused. I assumed this was because of the mispronunciation of his name. I said we are the people you are here to meet. "How many of you are there?" He asked. This seemed a natural question because we were originally scheduled to be 6 on the tour before Lauri and Gina had to go home. I said "four". He responded by saying " ok, give me a minute" as he walked into the metro. Hmn... Is he going to buy us all metro passes? I gave Deiann the thumbs up that he was our guy and she and Kim joined Danielle and I while we waited.....and waited..... Uh huh....we waited. Did he not like the looks of us? Did he have to use the bathroom? Did he change his mind for some reason??? After almost 20 minutes of pondering what to so now, Deiann suggested I check my phone " he possibly wants us to join him someplace else?"
I was the designated contact person so I got out my phone and there was a message from Makis sent 10 minutes prior telling us he was waiting at a different metro exit. I texted back and told him where we were and asked if he could come to us because he was familiar with where we were. He agreed.
What the heck is going on??? Did we have the wrong guy? Yup... The real Makis appeared and was a totally different man than the one I had basically accosted earlier!!! We had been waiting at the wrong exit the whole time. What we continue to wonder is WHAT THE HECK WAS UP WITH THAT OTHER GUY??? Why didn't he just say " you have the wrong person??? It cracks me up every time I replay the situation in my head!
As far as the real Makis, what a great guy! He was funny and interesting, very well educated and informed about his city. The city is very close to his heart and that was so refreshing to see!
He took us on a three hour tour that encompassed all of the important sites of the ancient city. We started in Syntagma Square in front of the building that is the center of Greece. All distance measurements in Greece whether in Athens or one of the islands is measured from that location. Makis was not allowed (as dictated by the My Athens program) to accompany us into any of the ticketed ancient sites but we saw many as we passed. He explained the purpose of many of the monuments, gave us some history about things we saw, and shared his personal philosophies about many topics, modern and ancient. He educated us regarding the ancient Greek's beliefs in the twelve Gods and why graffiti is so prevalent in modern Greece. He explained how ancient uneducated people used some monuments and all churches as a compass (the entrance to the churches faces west), and he pointed out Koress, a modern personal care products company that uses only botanicals in its products.
We were sad when our time with Makis was finished. We had hoped to thank him by taking him to lunch but he had Saturday chores to attend to so we said goodbye when we once again returned to Syntagma Square. Makis, thank you so much for giving up half of your Saturday to spend it showing us your beloved city!!!
After leaving Makis we found our way back to Plaka and a small, quiet, family run restaurant. It had a vine shaded patio where I enjoyed rice stuffed tomatoes and everyone else had Mousakka (a dish raved about each time someone in the group eats it). Water and Mythos ( a Greek beer) accompanied our meals.
We headed home with plans to climb up Lycabetus Hill after a little Mesimeri. I wrote a blog post and edited photos while the ladies napped. Everyone woke up reluctant to tackle more walking after days full of walking and climbing so we chose lazing on the rooftop terrace as the sun went down and the lights of the city came on. We ate a very European hour, enjoyed a double scoop of ice cream at a really eclectic place called The White Rabbit, and packed our bags at midnight in preparation of our trip to Corinth the next day.
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