Radovan and Driving in Greece

Radovan found out it is very, very hard to park your car in Athens, and if he ever buys a car and comes back, it will be one of these Smart Cars or else even a bike like the big fellow on the billboard is riding.Radovan was scared out of his wits by noisy motorcycles (what a change from his peaceful village), and couldn't believe most riders don't wear helmets...or protective legwear.... In any case, he finally decided to not even think about driving in Greece at all, seeing as how gasoline costs around 1.40 euros a LITER. But now back here in Serbia where the standard of living is lower, it's pretty much the same price. So he'll stick to his donkey or to "Shanks' mare.". (My grandfather used that expression all the time...go Google!)

Radovan Rides the Happy Train

Note: Originally I'd thought I could show the best part of Radovan's trip in a shorter period of time, but I now see that's not possible--bear with me. He'll be back in Serbia on August 3rd---there will be then as many posting dates as days he spent in Greece! "Bibi" will then be posting photos of Serbia from her point of view, not Radovan's! :<)

This is one of Athens' Happy Trains that shuttle tourists on given circuits around the city. We all took a ride and since we were seated in the back of the train so we could more easily take photos, we had a good view of these Japanese lady tourists with their parasols to shield them from the blistering sun.

Radovan decided he didn't need a parasol to protect him, but found a way to cool off under an outdoor restaurant's cooling system that lightly mists guests. It's really refreshing!

Radovan at the shoe store

This is Radovan shaking his head in disbelief at the number of ladies' shoes in this display. On this popular street, whose name escapes me, literally every other boutique was a shoe store. Radovan himself likes simple flip-flops to relax in, like the ones the feet below are sporting.

Radovan enjoys "gyros" with the Gyros Guy in Greece

You must think all we and Radovan did in Greece was eat, and you wouldn't be far off. This fellow works in a small gyros grill not far from our son's apartment (Our son's finishing up his MBA in Greece.) This guy works long, hot hours, and during a shift from 11 a.m. to around midnight, he goes through two of these pork meat slice arrangements and a chicken one. The meat is shaved off as it roasts, and served wrapped in pita bread with french fries, tzatziki salad (chopped cucumbers, garlic, and thick yogurt), tomatoes, and onions, or you can eat everything separately as below. This fellow told us he assembles over 2,000 wraps every shift...

Radovan's Sky Watch Friday in Sounion, Greece

Sunsets are breathtaking just about anywhere, but Radovan thinks this one at Cape Sounion near Athens even beats the sunset over the Morava, a river near his village. (Bending the rules a bit today, with three photos.)

Cape Sounion is renowned for the ruins of the ancient Temple of Poseidon, the god of the sea in classical mythology. The celebrated English Romantic poet (and destroyer of public property!) Lord Byron engraved his name somewhere on them! Radovan looked and looked, but couldn't find it.

Here's a photo of all the visitors getting ready for their own personal sunset shoot.

Radovan dances the Pidiktos!

That's Radovan jumping out of the frame while these three lady dancers are busy watching my husband take the photo. They are not even near the Acropolis, but were dancing in front of a canvas backdrop! The dance is called the pidiktos, and of course, Radovan wanted to give it a try, and swapped costumes briefly with one of the male dancers.

These typical little Greek pom-pom shoes are called tsarouhia, but Radovan still prefers his Serbian opanci (OH-pahn-tsee), although we offered to buy him a pair of these colorful ones. He's afraid the pom-poms would get too dusty or that his goat back home would nibble on them.

Radovan visits ZEUS's Temple--ABC Wednesday

The Temple of Olympian Zeus, also known as the Olympieion, is a colossal temple, now in ruins, formerly dedicated to Zeus, king of the Olympian gods. Begun in the 6th century BC by the Greeks, it was not completed until the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian some 650 years later. Radovan was reminded of Roman ruins near Leskovac, Serbia, of the ancient town Justiniana Prima, founded by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian in the 6th century AD.

The Arch of Hadrian is a monumental gateway resembling a Roman triumphal arch. It spanned an ancient road from the center of Athens to structures on the eastern side of the city including Zeus's Temple. An inscription on the western side facing the Acropolis states: "This is Athens, the ancient city of Theseus," whereas an inscription on the eastern side of the arch (facing the Temple) states: "This is the city of Hadrian and not of Theseus." Radovan can see the Acropolis through the arch.

Radovan at the orthodox priests' convention

Imagine Radovan's luck to come across a Greek Orthodox priests' convention right on a main tourist/souvenir shop street downtown! Radovan is Serbian Orthodox, and was pleased to visit with the priests for a while, and especially liked their little donkey.

Another priest accompanies a little girl, who could quite possibly be his granddaughter, since priests are allowed to marry before they become priests.

Radovan in the metro.

Finally we arrived in Athens, and decided to see a bit of the city right away. The metro is the fastest and most economical way to get around (walking costs less, of course, but it was waaaay tooooo hot). The Athens subway is very, very clean; both the trains and stations. One regular ticket costs .80 euros. Radovan didn't pay, tsk-tsk.

We took the metro to Syntagma Square, site of the Greek Parliament, where every hour the changing of the guard ceremony is performed in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Like many other tourists, Radovan wanted his photo with a guard, and tried to talk him into exchanging hats with him, but he wouldn't.

Radovan eats and drinks.

We held off our appetites until we crossed the Greek border, and then dug in. Above, Radovan is enjoying the first of many Greek meals, all fairly new to him. He's standing between a plate of olives, eggplant salad (grilled/baked eggplant mixed with yogurt, feta cheese, herbs, and olive oil), and of course the traditional Greek salad. Radovan recalled a similar well-known Serbian salad, and made me promise to post a photo upon my return.

Here's Radovan frowning a bit, since he likes white wine spritzers, but doesn't care for the taste of the Greek retsina, made exclusively of two kinds of white grapes, but with Aleppo pine resin added. Bibi's husband likes it, either straight or with soda water, as pictured above.

Meet Radovan! or, "Radovan Goes to Greece!"

Driving down to Greece for our vacation, my husband and I stopped to ask directions from this little man, who was waiting for a bus to go visit his daughter and son-in-law. He hinted he had never left his native village in the once very heavily forested Serbian region known as Šumadija (SHOO-mah-dee-ya), and so it wasn't hard to convince him to postpone his intended visit for a while, and join us! (All we had to do was show him the guidebook below...) His name is Radovan (RAH-doe-vahn), and I invite you to see a bit of Greece through his Serbian eyes and my ex-pat lenses! It'll be two-a-day-photos for about 10 days or so!

Radovan believes ladies in Greece love birds more than fancy dresses.