Liondi Restaurant, Athens. Copyright Gretta Schifano
Saturday
I’m on my own, struggling to carry my suitcase down a flight of steps to a Metro station in Athens one October evening. I’ve been in the Greek capital since Wednesday for the the TBEX travel blogger conference and now I’m going to meet my husband and kids who’ve just arrived in the city. A Greek man stops and shows me where there’s a lift which I can use. He makes sure that I know which train to take and where to change for my stop.
I make my way to the HouseTrip apartment where we’re staying as a family. Later that evening the four of us are walking from the apartment to a restaurant which has been recommended to us by our host. It’s dark. We’re all tired. We’re not sure where we are and we stop to look at a map. A Greek man passing by stops to ask where we’re going and to point us in the right direction.
Sunday
My son shivers as we sit at a table outside Liondi, a tiny restaurant near the Acropolis Museum which serves fabulous Greek food. We’ve nearly finished dinner but Stavros, the friendly restaurant owner, goes inside and comes back out with his own jacket. He places the jacket around my son’s shoulders. Later, as we leave, Stavros presents the children with a foil box. Inside is some home-made cake for them. (They eat it for breakfast the next morning and pronounce it ‘delicious’).
Stavros orders a taxi to take us from Liondi to our apartment. Half an hour after the taxi drops us off there’s a knock at our door. The taxi driver has found my purse in his car and has brought it back. It contains my cash and credit cards and I hadn’t noticed that it had fallen out of my bag.
View of the Acropolis from the apartment we stayed in. Copyright Gretta Schifano
Monday
We go to buy bread from the baker’s near our apartment en route to a walking tour of the city’s main sites. We’re intrigued by the wood-fired oven and stop to watch the baker at work. He gives us some delicious fresh pitta to taste.
Tuesday
We’re walking from our apartment to the Metro station, off to see the changing of the guard at the Athenian parliament. As we start going down the steps to the Metro a Greek woman smiles and hands us her ticket. It’s valid for 70 minutes and she’s only used 20 minutes.
Changing of the guard, Athens. Copyright Gretta Schifano
Wednesday
It’s our last day in Athens and our flight leaves at 8pm. We’re due to check out of our apartment at 11am and so we ask our host, George, if we can store our luggage somewhere until it’s time for us to leave. ‘No problem’ says George. ‘Check out when you need to.’ We use the apartment until 5pm.
So, when someone asked me today what the best thing was about our trip to Athens I replied straight away: the food is great, the sightseeing amazing but the best aspect of the trip for me was the kindness and hospitality shown to us by the people that we met there.
Athens, thank you for having us to stay.
Family travel lowdown:
We stayed in a HouseTrip apartment in central Athens for four nights. The apartment sleeps up to eight people and costs from £113 per night. Thank you to HouseTrip for arranging our stay.
Sharmeen says
December 12, 2014 at 2:48 pmWow that is awesome, what a lovely bunch of people!
Gretta Schifano says
December 12, 2014 at 2:58 pmThey were lovely!
Kirstie says
November 27, 2014 at 3:41 pmYou hear so many scare stories from tourists visiting cities like Barcelona and Rome and finding they are prey to thieves. Perhaps you were lucky, or perhaps there is a culture of honesty and generosity in the city. Either way, it makes you consider a visit…
Kirstie recently posted…Driving in Japan: Tips for a Family Road Trip
Gretta Schifano says
November 27, 2014 at 3:51 pmI think that we were lucky but that there is also a culture of generosity. I’d definitely like to go back to Greece and explore it further.
Globalmouse says
November 2, 2014 at 9:17 amThat’s so nice to hear. I really need to get back to Greece, such a lovely country!
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Gretta Schifano says
November 2, 2014 at 9:20 amI want to go back too now that I’ve seen how friendly and welcoming people are!
Bex @ The Mummy Adventure says
November 1, 2014 at 9:11 pmIt is definitely the small kindnesses that stay with us, I remember little things from each of our trips that reminds me of how lovely the people were.
Bex @ The Mummy Adventure recently posted…Me and Mine – October
Sarah Ebner says
November 1, 2014 at 7:43 pmWhat a really lovely story – can make such a difference to the holiday. Love the jacket being given to your son especially. Glad you had a great time.
Gretta Schifano says
November 2, 2014 at 12:05 amThank you Sarah, it was a good trip.
Mari says
October 31, 2014 at 9:53 pmThe people really do make a holiday don’t they? I still have to visit Greece and I can’t wait to do so especially after reading this.
Mari recently posted…Loyalty and fairness – how important are they?
Gretta Schifano says
October 31, 2014 at 10:56 pmThey absolutely do, I think that the people who you meet are what you remember most from a trip.
Katrina says
October 31, 2014 at 7:46 pmLOVED this! We’re researching a potential trip to Greece and of course it’s easy to concentrate on the potential negatives of Athens, so I really appreciated reading about your recent positive experiences!
Katrina recently posted…Mapping My Month: November 2014
Gretta Schifano says
October 31, 2014 at 10:58 pmI don’t think that there were any negatives! Except that the weather was cooler than we’d expected it was definitely a positive experience for us.
mummytravels says
October 31, 2014 at 7:21 pmLovely – a great reminder that travel is about the people you meet as much as sights.
mummytravels recently posted…Thursday Travel Treat: Lisbon
Gretta Schifano says
October 31, 2014 at 10:59 pmIt really is, especially when you’re travelling with children.
Ting at My Travel Monkey says
October 31, 2014 at 12:10 pmThat is so wonderful to read. You often hear so much about the bad in the world, but your experience in Athens just proves that the majority of folk are kind and thoughtful. What a relief it must have been to get your purse back.
Ting at My Travel Monkey recently posted…Time Travel Thursdays: Indian Moments Part One
Gretta Schifano says
October 31, 2014 at 6:11 pmI know, I was so very lucky. You’re right, I think that most people are kind and thoughtful.
Xennia Politou says
November 6, 2014 at 1:09 pmI’m Greek, and I’m really pleased by this article. Yes, this happens in Greece, maybe more often than otherwise? I don’t know. I had a good experience in LA as well. I dropped my cellphone in a taxi. The taxidriver brought it to my hotel and refused firmly to receive any reward or tip for that. As for the lady who offered you the ticket ithis attitude is quite common it these crisis days. Actually, is a kind of “resistance” against the raise of the tickets price and help to those who cannot afford a ticket. And as many Greeks take the metro without buying a ticket, it is very criticised by those who believe that if we need public transports, we should at least play fair and buy tickets.
Gretta Schifano says
November 7, 2014 at 8:36 amI’m glad that you like the article, thank you. It’s good to hear about your LA experience, I guess that there are lovely people everywhere! That’s really interesting about the metro ticket, thank you for explaining the background.
Trish - Mum's Gone to says
October 31, 2014 at 11:29 amI love this – so heartwarming.
It’s many years since we have been to Greece but I do remember their hospitality but these stories of kindness and generosity are wonderful.
Trish – Mum’s Gone to recently posted…Humberside Airport to Schiphol, Amsterdam with KLM
Gretta Schifano says
October 31, 2014 at 6:12 pmI was really struck by how kind and lovely people were there. It’s made me want to go back and explore Greece further.