HEADING TO SERRES

July 20,1998  I have left Athens for Serres Prefecture.  I checked out of the lovely hotel, and got into a taxi the desk called to deliver me to the bus station to catch that bus heading north.  I completely expected to be "taken" by the cab driver, who charged me more than the fare I was told I should anticipate by the hotel staff, just as I had been overcharged by the taxi driver from the airport.  That driver had stopped at the corner instead of in front of the hotel and asked to be paid.  I found out later that it was now supposedly illegal for taxi drivers to do this with tourists, as so many of them used this opportunity to overcharge tourists who didn't speak Greek. (The desk clerk at the Hotel Philippos told me that in the future, I should make the driver come into the hotel with me before I paid his fare.)  I am more concerned about finding the right bus than whether or not I will get fleeced again.

     As the bus reaches the outer edge of Athens, I can see a lot of new construction, in stark contrast to the grungy area I passed through on the way to the Hotel Philippos.  There are bigger, nice-looking apartments- no single family homes as one might find in the States. Like any large city, there are some dingy areas and some like pearls of many colors in the sun.  How amazing to walk on sidewalk made of marble blocks! The landscape is both dry and lush, but not over-cultivated.  I am struck by how much English is printed everywhere, not just Latin script translations of signs.  American cultural "icons" are everywhere- McDonald's, Pepsi, Coke.  As we move further north, though, there are fewer and fewer signs in English.

     I spend part of the long trip recalling my arrival at the Athens Airport.  As the British Airways jet glided in over the water, I could see the ocean and the ships on it, a beautiful sight.  The airport, on the other hand, was anything but attractive.  It is a very unsecured area with few passenger amenities.  People were almost fighting over the small number of luggage trolleys as our baggage is unloaded. Surprisingly (or not), taxis are not close by, either! I have no idea what will await me in Serres, but I do know that I will have to take another taxi to get to Sidirokatro! Oh, joy! My injured foot begins to throb.