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I’m not really sure where this post belongs, or if it even belongs on my Athens Travel blog, (although perhaps since it highlights such an important cultural difference, it does fit) but it underscored something I have long noticed about Greece and Greeks. Celebrities here have a somewhat different status than in the US, and my experience recently at the New Acropolis Museum just highlights that.

 

Basil and I were having lunch in the café of the New Acropolis Museum, and when we arrived at the café we noticed that one section was closed off. The café is really just a large rectagular space, one long, large hall essentially. The roped off area had tables set up in a large rectangle, and the servers were just finishing dressing the tables. The terrace, where we had planned to sit on this visit (our third since the museum and café opened) was closed, although there were a couple of “suits” outside mulling about. We asked our server who was coming for lunch and she shrugged and said, “some dignitary”.

We ordered, sharing a lovely fresh salad, a baguette sandwich and my favorite, the Cretan cheese with honeydew and thyme honey, and as we were preparing to pay a whirlwind of activity began around us. A small group of people had entered the café and were heading to the terrace, behind them the press corps, cameras flashing. We turned to see who it was, but the Athenian woman next to me filled me in before I could figure it out. “It’s President Papoulias, I think he’s with some Swedish princesses”, as she turned back to her salad, took a sip of wine and resumed the conversation she and her friends were having.

Turns out the Swedish princess was HRH Crown Princess Victoria and the Reuters photographer did a better job than I did, alas, he was allowed on the café’s terrace.

By Athensguide

How does a little girl from Skokie, Illinois find herself in historical Athens, leading curious explorers through the winding streets of Plaka, down "pezodromos" to hidden ouzeries for tempting mezedhes and homemade barrel wine? The journey began more than twenty years ago, and regardless of whether the wanderlust comes from the spiritual and culture DNA flowing through my veins, or the alignment of the stars on that cold mid-December day this Sagitterian came into the world, I never seem to tire of exploring my adopted homeland of Greece. Here you'll join me as I explore Athens: be it the back streets of Psirri and Gazi, or through the National Gardens and Zappeio where a family of turtles makes their home, or down wide, treelined Imittou Street in Pagrati, which pulses with Athenian life 24 hours a day. And while Athens has stolen my heart, the rest of Greece vies for my curiousity and wanderlust. My two guys (that'd be the Greek God, Vasilis and our Greek dog, Scruffy) and I can often be found settling in for a long weekend in some charming mountain village, or a quaint fishing port on a nearby island, or learning how Greek vitners are producing wines that rival some of Napa Valley's finests productions, or celebrating a panayeri in Epirus or sharing in the festivities as a family of Cretan sheepherders come together to sheer their 1500 sheep in the spring ... And if you happen to find yourself heading to Athens, consider finding yourself a real home for your stay. Living amongst the locals, be it for 3 nights or 3 weeks, will offer you the chance to experience true Athens, beyond the Acropolis. Choose from one of our 5 beautiful penthouse and historical homes, and who knows, I may be leading you down that winding "pezodromo" to our favorite hidden ouzerie!