5/31/16,
“The Return Journey”
Athens
International Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos”, Greece (ATH)
My time in
Greece has come to an end, and it’s been a great trip. Not just a great trip, but, like, a really,
really great trip. The trip we took in
2004 consistently ranks in my top five or top ten trips of all, and this one
will be high on the list, too. It was
just one of those trips where everything went right, and I enjoyed practically
every minute of it.
Whether it was
visiting the two Olympic Stadiums and the site of the Colossus of Rhodes, the
main purposes of this trip, sipping on my ouzo with my cigar after dinner, or
just relaxing in the hotel, I loved every part of the trip. Now, it is time to go home. Tomorrow I will be back at the office, and,
Saturday morning, I will be going to Philadelphia, and, the following weekend,
I will be departing for London. The
Summer of Travel is well underway, and it’s going to be epic.
Greece is much like the Caribbean islands,
and, as I noted the first time I travelled to the Caribbean (excluding Puerto
Rico), the distinction between outdoors and indoors is blurred. In hot-weather countries, this distinction is
almost always blurred. The Middle East
is littered with outdoor cafes, as are Africa and the North American
tropics. The Mediterranean is no
different. These outdoor cafes
contribute to the smoking culture that is often so evident.
Contrast this to a country such as Canada or
England, which is almost entirely an indoors city. Canada even has networks of weather-protected
indoor passageways in some major cities.
It is the exact opposite of what it is here. An interesting aspect of that is that taxis
are considered an extension of this indoor/outdoor dichotomy. In outdoor countries, the taxi (or the car in
general) is considered an outdoor space.
For indoor countries, the taxi is considered an indoor space. That means, in a hot-weather country, there
is usually no question about being able to smoke in a taxi. That is usually not true in a cold-weather
country.
If I wanted to discuss
economics, there is a lot to go there, too.
Unless they have oil reserves, hot countries are poor, and cold
countries are wealthy. Britain, Norway,
Sweden, Canada, the United States are among the wealthiest large countries in
the world. Most countries in hot
climates are very poor, which is ironic, since so many natural resources are so
prominent in this zone. What natural
resources does Sweden have? Certainly
very little compared to Cuba or Greece.
I would have to assume that hot weather leads to decreased
productivity.
I do not do well in the
heat myself, and I try to avoid hot weather climates in the summer, preferring,
instead, my travels to take me north, as I explained in my Day 0 entry. The rest of the summer will continue to take
me north, other than Brazil, which is actually its winter, until I return to
this region to visit Rome for my birthday.
However, when we look at the past, all the great civilizations from
Mesopotamia to Egypt to Babylon to Persia to Greece to Rome were this region
(even the early Asian cultures are in an extremely fertile region), and I
suppose that had to do with early man having better survival ability in warm climate,
where food was constantly available, than in colder climates where they would
need to learn to store food. As we
evolved and learned new techniques, we moved away from this region. We spread throughout Asia, to northern
Europe, to the Americas, to Australia.
It is ironic, then, that the most developed countries are the ones where
man least recently settled. Why is
that? It is not enough to use the hot
cold distinction, since the politics of Eastern Europe surely contributed more
to its economic woes than did its proximity to Mesopotamia, likewise for many
African nations and parts of the Caribbean (and Latin America). Would it be a valid theory to say that hot
climates lead to political unrest?
Perhaps. I cannot fully answer
these questions, but I will continue to reflect I continue my return
journey.
After I closed last night, I
was soon asleep, and I woke up almost as late as possible, having no desire for
breakfast. I lit up a Romeo y Julieta
and started packing. I then headed down
to get a taxi, finishing the cigar en route to the airport. Check-in, emigration, and security were all a
breeze, and I went straight to the duty-free shop. I found the cigars, and I was shocked how
cheap they were (even after converting from Euros to dollars). A sales clerk walked in and started
speaking. It was all Greek to me. Literally.
She then tried English, apologizing, saying that I looked Greek. I try, so I took that as a compliment. I picked out some cigars, sticking to my
budget and getting far more value for it than I expected. I also got a bottle of ouzo and a bottle of
wine within that budget. I then went to
the smoking lounge, where I sat down, lit up a Partagas from my new box, and
proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close so that I can finish my
cigar and maybe get a quick snack and/or coffee before we board.
Aboard UA
125, En route ATH-EWR
We will soon be landing, and, when we do, after I pass through border control, I will take a bus back to Grand Central, signifying the end of this trip. With three overnight stays, this has been my longest trip in over four months, when I met Roberto in Cancun so that we could explore the Yucatan together. On Friday, he will be visiting me, and I will be hosting him for a week, until I leave for London. As I have said numerous times so far this trip, the Summer of Travel is well underway.
I could write a little more about Greek
culture, but, for me, the true draw of Greece was always the ancient culture,
which, by extension, includes the two Olympic Stadiums of the modern era. I just realized that, if protocol didn’t
dictate strict naming conventions for these four days (two Olympic Stadiums,
completing another of my 17 Goals, and the return journey), I could have had
some fun naming each day after a song from Hercules. I loved that movie, just as I always loved
all representation of Ancient Greece, just as I love Greek philosophy and
history in general. Yeah, I guess I
don’t really have anything more to add that I didn’t write at the airport.
After I closed, I picked up a coffee and a
sparkling water. We soon boarded, and I
had the whole three-seater to myself, but the other aisle was soon taken by
someone else who switched seats. It
meant I couldn’t lay down, but I still had plenty of room. For my in-flight entertainment, I opted for
the J. J. Abrams movie, Cloverfield. It
was okay, but I liked the more polished “10 Cloverfield Lane”, the “spiritual
sequel,” much better.
The credits were
rolling when they brought lunch, chicken with mushrooms and spinach, which was
surprisingly good, or maybe I was just really hungry. I then took a nap, waking up past noon New
York time. I then connected to the Wi-Fi
and got caught on the news, social media, and my work emails. After that, they brought turkey and cheese
sandwiches, which were, also, surprisingly good. I then proceeded to write this entry, which I
will now close, as we will soon be landing.
En route,
Newark Airport Express 70920
And so it
ends. Within an hour, I will be back at
the cigar shop, regaling my friends with tales of my adventure. A few hours after that, I will be asleep,
and, then, tomorrow morning, back to work.
It seems this adventure has come to an end almost as soon as it began,
but the next adventure awaits. After I
closed on the airplane, I got myself situated for landing, and I was soon at
the Global Entry kiosk, which, actually, had a bit of a line. I’m pretty sure the last time I had to clear
border control at Newark was a year ago when I went to the Stockholm and
Helsinki. I enjoyed the symmetry of
that. Once I used the kiosk, I headed
past baggage claim and to Customs, where I showed my print-out and was waved
right through. That was that. I got my ticket for the express bus back to
Manhattan, and I waited for it outside.
It soon came, and I was on my way.
I sat in the back, where, once we on the highway, I proceeded to write
this entry, which I will now close, along with closing out this trip. Next stop: Philadelphia with Roberto.
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