Athens, Greece

A view of Athens from my hotel room window. I was there from the 14th of Feb to the 18th. Athens, the city itself, is not that beautiful. To me, it reminds me of Tel Aviv, Israel. Mountains are very rocky, not much of mud. There are some beautiful residential buildings, looks very Mediterranean; light color walls with large balcony. I would love to own one like this by the beach!

When I got on the plane on the 14th (Wed), I was saying in my head, "I can't believe I'm on the plane again. I just got off one on Sunday..." I think it is about the time to stop traveling this often.

It seems there is no “non-smoking” rule in Greece, so people smoke in the office. I’m used to the smokers in Europe, but I sometimes miss American non-smoking culture. In New York City, people cannot smoke even at a bar. Although I appreciate the nice non-smoky environment, I think it is a bit too much on smokers. I personally think they should be able to smoke at least at a bar where people drink and have a good time.

In the Netherlands, I think smokers and non-smokers are half and half, or at least the people around me. Smokers can go to the café in the building or to the outside when they want to smoke. So at work, it is not normal to stay in a room where people smoke. This time, I was in a training room, and attendees were smoking at any time! Besides, I was having a cold and was coughing a lot, so it was an extra damage to my throat. However, because I always try to respect the local culture, I said a word about it. My Dutch colleague said that I should have spoken up, but I never did. Instead, I asked them if I could open the (gigantic) window and I had the window open all day long. Though I don’t think they got my silent message… at least I was in a little better environment.