"My Big Fat Greek Rip Off"

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Greece has come a long way since Nana Miskouri, however it seemed no less disappointing to me. I'm also aware it's been a couple of months since I travelled there. I've had time to reflect and so I've moderated my thoughts.

Overpriced, overvalued, rude arrogant shopkeepers and business people alike. Shady characters assemble at prime vantage points, prowling upon the unwary. Of course this is a generalisation and since then I've come to realise that much of Europe is "overpriced", or lets just say expensive to avoid any controversy. In hindsight, I did meet a couple of helpful and friendly Greeks, the rest of them can go to hades.

I briefly spent time on Samos enroute to Mykonos before stopping at Paros for a couple of days. There seemed little to hold my interest for long so I continued on to the mainland diverting my planned route down through the Peloponese because of the wildfires. Opting instead to cut my visit short and with a quick stop at the ancient city of Corinth before leaving by ferry to Italy.

During my time I was to learn that the Greeks base conversation around argument. It is a rudimentary principle of conversation to provide any answer (even to the most simple of questions) with a defensive rebuke. Like "of course! why do you ask such a stupid question?" Often then, a chorus of bystanders will enter the debate and argue amongst themselves until a unanimous accord has been met, at which point I've probably moved on already although this doesn't seem to concern them, self satisfied that they are indeed right.

So I left Greece, mildly disappointed but fittingly upon a 16 hour ferry trip aboard "Superfast Ferries". I only had a deck pass so was forced to make my bed on a plastic bench on the upper deck and eventually drifted off under the night sky amid the drone of the big deisel engines. 36 hours later I found myself in Rome.

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