A National Pastime

            Ahh, an evening spent indulging in the most popular sport in Greece.

Now, I'm not much of an athletic enthusiast, despite years of participation in church league basketball.  I'm not like the guys in our apartment who go to bed at 9 pm and then wake up at 3 am to watch their favorite team play live over the internet.  I attend sports games mainly for the junk food involved.  (Dip n' Dots, anyone?) 

But for this sport, I make an exception.

            What is it?  Football, perhaps?  No.  In my estimation, the most popular sport in Athens is ...shopping.  The streets are lined with clothing stores and furniture stores, book stores and jewelry stores.  Big box stores are rare, so finding a pair of shoes, for example, requires more than a quick trip to Off Broadway.  Boots are hugely popular among Greek women, so there was no shortage of choice, but I spent months scouting out the perfect pair - right color, right height, right price.  I wore out my current pair trying to find a new one! 

            Greek shops don't post their hours, so knowledge of such information is important.  Greek shops traditionally close at 5 pm, but on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, they close at 2:30, reopen at 5:30, and close for the last time at 9 pm.  On Saturdays, they close for the day at 2:30 pm.  Of course - as is always true in Greece - schedules are made to be broken.  The one universal truth is that you will always need something on a Sunday, and nothing is ever open.  However, window shopping is very popular and always an acceptable use of time.

            It's also key to know that there are major sales twice a year - one in August, and one at the beginning of the year.  I bought my boots for half-off.  Score!  The store in which I purchased them was so small that the saleswoman could point out each style that they had in my size - there were about a half dozen pair.  She was very nice to this English-speaking American (despite months of Greek lessons, I can remember only basic phrases), and helpfully offered her opinion when I was torn between a heeled boot in a cream suede and the tan leather pair I decided on.

            Flush with my victory, I left the shop in Neo Psychico and headed to Halandri to obtain sustenance.  Strolling along the brightly-lit streets with my large shopping bag, I basked in the feeling of comraderie brought about by mutual consumerism.   

ΜΠΟΤΕΣ !