Athens Day 2: Music, Euros & Google Translate

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On our second day in Athens, we felt a little less jet-lagged and a lot more ready to explore. Our goals were simple: get euros, pick up a second SIM card, and visit the Museum of Modern Art.

We started with a walk through our neighborhood—which feels a bit like Brooklyn, but with bougainvillea—and stumbled into brunch. Yesterday’s first meal (mussels in a buttery wine sauce) had set the bar high, and today’s shrimp tacos and sausages didn’t disappoint. Two “small plates” turned out to be more than enough. As promised, the food in Greece is both inexpensive and absolutely delicious. Tipping in Greece is different than in the US. Wait staff are paid well and do not rely on tips, however a tip still shows appreciation. It’s common to leave 5 or 10%, or the change. 

 


Cafés here hum with energy at all hours, though most close around 3pm for an afternoon pause before reopening for dinner. As we walked, we noticed that nearly every place was playing American music—mostly Elvis and the Beatles. It made us wonder: if we ever did move to Greece, would Rob’s skills as a record producer (with 20 years of experience in Americana, folk, and rock) have currency here? Judging by the playlists in the cafés, maybe yes.

We made it to the Museum of Modern Art, where we caught a large exhibition exploring our collective ignorance of the sacredness of other life forms—animals, insects, and everything in between. The show felt oddly timely and resonant.

On our way there and back, about half the people we interacted with spoke English. For the other half, Google Translate came to the rescue. It’s incredibly intuitive: I speak a sentence, tap “English to Greek,” then hit play—and boom, the person hears my words in Greek. Magic.

As the day winds down, we still haven’t secured that second SIM card. Following ChatGPT’s advice, we skipped a shop with poor reviews—apparently their SIMs are overpriced and tricky to activate. We’ll try again tomorrow. And if all else fails, we’ll just pay tourist prices and call it a day. We did however obtain euros. Following Chat GPT’s advice we opted for a cash machine for the best exchange rate and chose the NO direct currency conversion (so that we’d get euros not US dollars). In spite of having US cash, this proved the best path. 

Apple and Google Maps have mostly worked well, though they did insist we’d “arrived” when we were still a block from our Airbnb. Close enough. We figured it out. 


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