Greek Driving

Greeks seem to drive in a massive coordinated dance. My defensive need for order on the road would get me nowhere in this country. Somehow Tassos, the man I would never trust with my car in Chicago is actually a safe and very responsible driver here. I’m starting to realize that safe driving doesn’t depend on your own driving but how you mesh with the other drivers on the road.



You would never see driving like this in a country where the liability laws are as strict (dare I say draconian?) as those in the US. After being over here for less than a month I’ve come to accept the fact that the American legal system keeps Americans doing things in a very American way. A certain amount of organic togetherness that is seen on the road here, where everything moves with a bit of harmony, has been replaced by systems of rules that outline how one should behave if they don’t want to get sued.

American driving is a very isolated experience. In fact, I’ll speculate that it is this isolation that leads to our issues of road rage and driving anxiety. When a driver is forced to drive by following rules (designed to protect them from prosecution) instead of the people around them, any event that forces them to acknowledge another person (intrusion) on the road can lead to mental struggles related to power. Any level of anxiety, embarrassment or rage will follow.

OK, I’ve obviously been drinking too much frappe (a cold instant coffee drink) this morning. This is understandable since we managed to wake up at 6:40 AM. Compare this to yesterday where we all rolled out of bed between noon and 2PM. Out of our group, I think that I got the most sleep last night. Chloe came up the big looser in that department, clocking in at less than 1 hour. No wonder she’s nagging Tassos about the speed he’s driving at. When you’re riding shotgun and sleepy you really feel the true speed of the car instead of the relative speed to other motorists that the driver feels.

In her defense, Chloe would like to add that we are driving down the most dangerous highway in Greece. Legend has it that entire armies have been wiped out along this road.

We’ve been sleeping in and taking it easy here. Athens doesn’t have a ton of super interesting tourist sights after you exhaust the Parthenon and a few of the museums. Those are great sights. However, once I started saying, “Hey, more old rocks!” I decided to get around to doing what I really wanted at this point in the trip: to be as lazy as possible for days on end. The only reason I left the house yesterday was to buy cheap vodka for our current trip. My travel barometer says that when Tassos is doing more work than you, you’ve officially reached the vacation leg of the trip.

The freeway has ended and we’re on a 2 lane road now. When not passing, it’s courteous to drive with half your car on the shoulder of the road, this allows other cars to straddle the center lane marker and pass in the presence of oncoming traffic (at 160 km/hour). My American sensibilities are left to wonder which direction of traffic has the right of way over the center of the road. From what I can see, there’s really no formal rule other than Don’t Hit Nobody.

Like I was saying, this leg of the trip has been dominated by hanging out and relaxing. I’m completely freeloading off of Tassos and Chloe. They live in an apartment on the bottom floor of their parents house. Mrs. Benetatos brings down delicious Greek food every day and there’s a wonderful bakery with fresh spanikopeta (sp?) up the street. I’ve passed my time with Tassos by playing music, reading a bunch (sweet!), kicking around town, and helping his friend move. Honestly, that last activity was one of the most interesting experiences I’ve had here. Not because Athens is so incredibly boring but navigating the insane streets and trying to get around back alleyways by car is so incredibly awesome. Trying to find your way down single lane streets with no sidewalks (crowded with people) while hauling stuff on your roof and trading Greek obscenities is good fun. You should try it sometime.



Anyways, we’re headed to Kehpalonia (pronounced kif-ah-len-ya) for a few days. Joining our happy, get-along-gang family is Tom, Natalie and Vasili (who’s name kinda’ means basil or king in Greek). The Greek coastline is beautiful. It actually has a lot in common with the California coastline (500 meter jagged mountains falling into the sea). I feel like I’m in Greece’s Big Sur (or, with a less ethnocentric spin, I live on America’s Greek coast). I’m sure it’s going to be a good and relaxing time.