Greek habits

GREEK HABITS AND PECULIARITIES THAT YOU MUST KNOW IN ORDER TO MAKE A GOOD START.

Greeks, whether consciously or not, are very proud of their origins and their homeland. They belong to the same lands once trodden by great historical individuals of the Antiquity; they have the impression of being continuously walking around an open-air museum that never closes, and they are not easily impressed by other monuments of the Antiquity. At the same time, they love the present times and they easily welcome new trends, which they adapt to their own habits and tastes.

Due to its geographical situation and privileged weather, in Athens you can enjoy beautiful sunny days during the whole year. This is the reason why houses have balconies and new constructions have big terraces. Athenians love being out and sitting outside the coffee shops luxury restaurants, which usually have a sheltered terrace for sunny winter days.

One of the most surprising things about Athens is the number of stray dogs walking around, but don’t get the impression that Greeks don’t love animals. On the contrary, if you look closely you will notice that lots of people often places food for them on the street, give them collars and bring them blankets and cardboard boxes for the coldest nights.

Since there are relatively few native Greek speakers, Greeks tend to learn foreign languages, so don’t be surprised when you see a lot of different adverts for language academies all along the street, in the city centre and in the majority of neighbourhoods, or at the ability Greeks have for language learning. Almost all of them speak English, some better than others, elder people usually speak French and during the last years Spanish has become more and more popular.

Greeks drink a lot of coffee! Their favourite coffees are “frappe” (Nescafe mixed with cold water, sugar and sometimes condensed milk, served with ice cubes in a tall glass: it’s a drink you can have during the whole year), “freddo cappuccino” (also served in a glass, this cappuccino contains sugar and frothy milk, dusted with a little bit of cinnamon) and the most traditional one, the “Greek coffee”, a non-filtered hotpot coffee made with ground beans. Coffees are usually served with a biscuit and a glass of water.

Greek kiosks are called “periptera” and are like ‘mini-markets’ because they sell all kinds of products at any time: from newspapers, magazines, books, bus tickets, tobacco, stamps and postcards to pens, razorblades, sunglasses, sun cream, ice cream, soft drinks, milk, plasters, aspirin, prophylactics and tourism video-tapes about Athens in various languages. Kiosks usually have a telephone installed, that work with a counter or a pre-pay calling card, and that you can use to make local, long-distance or international calls.