Athens taxi experience

Athens is a large, congested city and the native taxis are your foremost technique of getting around. The typical Athens tax journey is cheap, simply deliver your helmet.

Dwelling on the Edge

I had just arrived in Athens with a pair who’ll stay nameless. [He’s now a respectable doctor and married to somebody else.] My buddy, “John”, had a Greek good friend who lived in town named Stavos. We were going to stay with him and explore Athens earlier than heading to the islands.

Stavos had gone to school with us in California and roughly been raised there. After experiencing the finer points of upper training [fraternity parties, etc.], he and his brother had started a snowboard company in Athens. Who might possibly be buying snowboards in Greece? It turned out Stavos and his brother had been promoting them throughout Europe, not in Greece.

Anyway, Stavos collected us in a friend’s automotive and took us to his small studio. We decided to catch some winks after which head out for a night on the town. Thus, we would experience an Athens taxi ride for the primary time.

Taxi driving is a competitive sport. I’m satisfied there is a World Cup of taxi driving and drivers follow on the streets of their location. San Francisco and New York taxi drivers are an elite group, whereas taking a taxi in France is a good strategy to see the Eiffel Tower while going the unsuitable method down a one-means street. In Athens, it was all about speed.

Being an fool, I yelled out “shotgun” because the taxi pulled to the curb. I ought to’ve guessed my triumph wasn’t an excellent thing when Stavos just smiled. In we went and Stavos gave the driving force our destination. For the following fifteen minutes, I feared for life itself. Mine and others.

Our driver was apparently satisfied he would get a bonus if he beat a sure time. We peeled out at the curb and the race was on. Through the tight, winding streets of Athens we went. As is the nature of chaotic Athens, the roads are filled with vehicles, buses, individuals and very brave cyclist. Contemplating this an obstacle course, a driver whipped via the throngs at over eighty miles per hour. More often than not was spent within the SLOW lane, the place much less cars were. I still have nightmares concerning the faces of cyclist looking at me as we passed them with perhaps 5 inches to spare. Frozen footage of terror. Throw in vehicles beginning to pull out in the highway and you have the white knuckle occasion of the year.

Once we lastly pulled as much as the club, I began respiration again. As I pulled my hand off the handle on the door, I left impressions. Standing exterior of the cab, Stavos asked me if I wanted to sit down within the entrance on the best way house and started laughing.

It took two drinks to calm my nerves. Come hell or excessive water, I was walking home.

Tags: Athens taxis, Athens transport

Category: Athens travel information, Travel in Athens