“The first thing I heard when I set foot in Greece was that you elections on Sunday. The taxi driver even told me that shortly after that he started writing the taxi meter. I asked him other questions about parties herehowever, he did not speak English so well, so I still have some questions,” says Rebeca to “K” shortly before “getting lost” in the colorful narrow streets of Plaka.

Having visited Greece for the first time from Scotland, where she lives permanently, she did not expect that this would be her first dialogue with a Greek. However, the “live” electoral atmosphere in Athens could not go unnoticed by a few tourists who, in the most original ways, learned that we were going to exercise our right to vote on Sunday, confirming also as “outside observers” that the elections had taken place “small talk” in the last days .

At a restaurant in Kolonaki

“We realized that you had an election when suddenly a man in a jacket spoke next to us.”

At a time when the crowd began to gather in Dionysios Aeropagetou, Eric and Asel were looking for an entrance to the archaeological site of the Acropolis. The two New Yorkers visit Athens for the first time, but before they landed on the Holy Rock, they had already attended a campaign speech at the Kolonaki Restaurant.

“We realized that you had an election inside a restaurant in Kolonaki, when suddenly a man in a jacket spoke up. At first we did not understand what he was talking about, since he himself spoke Greek. However, when we asked the store owner he told us that he is a politician and that this is a common thing these days. We don’t know what faction he belongs to, but it was original for us to have something like this happen in a restaurant!” Eric comments as Ashel looks at the background of the publishing house. Someone must have dealt with the Acropolis here.

“The word election haunts me”

At the word “elections” the reaction is different. Peter, for example, smiles awkwardly as he pats his bum. “The truth is that this word haunts me. You see, I’m from the UK, where the political climate has certainly been tense since Boris Johnson stepped down last year. After all, we also had local elections two weeks ago, ”a British tourist who was in Greece for two days tells K.

“The only thing that can be said for sure is that I would not like to know more about your politicians. I just came on vacation and just saw the beautiful Acropolis up close,” he adds in a breathless voice as he walks along Dionysios the Areopagite, enjoying the relaxing sound of the violin with which the busker has attracted the attention of passers-by. To.

“Your economy is on the right track”

A little further on, Emily notices the reflection of the Acropolis in the museum. She learned about the elections from a free press newspaper she bought on the way from Syntagma to the Acropolis.

“I read some time ago that you have elections on Sunday, but in Sweden I often get news about Greece, as I have many friends who come from here. As I understand it, your economy has been on a good track over the past few years. I know this because I have Greek friends, because they came to Sweden during the crisis years,” she notes shortly before walking down the steps to the museum entrance.

The charm of ancient Athens

At the end of Dionisiy Aeropagita Street, from the side of Vasilisi Amalia Avenue, about 20 tourists surrounded Smaragda and are listening attentively in headphones. “Behind, we see Hadrian’s Gate, and even further – the columns of Olympian Zeus, which are the ruins of one of the most important ancient temples in the center of Athens. In fact, in his work Politics, the philosopher Aristotle uses the temple as an example to explain how the tyrannical regimes then forced the population to engage in huge projects, leaving them no time, no strength, no way to respond. His words contrast sharply with today. Yes, next Sunday is Republic Daybecause all Greeks will exercise their right to vote,” he says, trying to give them as much information as possible in the short time of their tour.

Emerald in the last days he informs everyone he accompanies in Athens that the national elections will take place on Sunday about four years later. However, most people, he tells K, prefer to hear about the activities of the great philosophers of the 5th and 4th centuries BC. and other Athenian citizens who participated in the institutions of direct Athenian democracy.

“I only hope the shops are open on Sunday so we don’t have trouble finding a restaurant on our last day here,” Motto from Germany says as he approaches the Acropolis Museum. At the same time, a group of tourists run to the tourist bus, on which they will go around Athens. “No momentum, no momentum,” the Italian cries as we approach her, and quickens her pace.