Travel Notes on Greece | Smart Greeks

Greeks generally seem to speak English very well. In the past two days, I have interacted with ticket sellers, hotel staff, scenic museum staff, restaurant waiters, small shop owners, and passers-by who responded to our inquiries for directions. English can be spoken as naturally as native speakers. out. Although they turned around and spoke to their own people in Greek, it didn't affect the fact that they turned around and spoke to us quickly in English.

They seem to speak very quickly and in a hurry. They don't even wait for you to respond. They have already said ten sentences. Even if there are some words that should require your response before continuing, but they can't wait, they are the only one. Said vigorously.

I asked a staff member at the museum if the exhibits were taken from the old houses in the ancient city, and then he kept explaining to me for more than twenty minutes. He spoke so fast that I could only make out some of the... I guessed the general meaning and said that these things were from more than 400 years ago from 1200 to 1600, including the Venetian period and the Ottoman period. The Venetians were good at doing business. During that period, they dominated the Mediterranean and were in charge of east-west trade. They transferred goods from China, India, Persia, and Arabia to the hinterland of Europe and sold them at high prices. They also controlled important ports needed for east-west trade. These settlements built city residences, leaving behind Venetian-style towns. But later, the Ottoman Empire became more and more powerful, and the Islamic army swept across the Mediterranean countries and islands, conquering cities and lands, and at the same time brought the Islamic style wherever it went, so it also left a layer of Ottoman imprints in the old city of Heraklion. Some exhibits show this historical change.

He also told me about Marco Polo. He kept saying, and I could only say yes, yes, yes. I would rather exchange my views on Marco Polo. Anyway, later on, he said he was tired, and I was tired of listening, and we each said goodbye with gratitude.

I was aimlessly shopping in a store on August 25th Street and asked the landlady how much those woolen felt shoes cost. The landlady looked sharp and asked us a series of questions like a machine gun being fired, "What size do you wear? Do you speak English? Do you speak English?" 8.9 euros, 8.9 euros! Do you speak English? ..." Oh, we were really speechless by her question. We can't even understand English.

Then I wandered into a store selling olive oil products. The shop owner is a kind-hearted uncle, but when he is enthusiastic, he keeps talking and promoting his olive oil: "The best olive oil! The best olive oil! The best olive oil!" This is probably the same as that. Melatonin-like olive oil.

JF and I were going to go back to the hotel through Liberty Square. A man in front of me let go of his dog's leash. The little white teddy was so excited that he ran so happily that he didn't even care about the elegance of his posture - running sideways. But soon, we discovered that its excitement and joy were not because its owner let go of the rope, but because it saw an acquaintance, a familiar beauty. The beauty knelt down, and the puppy pounced on her, jumping up and down beside her, jumping and kissing her. The beauty was also excited by the affection, and squealed a lot. And the man approached them with a gentle look on his face.

"If a man keeps a pet, it will give him extra points in front of girls. Look at the guy just now, he has an average appearance, but his girlfriend is very beautiful!"

When JF heard what I said, he laughed loudly and said, "Our focus is really different! I just saw the puppy running towards the girl and thought that the boy and the girl were lovers."

When I left the hotel in the morning, I saw a handsome guy sitting by the window and secretly took a photo. A friend said: "Looks like George Clooney."

I asked JF: "When I photographed him, he seemed to realize it and raised his eyes to look at me. Do you think he knew he was handsome?"

JF said: "I think those who are beautiful and handsome generally know that they are beautiful and handsome, but they just pretend to be calm on the surface."

"I found that the Greeks are really smart!" JF sighed.

Along the harbor of Chania's ancient city, we looked at the menus of semi-open-air restaurants one by one, hoping to find something to suit our appetite. But in fact, the dishes at each restaurant are similar: barbecue platter, grilled fish platter, several kinds of pasta, several kinds of pizza, several kinds of burgers, and several kinds of salads. The customer-seeking brothers from each family showed their salesmanship.

The brother of the first family played the family card and said: "These are all dishes made by my mother. My mother's food is delicious! I look forward to you coming to taste my mother's food!"

It's a pity that his restaurant is the first restaurant we checked the menu, otherwise we would have been impressed by the love sign.

The brother from the second family approached him and asked, "How are you? Where are you from..."

The brother from the third family is more charming. It's a pity that the menu VI is so poorly made that it looks like a mess. You still have to look at the food when eating, so I can only say sorry.

The brother of the fourth family, who was tall and lanky, welcomed us with open arms on the street and said to us in Chinese: "Hello——"

We flipped through the menu of the fourth restaurant, going back and forth twice, discussing whether to eat the pizza because the portion was too big! I won’t eat the pasta, it tastes too creamy! What kind of sauce is on this seafood? Will it be boring? The salad picture is pretty good, and the menu is much more presentable than the mushy one just now. I don’t know what to eat, I guess it’s all like this! I really want to eat some soup. Do they have soup?

I immediately asked my tall and thin brother if he had any soup?

"Soup, there is some! There is some!" The tall and thin brother immediately turned to the front page of the menu and enthusiastically introduced us to several kinds of soup, such as chicken soup, vegetable soup, seafood soup and so on. But looking at the pictures above, it’s really hesitant to see a lump of sauce. We flipped through the menu again, and during the discussion, I casually said something to JF: "Otherwise, this is the place..." I felt like I didn't even finish my words. The tall and lanky brother was like a gentleman asking for a dance. He moved in skillfully and gracefully - JF and I were both shocked!

We were sure that he didn't understand what we were saying, and when I said that, my voice was like talking to myself. However, he quickly understood and responded quickly!

"Let me tell you, they are really smart! They can quickly understand from the changes in our expressions. They are very smart! Last night, after dinner, the waiter asked us if we wanted dessert. I asked if it was free, and he suddenly Just say Free..." After sitting down, JF said with emotion.

In the evening we took a bus to the cruise port. When we were at the bus stop, a girl told us that the No. 13 bus was at the last stop. We got in the car and drove out of the town, passing farmhouses, and an area where we could see cruise ships in the harbor. We then drove into a dark wilderness with few passengers on the car. .

We just remember the "last stop" the girl said. But then, the bus turned around on a dark stretch of road and took a detour. We both thought to ourselves that it wasn't the Circle Line bus that was going back. On the big bus that was swaying and running, I staggered to the driver's side. Before I could say anything, he said, "Don't worry! We'll be there in one minute!"

So I stumbled back.

"Let me tell you, they are really smart!" JF sighed again.

Just as we were sighing, the driver shouted from the air: "Where are you from?"

"China..." mixed with the sound of cars running in the night.

The cleverness of the Greeks is also reflected in the hotel beds.

During these two days on Crete, we stayed one night in a five-star hotel in Heraklion and one night in a century-old house in Chania.

When we saw the bed in the five-star hotel room, we were disappointed and angry. They were just two massage beds! How can there be such a small bed in the world! We thought we had come across a fake, self-proclaimed five-star hotel. For this reason, we immediately uploaded pictures and complained to Ctrip’s online customer service.

Who knew, the next day, when we arrived in Chania, as soon as we entered the room, there were two "massage beds" again!

This time, we calmed down and began to reflect, was yesterday's complaint excessive? Should we learn to understand Greek folk customs?

The two "massage beds" can be put together to form a double bed, and can be taken apart to form a standard room. Ah, the Greeks are so clever!

It is said that the "wisdom" controlled by the goddess Athena includes "cunning", and it seems that the Greeks knew this very well.