Smoke This Athens

This country smells like a giant ashtray.  It's amazing how much Greek people actually smoke.  My family had always told me that Greeks like their smoke, but I don't think I really understood until I got off of the airplane and walked into the middle-of-the-Athens-airport-smoking area.  As we were waiting on the bus for the rest of the group to land and find us, I had three cigarettes with our bus driver Yiannis.  It was at this point that it truly hit me that I was really going to like it here.

Yiannis asked me one time why I smoked--Roula answered--Because she's Greek.

Greece is a smokers paradise.  You can smoke virtually anywhere.  There are ashtrays next to the toilet.  Every restaurant has an ashtray at each table.  You could even smoke in some of the shops in the Plaka while trying on clothes!  The only place they don't let you smoke is on the monuments or in the boat that went to Crete--however it didn't stop the lady in the room next to ours from smoking in her room with the door open on one of the bottom floors of the ship...

In a country where everyone smokes, how can smoking law (and yes smoking is technically banned in public buildings in Greece) be enforced?