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Athens - Dinner and Meeting Details


andybarton

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And on behalf of everyone, I have not turned down Olaf's generous offer :).  The extra calories in the alcohol may be the difference between me returning home emaciated or "healthy" :D:D:D 

He will be sponsoring 5 bottles of the nicer wines and some soft drinks too

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We have just spent the later part of the afternoon poring over a map of the city and “Top 10 things to see in Athens” books. Too much to see and do in one weekend (or lifetime, probably)

@erl always says that preparation is the key 😊

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Some advice from my one visit there. 

Temperatures are mild in October (I remember 16 to 25C) so keep a jumper or jacket for evenings

Bring mosquito repellent and if in an apartment, bring a mosquito deterrent or killer (there were several tiger mosquitoes in my place last year which left welts on me after just one feeding). 

Food outside of hotels is relatively cheap and good. I ate breakfast out for just €5-8 including loads of coffee and pancakes and yoghurt. There are cafes every 20m

Food is generally good, but as I realised - food in other parts of Greece is much better (Crete and Thessalonika). 

Take back olives (larger the better) and nuts and herbs. the honey is also good. 

Bring an umbrella as when it rains, it rains HEAVILY. 

Wide angles are best for the historic sites so you can get them in when standing close (and cutting out all the bloody tourists). 

Expect many Americans there as the € and £ are so weak I expect them to come here. 

It is a hilly city so practice your walking. When wet, where there are cobblestones, these are slippy but tarmac is OK. 

Oh yes, one last thing I learnt on my last night, after drinking all week and wondering why I felt funny and slept like a baby ... Ouzo is as strong as whisky  :D:D :D 

 

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14 hours ago, Sandokan said:

Expect many Americans there as the € and £ are so weak I expect them to come here. 

I'm curious why this was mentioned in an advice post.  Are they dangerous?  Is there any cause to worry about them being there in large numbers?

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8 hours ago, richam said:

I'm curious why this was mentioned in an advice post.  Are they dangerous?  Is there any cause to worry about them being there in large numbers?

Not at all Richard. It is a tongue in cheek comment and I apologise if you perceived it to be sarcastic. I simply meant that (like my cousins who visited me over summer), they may be taking advantage of the strong dollar and weak Euro. As you will know living in Greece, the country is always flooded with tourists and even a few extra will cause longer queues than normal at the sites and make waiting times in restaurants longer with the staff and cooks being even more busy. 

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9 hours ago, Sandokan said:

Not at all Richard. It is a tongue in cheek comment and I apologise if you perceived it to be sarcastic. I simply meant that (like my cousins who visited me over summer), they may be taking advantage of the strong dollar and weak Euro. As you will know living in Greece, the country is always flooded with tourists and even a few extra will cause longer queues than normal at the sites and make waiting times in restaurants longer with the staff and cooks being even more busy. 

Ravi, I understood your tongue in cheek post and got a chuckle out of it.  My reply was also meant to be tongue in cheek, so I hope you got a chuckle in reply.  So I apologize if you perceived it otherwise.   (egad, does the z give me away?)

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Just a week to go and I am already uhmming and ahhing over what to bring. For sure I will bring the Hassy as I am sure people would love to play with it and some R lenses. But will I be lazy and bring the SL and some native lenses (75 Summicron, sigma 20 or 40) or will it be the M10s with 21, 50 Nokton, 85/3.5 Nikon? 

First world elitist problem but still an important decision for if I will enjoy myself. 

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Arrive with a batch of lenses. Choose each day which you will use at any given situation or opportunity, leaving the rest in your digs each day (or half day).

There is no way you can effectively/happily cover 3 or 4 days/nights with just one lens. One size does NOT fit all situations.

Shoot on the basis that you may never be there again!

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One of the greatest pleasures left in my life is reviewing a lifetime of my images. If they had all been shot on one focal length, I would be bored to death very quickly. A key factor in holding an audiences interest is to vary both both shooting position and aspect (focal length). And of course, a great subject. 🤩

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37 minutes ago, erl said:

Arrive with a batch of lenses. Choose each day which you will use at any given situation or opportunity, leaving the rest in your digs each day (or half day).

There is no way you can effectively/happily cover 3 or 4 days/nights with just one lens. One size does NOT fit all situations.

Shoot on the basis that you may never be there again!

One of our best trips to Venice was with my M2 and Steve Unsworth’s 35 ASPH. Apart from the fact I had to go out and buy one when I got home 😊

Plenty of people use a Q2 camera with just one focal length quite happily. 

But you’re right. I might bring all three but decide on the day which one to use. 

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Just a week to go and I am already uhmming and ahhing over what to bring. For sure I will bring the Hassy as I am sure people would love to play with it and some R lenses. But will I be lazy and bring the SL and some native lenses (75 Summicron, sigma 20 or 40) or will it be the M10s with 21, 50 Nokton, 85/3.5 Nikon? 

First world elitist problem but still an important decision for if I will enjoy myself. 

As for pretty camera bags - she's staying home as another weekend with me is too much. 

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