And that was long before steroids came along

At first, it looked as if our cab driver, who chain-smoked and responded to my first attempts at conversation with little more than grunts, didn’t speak English. Then he began a long tour-guide monologue that at least resembled something you might hear the talking heads speak on Fox News or CNN.

He even teaches me my first word in Greek: “Ef-har-ees-TOH” (which is what it sounds like and is what he tells me means “thank you”).

As we make the hour-hour drive into the city center, where we managed to book a hotel across from the National Gardens , I get my first glimpse of Greek culture - a giant billboard ad for Samsung cell phones that features a smiling blond supermodel type holding a phone, under which the tagline runs, “Tap Into a Whole New World of Entertainment.”

It’s only then that I see the familiar five-ring symbold for the 2004 Athens Olympics . Ah, the joys of globalization.

The cabbie gives us advice about the weather (“They say rain, maybe begin Monday”), about driving (“If rain, drive slow, no problem”), about how to pronounce Greek ( “Ther-mah-PEE-luss” ) and he points out Athens Stadium (where the modern Olympics began in 1896).

“The U.S. win many medals in that Games ,” he says.

Below : The view from hotel in Athens took in both the parliament building and the National Gardens.