An Unexpected Encounter in Athens 🇬🇷

I had been wandering the streets of Athens, moving my feet - running, feeling, crying - letting the weight of these past several years wash over me. 

I walked up to Syntagma Square innocently. I made the decision to stay to watch the guards whose names and purpose I did not yet know. I stepped over the drawn white line on the pavement to get closer to the guards and to see what they were doing. It was then that you approached me - you kindly asked me to move back behind the white line, and then you smiled. I cracked a joke - as I do in moments of vulnerability, and we began talking. About what, I don’t remember. 

I was wearing no makeup and my workout gear which consisted of multi-colored spandex three quarter length pants - the ones with pink, gray, blue, and white circles. I had on a gray racerback top and my trusty Chicago Cubs sparkly cap. I was not dressed for a meet-cute or rendezvous of any description. I was dressed to sweat, to cry, to run - to run from all of my past, and not collide into any moment of the present, particularly you.  

You weren’t even supposed to be there - your shift had apparently ended, and you were assigned to other duties. But, someone got sick and you stepped in - fate, kismet? I don’t know.

As I talked and asked you questions, you looked at me with those big, inquisitive, chocolate brown eyes . I thought we were just having a conversation - you, a young Evzone, me a woman much your senior out traveling the world. You smiled - that charming, big-lipped, full smile, and you looked at me again and then began asking me the questions. 

You recognized for obvious reasons that I was American. You asked me what I was doing in Athens, you asked me if I was alone. You could see it, you knew I would say, “yes.”

I pulled out my phone to  look at the time. It was a quarter to eight. It was fifteen minutes before the changing of the guards. And, I said to you, “Oh, they change in fifteen minutes, right?” You responded, “Yes, and you should stay to watch it. It is important to Greece and our history.”

You then said, “I’m Giannis, by the way”. I responded, “I’m Amanda. Nice to meet you, Giannis.” You replied, “Pleasure to meet you, Amanda.” The exchange was innocent and sweet - I had no idea what was about to transpire in the next 24 or 48 hours, or the next several days, weeks, and months. Just an exchange with a young, Greek soldier and a tourist who by happenstance, ended up in Syntagma Square.

You walked away from me a couple of times to chat to other tourists and to do your job, but you kept returning to me. Somehow, you sensed our energy - you just knew. 

I asked you the names of the guards at the monument. I could tell one was less experienced than the other and jokingly said, “I think the one on the right should get a raise and maybe the other one should be fired.” You laughed and said, “It’s not like that - it’s not a job, it is our duty and our service.” 

I stayed to watch the ritual, the ceremony, and the guarding of the tomb of the unknown soldier. I stayed to watch the legs kicking high, the clogs scraping across the ground, the stoic facial expressions of the soldiers who take their roles so seriously and feel the pride of representing Greece. The intricate steps, the rhythmic clicks of their shoes, it was a mesmerizing display of tradition. You, with your youthful energy and unwavering confidence, stood in stark contrast to your fellow soldiers performing this ritual.

You tried to explain some of the symbolism, more of which I would find out later. You said you were called Evzones. On that morning, you were the guard - the minder who was protecting the two who were arduously performing their duties. The two who were steadfast in the importance of representing Greece, even with the gaze of foreigners and tourists like me who didn’t understand the deep symbolism of this duty. 

Each time you left to talk to another tourist or spectator, you would turn around to walk back to me - a walk which radiated power and pride. You chatted, you explained, we laughed, you smiled - you wanted to be in my energy.

You exuded such confidence in your green army uniform with your blue beret diagonally placed across your forehead. You were dark, sultry, and when I first saw you, I didn’t recognize how broodingly handsome. 

Your self-assuredness was refreshing and yet foreign at the same time. You exuded confidence most men twice your age (or what I thought to be your age) don’t have.

Perhaps it was the uniform, perhaps it was your youth, perhaps it is just you. 

Your energy was strong, confident, vibrant, positive, and powerful. You were letting me know, allowing me to feel it. There was a ripple, a current between us, but I second-guessed myself as I so often had over the past several years. I had forgotten how to tap into my inner knowing, how to feel another human being, I had forgotten that I might be attractive to the opposite sex, even to men much, much younger than me. 

The ripple, the current - had I imagined it? It was nearing the hour and the other guards who were to take the place of the two on the monument started to walk up the street. It was time to take in the ritual of the changing of the guards. 

With your radio in hand, you walked up to me and said that your shift was about to end, that it was time for you to go. You then said, “How can I find you?” I responded, “What? Me? I am easy to find, you can google my name.” You said, “I don’t have a phone right now, do you have instagram? I will type my name in.” You typed your name into my phone and there you appeared - your name in Greek letters. I said as only an American could, “That’s how you spell your name?” You laughed, “Yes, that’s how I spell my name.” I then looked at the images and said, “This is you?” You looked so different out of your uniform - you looked every bit your youth. 

You asked me what I was doing later. I said I needed to sleep and find something to eat. 

The guards changed, and you said to me, “I need to go now. I want to see you later, Amanda.” You walked away as you shielded the two guards who had just spent an hour serving Greece and honoring their duties. I began to run the streets of Athens again hoping to find a coffee and my way back to my AirBnB - back to sleep, back to rest, back to shut off my mind, not knowing if this rendezvous would occur or if it was another random encounter on my journey of life.

#Greekloveaffair #Greece #Athens #Evzones #TravelSolo #Findingmyselfagain