Greek Beaches, Secondhand Smoke, and Too Many Damned Butts

If you’re planning a jaunt to the Athenian Riviera, pack some sunscreen, patience, and maybe a gas mask.

The Greek summer vibe is officially on. The secondhand smoke? Also, unfortunately, on.

With Athens roasting under a June sun, the beach sounds like a good idea. The other day I drove my Kosmos Rental Car to a beach near Sounio for a beach break and I figured that during the week it wouldn’t be too crowded.

I was right about that. And the beaches south of Athens, while not fantastic, are also frankly not that bad. But, oh my, what’s that smell? I traded Athens smog and pollution for…cigarette smoke? Yikes with a capital Y.

Must it be so? If you dare to light up on a California beach, you’re very likely going to be hit with a fine. Starting at $100. Up to $500 for repeat violations.🚭

Secondhand smoke is not only obnoxious and a nuisance, it’s been proven over and over again to be a health risk. Not a small one. Greece and, let’s face it, the rest of Europe seemingly didn’t get that memo.

Then there are the cigarette butts everywhere you look. How lovely to have to wipe the “rear ends” of peoples’ nasty cig butts from your already hot and sand-covered feet. Except that it’s not lovely at all. It’s positively gross.

Over in Brussels, where they’re supposed to regulate this kind of thing, they’re too busy pouring public money into Ukraine’s war chest and getting bullied into buying our 🇺🇸 LNG by DC’s current round of henchmen to allocate resources to preserving the purity of the Continent’s beaches.

They don’t even pay that lip service — too many cigarettes dangling from their mouths, perhaps?💋

What does this mean for you, the traveler who probably paid thousands of dollars to be able to come to Greece and “enjoy” a Greek beach? Be prepared, very prepared, once you’ve found a nice spot on the sand, to have to get up and move, move away to another spot at a moment’s notice when Joe & Josephine Smokerdorf from Düsseldorf or wherever decide to sit nearby and light up. (So sexy!🙄) Because they will and sadly, even outdoors, that smoke will drift to your nostrils and cause damage.

For a second time in this post, it’s called secondhand smoke. We know what that is in otherwise ass-backward America. Athens, Brussels? Look it up.