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So until recently, my cousin owned a car, but he got married, had kids, got a newer, more efficient car (a Honda hybrid, I think), and decided to combine helping out his cousin who'd moved to Athens from New York with relieving his family of the tax burden that no doubt comes of owning extra cars, by signing the car over to me.
The upshot: I'm now the owner of a rather elderly Alfa Romeo 33, which belonged to my uncle, then my cousin.
In the abstract, this was a very nice thing that my cousin did for me - an extra degree of freedom, independence from mass transit in case of strikes, the ability to go out and about without concerning myself with bus route questions and the like.
In the abstract, I said.
More concretely, there are several problems:
- Gasoline is over €1.60 a liter, which means it's topping $9 a gallon.
- My place is in central Athens, smack in the middle of the automobile-restriction zone, which means that every other day, the car can't be used in any case.
- I've got no place to park the damn thing.
Gift horse, I know. But when you're on your own in a strange land, you've got to be practical sometimes.
The upshot: I'm now the owner of a rather elderly Alfa Romeo 33, which belonged to my uncle, then my cousin.
In the abstract, this was a very nice thing that my cousin did for me - an extra degree of freedom, independence from mass transit in case of strikes, the ability to go out and about without concerning myself with bus route questions and the like.
In the abstract, I said.
More concretely, there are several problems:
- Gasoline is over €1.60 a liter, which means it's topping $9 a gallon.
- My place is in central Athens, smack in the middle of the automobile-restriction zone, which means that every other day, the car can't be used in any case.
- I've got no place to park the damn thing.
Gift horse, I know. But when you're on your own in a strange land, you've got to be practical sometimes.
