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Travel|Sick of Feeling Like a Tourist? There’s a Tour for That. You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. Sick of Feeling Like a Tourist? There’s a Tour for That. With visitors increasingly interested in the social and political realities of global tourist hot spots, some local guides are adapting their offerings. A typical bus tour in Athens.Credit...Hilary Swift for The New York Times I arrived in Athens for the first time last May with visions of alabaster architecture and picturesque avenues. But when I arrived in Petralona, the central neighborhood where I was staying, I found vacant storefronts, broken sidewalks and crumbling, graffiti-covered buildings. The more I explored, the more I wondered why parts of this ancient city had come to convey urban decay rather than classical charm. A tour of the Acropolis would most likely not provide answers. Searching on Airbnb Experiences for something more relevant, I found the Athens Social and Political Walk. Its tagline: “How did the ‘cradle of democracy’ become the ‘basket case of Europe’?” I signed up. I met the guide, a 35-year-old Spanish-born political scientist named Isaac Caballero Suey, and five other participants near bustling Omonoia Square. Mr. Suey, who had close-cropped hair and glasses, started off by explaining that contemporary Athens has almost nothing in common with the Ancient Greece of Aristotle. These days the city is a petri dish for pretty much every major postmillennial social ill — gentrification, wealth disparity, refugee and immigrant crises, and infrastructure decay. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe. Related Content Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
