The Two Faces of January

1

Take a look at that view.

Spectacular, isn't it?

But it was here

on the acropolis hill

that some believe

Theseus's father king Aegeus

looked out to sea, waiting

for his son to return.

See, Theseus had

promised his father

that if he defeated

the minotaur,

he'd hoist a white sail

on his ship as a tribute.

But he was so excited

to get back home,

he forgot and he flew

the same black sail

that he set out with.

Well, thinking his son was dead,

the heartbroken king flung

himself onto the rocks below.

Another victim of the cruel

tricks gods play on men.

Well, I hope you ladies

brought your handkerchiefs,

'cause the next thing

you're about to see

has been known to make some weep

at first sight. Follow me.

Completed in 438 B.C.,

the Parthenon.

From the Greek word "parthenes,"

meaning "virgins."

"The ancient Greeks

were masters of deception.

Even though the base

of the Parthenon appears

straight to the naked eye,

it is, in fact,

completely crooked.

Indeed, if one were

to leave one's hat

on one side of the temple steps,

it would vanish altogether

when viewed from the other."

- You're making this up.

- Oh, only one way to find out.

- Oh.

- Wanna try it?

- All right.

- Come on.

All right. You go on down there,

- I'll put the hat right here.

- Mm-hmm.

Off you go.

Mmm-mmm-mmm!

I hear that.

- Is this far enough?

- That's perfect.

Oh my God, you're right.

Really?

No.

Aw jeez.

Sucker born every minute.

- Come on, baby.

- I got you.

Oh well.

Gosh, it's so hot.

Yeah. Getting bored

of the Parthenon?

- No no no no.

- Come on, we have to finish the bottle.

I was supposed to meet

my friends an hour ago.

Oh, you just tell 'em you got lost.

I'm a terrible tour guide.

- Let me get this.

- No no no, I got it.

- I got it.

- Thank you.

My pleasure.

Actually, do you have any...

- Small bills?

- Oh, umm...

- Change?

- I think so.

- Shall I take a look?

- Yeah, actually, I'm not sure.

Okay. All right,

so it's four drachmas,

so if I take five and $10,

I'll give you back 200 drachmas.

- Good?

- Okay.

Thank you.

True story.

She's very pretty, isn't she?

Oh no, I was... I was looking

at the guy that she was with.

He reminds me

of my father a little bit.

It says we should go to

the flea market on Sunday.

Apparently it's less crowded.

Don't look now,

but there's a young guy

in a gray shirt

sitting with a girl

in blue and white striped dress.

He was at the Parthenon earlier,

staring at me.

Staring at me now.

Okay.

Now I'm curious.

Oh, I'm sorry,

I don't speak Greek.

- Somebody's in there.

- You're American?

- Yeah.

- Where are you from?

- I'm from Trenton.

- New Jersey?

Yeah.

I thought you were Greek.

What are you doing in Athens?

Uh, I'm a tour guide.

Do you need one?

He's an American tour guide,

he's been here a year

and before that he went to Yale.

- Do you believe him?

- You can ask him yourself.

He's gonna show us around

the flea market Sunday.

"Rydal."

Fancy.

So Colette tells me

you went to Yale.

- Yes sir.

- What did you major in?

- Economics.

- Hmm.

Good training for a tour guide.

Yeah, well, that wasn't

the plan initially.

My father had a job lined up

at a friend's law firm and...

and you ran away

as fast as you could.

Something like that. What do

you do for a living, sir?

Call me Chester.

I look after people's savings,

mostly low-risk investments.

How much?

20 drachmas.

There you go.

- A steal.

- You must be doing pretty well, though,

if you're staying at the grand.

Honey, look at this.

- It's beautiful, isn't it?

- It sure is.

Actually, this is

a Cretan design.

You see how the snakes

come together and never end?

That represents immortality.

People wear it

as a protection charm.

- Oh.

- You like it, hon?

- I love it.

- Well, let's get it then.

How much is it?

2,000 drachmas.

All right, so 1500,

which is about $50.

- 50 bucks?

- Good deal.

Will he take dollars?

Well, you can give me dollars

and I'll give him drachmas.

Okay. Fair enough.

Thank you, honey.

- It looks great on you.

- It's gorgeous.

Say, why don't you

join us for dinner?

- Would you do that?

- Sure, yes, I'd love to.

But I'm... I'm meeting

a friend later.

She can come too.

Honey,

- that's embarrassing.

- No, it got so bad

that we started counting

how many times a day

the Parisians would insult us.

We got up to 15 one night,

- nine in the same restaurant.

- Was it your first time there?

Mmm. Chester helped

liberate Paris.

- Oh, really?

- All by myself.

You fought in the war?

Just the last part.

Whereabouts?

Normandy, the Ardennes,

a few other places.

Wow.

Heck of a joint you picked out.

It's modeled after

the old ottoman cafes.

Huh. Great guide, isn't he?

- Mmm, wonderful.

- Knows everything.

Mm-hmm.

He's an even better writer.

Is that so? Mm-hmm.

What do you write? The

most beautiful poems.

He's gonna be famous one day.

Happy or depressing poems?

- Unpublished poems, mostly.

- I'm sure you'll find...

- Sir.

- ...Plenty of inspiration in Greece.

And your first date

was yesterday?

- The day before.

- Oh, the day before.

That's the sound and light show.

I can get you tickets

if you're interested...

tomorrow night,

best seats in the house.

Thanks,

but unfortunately, we're...

- we're leaving tomorrow.

- Oh, really?

Yeah, I wanted to show

Colette Rome and Venice

before we go back

to the states, so...

How about you?

Any plans to go home soon?

Uh, yeah, at some point,

when I run out of money.

Doesn't sound like

you're in a big hurry.

Oh, thanks. Well, Chester,

I gotta figure out

what I wanna do first.

Sure.

That's the best thing

about being your age.

There's a surprise

around every corner.

Yeah, I guess so.

Did you know

that she was a Van Buren?

- Who's that?

- Your friend Lauren.

- I only just met her.

- Mm-hmm.

Was he the seventh

or the eighth president?

- He was the eighth.

- Yeah.

- No, I'm... I'm... I'm not...

- I know, I know.

Hey, listen,

I've been married twice,

both times to beautiful

women with no money.

I'm gonna say this

because I love Colette

and I'm a little tanked.

But... but they can be a burden.

Yeah, well, I don't think

she's all that interested.

- Oh no? Hey, ladies.

- No, don't.

- What are you two gossiping about?

- None of your business.

- See?

- All right, all right.

- It was so nice to meet you.

- It was so nice to meet you.

- Thank you for dinner.

- Bye.

Thanks for taking

such good care of us.

Good luck with your studies.

My pleasure.

Well, I hope

we meet again sometime.

Me too.

- Enjoy Rome.

- Oh. Well, we'll try.

Thank you very much.

Good night, son.

- Good night.

- Good night.

Goodbye.

- What did you think?

- She's very sweet.

Wouldn't trust him

to mow my lawn.

I thought he was...

- Very interesting.

- Oh yeah?

Well, that's 'cause

he couldn't keep

- his eyes off you all night.

- No.

Does he still

remind you of your father?

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