In keeping with tradition my traveling partner and I have unwittingly booked our annual international travel during a huge holiday for the country/town we are visiting. Past experiences include the cultural immersion experience of almost being hit by a massive fireworks display being shot from the cathedral into the main square in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. After the smoke cleared, we thoroughly enjoyed the week long celebration of St. Michael's Day in Mexico with daily parades and fireworks. The previous year we found ourselves swept up by the onlookers and participants of the enormous gay pride parade in Madrid with fantastic colors and good karma. So we are pretty adventurous for a couple of retired school teachers.
We now find that we are booked in a hotel near the Plaka/Syntagma area of Greece on May 1st. 2018. We understand that this is Labor Day and historically a day of sometimes peaceful protests and sometimes riots. We are scheduled on a flight leaving Athens on May 2 around noon. We are hoping for nothing more exciting than fireworks and wonder if there are areas of Athens to avoid. Will all businesses and museums and historic sites be closed? We expect transportation interruptions and wonder if we should wander very far from the hotel. Any suggestions as to what to do that day? Would love to hear from anyone who was in Athens on May 1st last year. Also, does anyone have any ideas as to whether this will impact transportation to the airport on the morning of May 2 and/or if you could suggest alternate transportation ideas that perhaps we could arrange in advance? We always register with the state department prior to traveling. Thanks so much for your responses. These forums are the best.