In all candor, I would probably be a lot less dismissive of the "benefits" of urban life if I lived somewhere as historic as Athens. Do you know who else I would envy, if I envied anyone? Oleg in St. Petersburg. He has the Hermitage. You have the Parthenon. I've got Dealey Plaza and the Book Depository. Maybe the grass really is greenest over the cesspool. In the end, I guess I'd still prefer an undimmed view of the Milky Way and a quiet lab in which to work.