Most foreigners are irrate by the seemingly “messy” business hours and shop opening times from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekends. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays retail stores reopen again from 5 p.m. This causes some confusion to the uninitiated but, quite simply, everything shuts down for the midday siesta from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

These three hours of complete and utter silence mean that it is bad manners to make noise during these hours. Forget calling up someone’s house, especially after 3 p.m. There’s even a law against noise at this time though construction workers are sometimes excused.

Touristy regions do not enforce siesta times, and the custom is slowly dying down in the private sector, however the Greek siesta makes perfect sense when considering the unbearable heat in the summer period and the Greek tendency to stay up late at night.