Best of Greece and 7 Day Aegean Cruise
Day Sixteen – 26 Sept 2009
Weather: Sun, cloud, rain, humid, hot.
I couldn’t sleep past 6:30, so I got up. I waited till I could get the 9 am shuttle to Syntagma Square then walked to the Acropolis. It was free to get in today and I spent some time wandering around the throngs.
The sun peeked out just enough to light up the Parthenon for me and there were dogs everywhere basking in the sunshine.
I took a load of pictures then strolled down into Plaka for one last shopping spree. When the tour started, someone told us that Ermou was the shopping street to visit. It’s not unless you want what the locals want – clothes or high priced watches and jewelry. The best streets in Plaka are Adrianou and Pandrossou and some side streets in the area. And as I’ve mentioned before, shop around before you buy. I bought a necklace today that ranged in price from 70 Euro to 200 Euro.
I caught the hotel shuttle at 1:30 pm and returned to the hotel (while the shuttle leaves the hotel every hour on the hour, the return shuttle times vary, so ask for a schedule before you leave or from the driver. The shuttle had plenty of room as well). I dropped off my purchases and decided I couldn’t stay in the room all afternoon, so I decided to visit Lycabettus hill again. Kind of a nice set of bookends to the trip as I had visited the hill the day after I arrived.
I stepped outside the hotel into a drenching rain, but said the heck with it and walked up to the hill, walking from the bottom of Ploutarhou Street, directly to the funicular at the top of the street. With the rain and humidity, I was soaked by the time I got to the top of those steps. The funicular leaves every half hour and I arrived just in time.
I paid my 6 Euros and by the time I got up to the top, the rain had stopped.
I wandered around and took some pictures then returned to the funicular to return to the bottom. I stopped into the gift shop and saw the same bracelet that the jewelry shop wanted 80 Euro for. I paid 23 for it.
One word of warning when it rains in Athens. Watch your footing!!! It’s not only the marble that turns into ice, but the sidewalks. Walking down Ploutarhou was an adventure.
When I skated to the bottom, I checked out the Running Man at the intersection just above the hotel then returned to my room.
I checked my emails then went to Simply Burger for supper. I ordered two cheeseburgers for take out thinking I’d just get two little burgers like you get at McDonalds.
Nope. I got enough food for two. And boy, it was good.
Great burgers. I highly recommend it for a quick lunch or dinner.
But just get one.
After I ate, I asked the front desk if they had a luggage scale and they sent a guy up with me with the scale. He measured them for me with both bags coming in just under 22 kg. I should be fine for tomorrow. I also got a message from Moerig who said my transfer was changed to 3:45 am instead of 3:40 and that it would be a mini-van. I have to give her props. She was a very hard working and organized rep. If you do this tour, you’ll likely meet her and she’ll make sure everything goes smoothly.
Some last minute organization in my bags and I got to sleep early cause 3 am comes very fast. I was up and out of my room in 20 minutes and my transfer arrived a few minutes early. With no traffic, it took about 30 minutes to get to the airport. I checked into Swiss Air and my bags were both under 20 kg. The Athens airport has free wireless for 45 minutes. Took me a few minutes to find the Connect to Internet button hidden at the bottom of the opening screen. I must admit that surfing really helps the time fly.
On board, I took a short nap after the muffin and yogurt breakfast then saw that we were flying over the Swiss Alps. I looked at the two people next to me and realized they were sleeping…and my camera was in the overhead compartment. I could have cried. LOL
The mountains were spectacular from 34,000 feet.
My flight arrived a few minutes early and I took advantage to do some shopping between the gates. I learned that it’s best to get to the gate before even stopping to shop. The line through security was a little longer than I expected but I got through, walked into the gate area and lined up behind the last few boarding my flight. This time, no kids sitting behind me. Instead, a 20-something b*&%^ who seemed to take offense to me pushing my seat back.
My flight into Toronto got in early and I passed through customs. I had to collect my luggage and walk by the custom’s officer, give them my card and drop off my luggage on another belt. I walked about a mile to get to the terminal, passed through security where my Swiss chocolate canister caused a search of my bag.
I wandered the gate area, not wanting to sit near my gate as the Patriot’s game was playing in the bar next to it. Three weeks and I managed to not hear the score of any of the three games played since I left. The flight left on time and arrived in St. John’s early.
I took a taxi to my sister’s house since I didn’t want to drive home after such a long day. I gave my kitties a hug and slipped into a coma exactly 24 hours after I had left Athens.
Overall Impressions
Greece is a must for anyone into history. This tour also had its share of natural scenery and gorgeous towns to explore. The food on the land portion was hit or miss but excellent on the cruise. Because some of the towns visited are out of the way, the hotels are a little more rustic. The hotels in Athens were fine and very centrally located. The country was very safe and English was wide spoken.
One note about the Greeks – they love to protest. In the last few years, we’ve seen protests on TV and people seem to think the whole country is affected. In fact, many of the protests are very localized around the Parliament building and our guide told us that they are always kept informed about any protests and can easily avoid them. A few months before I went, the Greeks had a one day general strike. It made the news and over the next few days, over 20,000 hotel bookings were cancelled.
As it’s a nation in financial hard times, such a hit to tourism can’t be good. I highly recommend Greece as a destination and don’t let the sensationalized media attention scare you away. Trafalgar will not run a tour if there is a problem widespread enough to affect the tour (like the Egypt situation). As well, government advisories will state if one should Avoid All Travel.
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