Athens (in the background)
Temple of Zeus which we didnt get to see cos it closes at 3pm!!!
the unfortunate ferry/ catamaran
breakfast!!!!! hotel style :P
plaka. in the shadow of the Acropolis
This is the 3rd country I travelled to this short holiday with my family...... Cia and I took a 5 day break in "sunny" Athens without my parents who had rushed home to work and be with my youngest sister :P
Sunny cos it wasn't all too sunny. It rained cats and dogs the first 2 days I was there, spoiling my plans to go to Santorini.......
So I landed at the airport in Athens a little late cos of flight delays...(I miss SIA efficiency). Not that I expected a lot after the terrible food (joking in that the food was terrible but it shouldnt affect delays right?) Yes, the food was so bad I only ate the muffin, I left the coarse bread and I don't know what main course alone. Thankfully the flight back had better food..... so lets not slam Olympic Airlines.
Anyway, day 1, it was late so we dropped our stuff, said hi to Iannis' family. whom we stayed with the whole trip. Oh yes, Iannis is my Greek friend who stays in the same hall as me.. hes a student from my school too. It was 4pm and he was hungry cos he had waited for us to eat lunch..which was rice with sweet corn in it (it was yummie) and pork with green and red bell peppers....His mum was so sweet....the room that we stayed in reminded me of a hotel room! There were little soft toys around, chocolates and mints, bath soap etc etc.... (I run through this part quickly because I am lazy and this is not the crux of the story)
At night, we go to a fish tavern near the ocean (don't ask me which) with his parents and his god parents..we get fed lots of fish and other greek foods and greek alcohol...no we were not drunk..lots of food very little alcohol..its called Ouzzo... we try to talk...we're the center of attention and his godmum keeps thinking we are from China. haha. shes sweet.....his godfather cheers us on to drink..i think its part of the culture :)
Anyway, day 2 we were suppose to go to Santorini, a beautiful greek Island...and our ferry ride was 730am in the morning...So Iannis called the Port Authorities at 5am to make sure the ferry was still running..since we had heard the weather would be bad..and they said "yes, it would be" And off we went...reaching the port Piraeus at 7am..only to be told that the ferry was grounded due to bad weather. Now, by this time, Iannis had already dropped us off and was on his way home..I had to call him to pick us up. SORRY!! :(
We were all tired..so we reached back, had a hearty breakfast (I felt like I was in a hotel) and then took a nap till 3pm. Yes, we napped for 5 hours. Cia slept for 6.
Deciding to make the most of our waning day, we took the train to the Mall to shop. Why? Cos it was indoors.. the only place to go because there was a huge storm in Athens with strong winds and rain..it was cold and wet. Miserable. Of course, making some purchases in the Mall made it all better...till....we were confused by the Suburban railway in Athens.
We took the train from the right platform only to find that the train made a u turn and went back the other way. i dunno how that happened...we panicked...got out the stop after....only to find out from the station master that that was our last train. Ok...... panicking further, I called Iannis..telling him the situation....He told us to catch a cab to the airport and he would pick us up from there. Airport you say? Well, he lives near there and apparetly few cabbies are willing to drive to his suburban town because its hard to pick up passengers from there. FYI, Iannis stays in a beautiful house on a hill in a small town.. Athenian suburbs!
In the cold and wet and rainy night, we stood by the road side in some unknown part of Athenian suburbs, trying to hail a cab. Ok, one cab came, stopped, said he didnt want to go to the airport.
We climbed out,.shivering. Our umbrella flipped. Over and over again. brrrr -wait- wait-
ok another cab!!!! FLAG
Its an old man....Only the young people in Greece speak English decently well according to Iannis.. Older pple usually don't have a strong command of the language
"Airport?"
"Aeroromeo?"
"huh? airport!"
"aeroromeo?"
"aeroromeo...yes aeroromeo! Efereisto (thank you)!"
note that this is BAD GREEK spelling....very bad!!! Only for pronounciation purposes
Iannis calls... "Let my mother speak to him, she will tell him to take you to our place"
ok.......phone to cabbie..cabbie is blaring his music and does not turn it down..i think they dun hear each other...cabbie gives me back phone. Iannis calls again...its the mum. I pass the phone to cabbie..who shouts a little and still does not turn the music down....
"Marco polo!" and he passes me the HP back...ermz...Marcopolo??? Is that the name of the airport?
So hes not going to take us to the town but to the airport?
The road gets small..no more highway...oh! its the town center..hoorah! I see Iannis....salvation..haha...its 11 euros on the meter...i give him 20 (crap) and he gives me back 3 euros..ok..extra charge for the toll and ermz...taking me to a ulu place..I don't mind....anything to be safe....
And thats just say 2.
Day 3. Its sunny out! woohoo! We go down to Plaka, Parthenon, acropolis, see the temple of Athena etc..all the good touristy stuff. Sit at a cafe and watch the crown go by and the "smoke get into our clothes" or so cia would say...
And then my phone goes into low batt mode Great. And I can't charge it cos my 3 pin plug wont fit into the 2 pin socket.. I texted Iannis and told him 930pm at the MacDonalds at Syntagma Square, he replies 10pm. okie. settled. Its only 8pm..we have a late dinner..Souvlaki or BBQ skewers of meat at this cafe place... Licia does her best to eat REAALLL SLOOOWWWWWW
940pm we get up and head to the Macs...
Iannis picks us up and we go to the Greek version of London's SOHO...Bars on a street, with people sitting by the street dirnking...Its like a night cafe turned into a bar..or singapore's kopitiam but with alcohol and shisha and cool pple...chilling out..not some late night snack... We meet his friends..we try to talk....its slow but its moving...
Day 4. Its 1pm when we get up. Ahhhhh!!!!!! We go down to Monastraki Square and walk around..shopping for a mask to bring back home. My family collects masks...its kinda late so we just see the square..and I'm awfully tired...so we go back around 9pm...have dinner
Uneventful? At 12midnight we head out to meet his friend and the 4 of us go to a place in a nearby area that hasd Greek Traditional music and eat again. Dinner part II. Part III for Cia...haha.
Day 5. we wake up at 1pm. Pack......wait for Iannis to wake up....Give the gifts we had bought for them..necklace for mum, rug n bracelet for Iannis...this is on top of the Bak Kwa we gave..but with their warm Greek hospitality..Bak Kwa was pathetic...Go to his friend's name day and rush to the airport....Flight gets delayed by 30 mins..plane food was better..reached London..amazingly got our luggage immediately..had supper in Chinatown...2am..slept
Day 6. Take cia to airport. :(
Wonder if shes reached KL yet for the stopover?
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