London to Athens – fishing in the Plaka and the one’s that got away!
Thursday – up early and Kylie has arranged for another ‘private’ car to pick us up and take us to the airport. Check tickets, passports, camera, film etc. etc – the usual airport tango and we head off to Heathrow for our flight to Athens. We are flying Olympic Airways – Flight OA 0260 departing Heathrow 12:30pm.
The ground staff at check-in don’t seem to be people persons. Everything seems to be too much trouble but nevertheless we try to smile and think of the good times to come. It always amazes me why people who don’t like people take jobs knowing they have to deal with people.
I just love international airports. Come to think of it – I love any type of airport. The buzz I get from all the people and planes is the best feeling. We proceed through customs and head off to the duty free. A small spending spree occurs and I get some more Amaretto. (Medicinal purpose alcohol of course!) We go to the lounge and wait for our call. Lots of people – – time to board. The plane is OK – nothing fancy – taxi down the runway – faster, faster and we are off. Athens and Egypt here we come!!!!
Flying into Athens, it doesn’t look very promising and when we land the airport is not a very attractive airport.
It is right in the middle of lots of hills – which made for an interesting approach and landing.
We grab a trolley, retrieve our luggage and make our way to customs and get our passports stamped, they have let us into the country – – so we make a quick exit before they change their minds.
This place is hosting the 2004 Olympics and from the look of it – they will never be ready. But I am excited nevertheless.
We head off to the taxi stand and the outside of the airport is just as non-descript as the inside. Get in line and while waiting I can’t help it – I take photos. Kylie cringes telling me not to act like a tourist. Good grief Kylie, I am a tourist and anyway these people will not see me again, although back home Melbourne has the largest Greek population outside of Greece – so you never know!
We manage to get a cab with another lady who is going in our direction (we think). Apparently it is a set fee for the cab – – we go past the sea (Saronic Gulf) – it looks wonderfully blue and so calm, I would like a swim but maybe later. We arrive at our hotel – the Olympic Palace. The address is Filellinon Street 16. Right in the centre of Athens in the Plaka.
I update these writings every now and again and as of Feb 2013 this hotel has been renovated and renamed The New Hotel.
HISTORY LESSON : This is Athens oldest and, thanks to restoration efforts which went into its buildings in recent years, most picturesque area. As you walk around the stone-paved narrow streets it is like travelling back in time. Even the air is different, lighter, clearer and scented – just like a gift from the gods. It is a labyrinth of streets and it is easy to get lost in the maze. But there is no need for alarm – uphill is the Acropolis and downhill are Syntagma and Monastiraki.
We check in about 6pm, unpack and catch our breath. We are here for two days and nights. There is just so much to see – –
For dinner Kylie suggests some proper fish and seafood as all they have in England is Cod. Thinking that is not a bad idea, we go downstairs to talk to the staff and they recommend a place called ‘Milton’s Seafood’. Doesn’t sound very Greek to me – but it is not very far and we head off. Possibly the hotel gets a cut from everyone they send down there.
The waitress comes out with a list of the food available and everything is in Drachma. We ask about a seafood platter and she replies that they do have one but it is not on the menu and we think OK that sounds like a good idea. How much can a seafood platter cost – we think not much – maybe around $70.00 OZ for the two of us and our mouths are watering.
We sit there for a while and then decide we better ask how much we are up for before eating and then having to wash the dishes. There are a lot of American tourists here and that makes me think that it is a bit on the expensive side. She tells us that everything on the platter is charged separately. The fish costs so much, the prawns costs so much etc. etc so by the time we add it up and convert it back to Aussie dollars it is going to cost us about $250.00 for the two of us.
We think this is a bit too much to pay for fish and chips with some extra seafood on the side, even Doyle’s back home with an unbeatable harbour view is not this expensive – so we embark on a plan of escape. We tell the waitress that we have left our traveller’s cheques back at the hotel and we will be back in about 10 minutes. We take off walking very slowly and then break into a fast trot like we are fugitives from justice. Needless to say – we avoid this area for our stay in Athens.
Walking around, we notice the town is full of stray cats. They are everywhere. We have a bit of a look around the shopping area of the Plaka and as our stomachs are protesting rather loudly for being gypped out of a fish dinner we decide we had better get some food. Kylie buys a cheese pie and I get some sort of chocolate pudding. What a memorable first dinner and so nourishing.
We decide we will find somewhere to sit and eat instead of going back to the hotel and on our way to somewhere we both buy some postcards. We find a park opposite a very grandiose building – the Zappeion Exhibition and Congress Hall and eat our dinner.
We are immediately surrounded by cats. The night is extremely mild and there are lots of people around and actually we feel quite safe sitting in the park except that we get mugged by the cats wanting our food!.
After we have dinner and a bit more of a look around we go back to the hotel and ask about some day tours that we can take. They give us a few brochures and we decide on 2 tours operated by Chat Tours that sound pretty interesting – Sights of Athens tomorrow morning (cost 9300 Drs each) and the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion (cost 9000 Drs each) in the afternoon. We pay our money and retreat to our room to write out some cards. Our room faces out onto a small street away from the traffic – so that’s good.
Highlight of the day : The Great Escape!
