Thurs. Nov. 3rd Athens Greece
By Jain
We wake up to another beautiful day in one of our favorite European capitals cities, Athens, Greece. It's a sunny, warm 74 degrees day, we couldn't ask for better weather. Today we decide on the hop on, hop off bus to whisk us to the Acropolis and the Plaka. Well maybe whisk is the wrong word since Athens is notorious for its horrid traffic. It has been said that Athens makes the streets of Boston seem tame in comparison. The city is full of cars, trucks, motorbikes, taxis and of course buses. It gets so crowded Sept to June they restrict traffic by only allowing vehicles with odd numbered license plates to drive on odd days and those with even to drive on even days. The summer months are not an issue because most locals are on vacation and leave town.
Public transportation is the only way to go here and leave the driving to those that can handle it. From the top of the open air bus it is extremely interesting and amusing to watch the chaotic flow of vehicles, how many cars are parked illegally or double parked with no driver in sight, and how erratic driving is the norm. The Athenians are expert at parallel parking and I have heard that if you can't parallel park with only 6 inches to spare or backup a half of mile down hill with your eyes closed you automatically flunk your driver's test.
We get off at the Acropolis parking lot and marvel at the ancient ruins from afar and hop on the blue bus to get us to our next stop the Plaka. We haven't been to the Plaka in over 20 years but still recognize the neighborhoods. The Plaka is an old historical neighborhood in Athens and sits under the Acropolis. It is full of restaurants, outdoor cafes, shops of every kind. It is quite touristy but is very special and is one of our favorite places.
We decide to stop and have lunch (gotta have that Greek salad) and watch the world go by. You see everything here and with a reported 10,000 cruise passengers in port today it is busy, and you see lots of kinds of people, sometimes odd. One tourist passed us carrying a white feathered duck. At first glance you would swear it is alive, moving its feet, tail, beak. It even quacked! But it wasn't real, it was mechanical. On the airplane, I watched a techno program that says mechanical animals are the latest greatest thing for those that miss having a pet but that just can't care for one. Sounds like us of course. I will pass on getting a duck, but I would love a cat. The cat, I saw advertised purrs, gives off heat, curls up, blinks his eyes, and rolls over on his back longing for a pet and of course it meows. It is possible to upgrade to a model that actually sheds his hair all over the place and scratches your furniture!
In the early evening we meet Cindy and Debbie at the Gatsby's bar. They have 2 Martini flights (6 glasses each) and clearly are bewildered about how they are going to drink them. I walk by and say, "It looks like you are thirsty". They laugh, and Debbie says, "I think we made a mistake." After chatting for awhile we offered to help transport their drinks to their room, since at this point it would be like them trying to drive in Athens traffic. Great people; we look forward to seeing them again.
For our dinner we go to Japanese Ginza restaurant . It's kind of out of the norm for us.. but we both agree the orange peel beef and hot and sour soup was pretty good. We questioned the authenticity of ice cream we had for dessert, since after twenty minutes it didn't melt. We finished up the evening at the Starlight lounge and had a great time watching the 70's show "We Will Rock You.". It was GREAT... Great music, great dancing.. best show we have seen so far.. and I didn't nod off once!
By Jain
We wake up to another beautiful day in one of our favorite European capitals cities, Athens, Greece. It's a sunny, warm 74 degrees day, we couldn't ask for better weather. Today we decide on the hop on, hop off bus to whisk us to the Acropolis and the Plaka. Well maybe whisk is the wrong word since Athens is notorious for its horrid traffic. It has been said that Athens makes the streets of Boston seem tame in comparison. The city is full of cars, trucks, motorbikes, taxis and of course buses. It gets so crowded Sept to June they restrict traffic by only allowing vehicles with odd numbered license plates to drive on odd days and those with even to drive on even days. The summer months are not an issue because most locals are on vacation and leave town.
Public transportation is the only way to go here and leave the driving to those that can handle it. From the top of the open air bus it is extremely interesting and amusing to watch the chaotic flow of vehicles, how many cars are parked illegally or double parked with no driver in sight, and how erratic driving is the norm. The Athenians are expert at parallel parking and I have heard that if you can't parallel park with only 6 inches to spare or backup a half of mile down hill with your eyes closed you automatically flunk your driver's test.
We get off at the Acropolis parking lot and marvel at the ancient ruins from afar and hop on the blue bus to get us to our next stop the Plaka. We haven't been to the Plaka in over 20 years but still recognize the neighborhoods. The Plaka is an old historical neighborhood in Athens and sits under the Acropolis. It is full of restaurants, outdoor cafes, shops of every kind. It is quite touristy but is very special and is one of our favorite places.
We decide to stop and have lunch (gotta have that Greek salad) and watch the world go by. You see everything here and with a reported 10,000 cruise passengers in port today it is busy, and you see lots of kinds of people, sometimes odd. One tourist passed us carrying a white feathered duck. At first glance you would swear it is alive, moving its feet, tail, beak. It even quacked! But it wasn't real, it was mechanical. On the airplane, I watched a techno program that says mechanical animals are the latest greatest thing for those that miss having a pet but that just can't care for one. Sounds like us of course. I will pass on getting a duck, but I would love a cat. The cat, I saw advertised purrs, gives off heat, curls up, blinks his eyes, and rolls over on his back longing for a pet and of course it meows. It is possible to upgrade to a model that actually sheds his hair all over the place and scratches your furniture!
In the early evening we meet Cindy and Debbie at the Gatsby's bar. They have 2 Martini flights (6 glasses each) and clearly are bewildered about how they are going to drink them. I walk by and say, "It looks like you are thirsty". They laugh, and Debbie says, "I think we made a mistake." After chatting for awhile we offered to help transport their drinks to their room, since at this point it would be like them trying to drive in Athens traffic. Great people; we look forward to seeing them again.
For our dinner we go to Japanese Ginza restaurant . It's kind of out of the norm for us.. but we both agree the orange peel beef and hot and sour soup was pretty good. We questioned the authenticity of ice cream we had for dessert, since after twenty minutes it didn't melt. We finished up the evening at the Starlight lounge and had a great time watching the 70's show "We Will Rock You.". It was GREAT... Great music, great dancing.. best show we have seen so far.. and I didn't nod off once!
Sent from my Galaxy Tab® S2
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