We arrived at about 1:30 saturday afternoon to a cold, windy, rainy city. I had done enough research to know that the metro ran from the airport straight to the heart of the city. Well, go figure, the metro just happened to be closed from the airport to the next stop so we had to figure out another way. We asked someone and they told us to take a bus. They pointed at which one adn told us to get on. We did so and had no idea where we were headed. It seemed that nobody really knew. But eventually we figured that it was going to an area close to where we wanted to be. We stayed on til the end and when we got off, the rain had stopped. I had already picked out a few hotels that I thought would be good choices, and we figured out where we were and headed towards the closest one. We found it without a problem and I think we were the only people there. It was really nice, in a great location, at a super cheap price, and included breakfast. The guy showed us a few rooms and let us choose what we wanted. We chose one with 2 balconies, with a partial view of the acropolis, and lots of space. here are some pictures of the room and the views from it:
The rest of the day Saturday we spent walking around the city, seeing the big sights. We saw the acropolis and the parthenon. It was so cool being there in March, because it really felt like we had the city to ourselves. Okay, not really, but we definitely didn't feel overwhelmed by other tourists. Even at the acropolis, we only saw a few other people. It was nice.
We also did some shopping. Our hotel was in an area called Plaka and there are lots of shops and cafes to see and walk around. As many of you know, i love to shop, especially for shoes. Well, the greeks make some pretty great shoes and I happened to stumble into a few shops. I made a friend with the shopowner who happened to be a very convincing salesman. These two things are not a good combination, as I ended up buying 5 pairs of shoes!!!!! Luckily I live in southern california where I can wear flip flops year round. But hey, he threw in a free t-shirt since I bought so many shoes!
On Sunday, we planned to go take a ferry over to one of the closer islands. I had done my research and decided that Hydra would be our best choice in terms of things to do, distance from Athens, etc. So we left our hotel at 8 and headed to the metro which runs all the way down to the port where we can catch a ferry. Well, for one day only, the metro line we needed wasn't running. GO FIGURE!!! it took us awhile to figure it out, and once we did, we had to start asking people what to do. They told us to take a bus but we never found the one we were looking for. As we were standing there looking lost another man came up and helped us. He walked us to the bus and said, "get on this one and get off at __________." neither of us understood, but he was already leaving and the bus was pulling away. So once again we found ourselves on a bus without a clue where we were heading. After half an hour of so, we came over the top of this hill and out of nowhere, saw the port filled with ships! we got off the bus and managed to find the boats we wanted. the one going to hydra had just left a few minutes earlier and the next one didn't leave for several hours. we asked for advice and the ticket lady said we could go to a different island, Aegina. The boat was leaving in 15 minutes, only took 40 minutes to get there, and said there was some neat stuff to see. We went ahead and did it, having no idea what to expect.
So we arrived 40 minutes later and got off the boat with no clue what to do or where to go. We found a little kiosk and bought a map of the island and then just started walking down a street. Some man stopped us and asked if we wanted to rent a bike or moped or jeep or anything. We stopped and talked to him and found out it would only be 10 euros a day to rent the moped things. We decided to do that and before we knew it we were off to some unknown destination. We headed out along the coast and just followed the road. Oh it was soooo beautiful. seriously, it was incredible. The sun was shining, the water was sparkling, and it was just so unbelievable. We rode for awhile until we hit the other side of the island and found this adorable little beach town that must be a huge hit during the summer. we were the only ones there at the time, but still managed to find a restaurant right on the beach overlooking the water, with a great view of mountains. it was amazing.
After having lunch, we headed back the way we came. We returned our mopeds and hung out on the main strip of shops and restaurants while we waited for the next boat to come so we could head back to athens. Had we been able to go to Hydra, we were going to stay the night on the island and go back to Athens the following day, but since we went to Aegina, there really wasnt enough to do, so we both agreed that it would be better to head back to Athens. So thats what we did and had a lovely Greek dinner. Monday morning, we got up and did some more shopping and roaming around new parts of the city. We had lunch at a cafe and then headed towards the airport. It was a short trip, but a much needed vacation.
Nothing like a beautiful rainbow to signal the end of a beautiful vacation!
