| Riding to Athens, probably the biggest jet I have rode on to date. Never seem steps going upstairs and 3 stuwards telling folks to go forward, left, or up to get into the plane. Sadly, I was on the bottom of course, towards the back. Met interesting folks(Andy and Brian) on the plane traveling to Elizabeth, Portugal. Said they were getting connecting flights, and having a hard time getting their luggage to follow.. Flight was comfortable, and only 8 hours, which wasn.t too bad. In London, airport wasn.t too hard to navigate. I have to check out of airport to check back in, so got to go through customs. Arriving in Athens, the bus system was not too hard to figure out, and bus ticket was a straight cost. Took almost an hour to get to the hotel, which was quietly tucked away behind some stores. Talked for a few hours to someone named Alex about politics, and language learning skills.. Finally got to bed around 2:30 in the morning. Getting up at 10:00 in the morning to pick up Sophia, found the hotel had transformed into a .on the walkway. restaurant, so looked completely different then when I checked in. Another hour bus ride back to the airport, Sophia.s airplane arrived 30 minutes early, so got there right when her flight landed. Taking the bus back to hotel again, little over an hour this time, and much more crowded, then when I arrived at 10:00 in the evening. |
| The hotel room was ok, there wasn.t a view from it, Room 401.. Electrics were not operating 100%..(USB jacks did not work, and light switch for main lights was faulty on and off). The shower was very small, and a little slippery, and had quite a good step up to get into it and out. Elevator was a cute small elevator that you had to push the door open to get out, or open it by hand when it arrived. The breakfast was great, buffet style with eggs, bacon, French toast, crossiants, orange juice, milk breads, and as much as you wanted. We scheduled a 6 in the morning taxi to the ferry port, as there were only 2 ferry.s leaving for Santorini that day, 1 at 7:20 in the morning, and the other at 5 in the afternoon. Since the ferry would take 8 hours to arrive in Santorini, we took the early one, which meant getting up super early. We missed out on the breakfast, and asked them to make us boxed breakfast.. Wasn.t the greatest, was a couple pieces of bread with a piece of cheese, and a couple pieces of bacon in it.. Had a banana, and a mixed juice drink box.. On the ferry, we did the business class, which was definitely worth if for an extra 12 euro. It was more comfortable then the cruise ship areas we had been on, and we had our own waiter taking care of us. We were able to sleep/snooze comfortably, and felt relaxed the whole ride over to the island.. |
| On the island, our driver had a sign to pick us up.. Took about 30 minutes to get to hotel. Was a long trek up the road to get to the top, and then a casual ride down the other side to get to the hotel. The hotel was in an awesome position to the black beach. Only had to walk about 100 yeard to get to convenience store, and several restautants along the walkway.. First day, we checked with owner about thoughts on what to do.. He suggested going to Fira to check out the shopping areas, and then to Pygiros to check out the sunset while having dinner.. We tried to get a car, but didn.t know you needed an international driver.s license to drive in Greece, so we ended up taking the bus.. Bus syetm was ok, they had intervals, and you ended up paying on the bus. Usually about 2 Euro.s per person.. Shopping area in Fira was very big and a lot of walkways. We continued on a bus to Pygimos, where we found a complex set of walkways leaving up towards the top area. COuldn.t find the restaurant the owner of hotel said to find, but we found another one, which gave us an amazing view of the sunset. We found our way back down, somehow, got back on bus, and headed for the hotel. Next day, we did a katamarain trip. Wow, was awesome, was a 6 hour boat ride with 14 other folks, around the island area.. They provided an amazing lunch, and opportunities to swim at various locations, including a volcanic area that the water was sometimes warm, and sometimes normal temperature. |
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