June 9
We get up at the crack of dawn and somehow manage to pack all of our belongings into our tiny red car. We are sad to close the wooden shudders on the oversize windows of our house. The morning is absolutely beautiful as it bathes the town in its warm glow. I could live here forever! But today we are returning to Athens for a couple of days en route to Zurich on June 13th. We park our car at the harbor with keys inside the ignition and huddle along the quay in wait for our ferry to take us to Agios Constantinous from where we will board a bus to Athens. The whole journey should have us arriving in the capital around 1:00. Annie and I take one last loving look at the beautiful trinkets in the shop windows before rushing back as we see the ferry approaching. Once on board, we settle in for the 3 hour ride. Pretty uneventful except that the ocean is perfectly still today and the ride is quite comfortable. We arrive at our port destination and are shuffled off the boat and onto the dock to board the bus. Since we have not yet had breakfast, I make a fast break for a bakery and pick up three cheese pies to share amongst us. As we are the last ones to board the bus we are scattered among the passengers. The drive goes by quickly and before we know it we are pulling into the familiar neighborhoods of our Hotel Delta. We are dropped off at Kanigos Square and have to find a taxi to take us to our hotel. We bargain with the first one we see and after cramming the suitcases in the back, we are off. The hotel is ready and waiting for our arrival and we take our bags up to our rooms as soon as we arrive. Upon seening the rooms, we request a small change and opt to have a larger room with balcony that is still occupied by other guests. If we can wait until they check out this evening, then we can move up to the light filled 5th floor room with a huge balcony and a view of the Acropolis......we can wait! While at the hotel, we rest for a while and then get ourselves motivated to go out and about. We re-visit the Plaka and have a late lunch of Gyros. As we are strolling around the ancient streets, we come across a Sandal maker and as they are so reasonably prices, we purchase shoes for Annie, Sam and Paulie. The sandal maker is quite a nice man and we enjoy a lively conversation while he is oiling the natural leather shoes. Afterward, we head a little farther afield making a few purchases along the way. We end up in the fabric district where I have researched a huge bead store, but alas, by the time we arrive it is closing. I will return on Monday when the store re-opens. At this point we are all starting to drag and wither in the searing heat so we decide to hoof it back to the hotel for a pre-dinner rest. Afterwards, we venture very close to home for dinner to the corner Taverna and enjoy a nice meal.....except for the lady directly behind us who insists on blowing her cigarette smoke into our faces while she eavesdrops on our conversation. After the third noxious cloud comes wafting into my eyes, I lose it and let her have it. My family is horrified at my outburst.......oh well....no more cigarette smoke :-) Then the bill arrives with a little surcharge on it for.....wait for it.......bread. They have tacked on $5 worth of bread. When I confront the waiter about the charge, he assures me this is very standard practice (although I tell him we have eaten at this restaurant on three occassions previously and there was not bread charge). We leave feeling a bit cheated and wishing for the friendly faces from Ilias' Taverna. Oh well, live and learn. We return to the hotel for a night of playing catch up on our computer needs as we have had such limited access to the internet of late. Tomorrow proves to be another great day as we plan to visit many historic sites.
We get up at the crack of dawn and somehow manage to pack all of our belongings into our tiny red car. We are sad to close the wooden shudders on the oversize windows of our house. The morning is absolutely beautiful as it bathes the town in its warm glow. I could live here forever! But today we are returning to Athens for a couple of days en route to Zurich on June 13th. We park our car at the harbor with keys inside the ignition and huddle along the quay in wait for our ferry to take us to Agios Constantinous from where we will board a bus to Athens. The whole journey should have us arriving in the capital around 1:00. Annie and I take one last loving look at the beautiful trinkets in the shop windows before rushing back as we see the ferry approaching. Once on board, we settle in for the 3 hour ride. Pretty uneventful except that the ocean is perfectly still today and the ride is quite comfortable. We arrive at our port destination and are shuffled off the boat and onto the dock to board the bus. Since we have not yet had breakfast, I make a fast break for a bakery and pick up three cheese pies to share amongst us. As we are the last ones to board the bus we are scattered among the passengers. The drive goes by quickly and before we know it we are pulling into the familiar neighborhoods of our Hotel Delta. We are dropped off at Kanigos Square and have to find a taxi to take us to our hotel. We bargain with the first one we see and after cramming the suitcases in the back, we are off. The hotel is ready and waiting for our arrival and we take our bags up to our rooms as soon as we arrive. Upon seening the rooms, we request a small change and opt to have a larger room with balcony that is still occupied by other guests. If we can wait until they check out this evening, then we can move up to the light filled 5th floor room with a huge balcony and a view of the Acropolis......we can wait! While at the hotel, we rest for a while and then get ourselves motivated to go out and about. We re-visit the Plaka and have a late lunch of Gyros. As we are strolling around the ancient streets, we come across a Sandal maker and as they are so reasonably prices, we purchase shoes for Annie, Sam and Paulie. The sandal maker is quite a nice man and we enjoy a lively conversation while he is oiling the natural leather shoes. Afterward, we head a little farther afield making a few purchases along the way. We end up in the fabric district where I have researched a huge bead store, but alas, by the time we arrive it is closing. I will return on Monday when the store re-opens. At this point we are all starting to drag and wither in the searing heat so we decide to hoof it back to the hotel for a pre-dinner rest. Afterwards, we venture very close to home for dinner to the corner Taverna and enjoy a nice meal.....except for the lady directly behind us who insists on blowing her cigarette smoke into our faces while she eavesdrops on our conversation. After the third noxious cloud comes wafting into my eyes, I lose it and let her have it. My family is horrified at my outburst.......oh well....no more cigarette smoke :-) Then the bill arrives with a little surcharge on it for.....wait for it.......bread. They have tacked on $5 worth of bread. When I confront the waiter about the charge, he assures me this is very standard practice (although I tell him we have eaten at this restaurant on three occassions previously and there was not bread charge). We leave feeling a bit cheated and wishing for the friendly faces from Ilias' Taverna. Oh well, live and learn. We return to the hotel for a night of playing catch up on our computer needs as we have had such limited access to the internet of late. Tomorrow proves to be another great day as we plan to visit many historic sites.
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