Athens

Another place on our list, Athens. The only destination that we arrived and departed from together as time and schedule did not allow me to stay longer. We stayed in a friend’s apartment, someone we met in Amsterdam but currently lives and works in Zurich. The Athens airport seemed nice, and it wasn't crazy far away from the city, as so many airports in Europe seem to be (remember Istanbul's Sabiha?). Radhika and I were to meet up with a friend of his that would provide the key to his apartment. On the train into the city we were immediately overcome by intense body odor of those around us. It's mid-September, but it's still very warm in Greece. The main culprit was a guy who got on at the same stop as we did, and he decided to stand behind and over me, as Radhika and I were able to get seats facing each other. For stability he grabbed the bar above his head raising his right arm up, which almost sent our breakfasts in the same direction. Radhika was making rather loud pronouncements of her impending unconscious state when I discovered that my cologne had leaked a little onto my Fla. State baseball cap while in the suitcase during the flight. I gave her this, which she used as a pseudo-gas mask for the reminder of the ride. We made our metro connections and got to the stop we needed to meet the young lady who had the key. After a few text exchanges, we met and then walked over together to the apartment. A few warnings about safety and the area, and then we were on our own. Just about the first thing we did was something that bit us on the ass. We bought 48-hour hop on - hop off bus tickets. Given our limited amount of time in Athens, we thought we were making a logical decision. Not so quick, Mr. Spock! It took no time to figure out we were boobs, and that Athens is not a city where a bus tour is any benefit to travelers like us. That is we like to be on our own, we can get around with no physical limitations, and hold up in heat and cold. Besides, to get your money's worth you need to be on the bus. Get off at the Acropolis and you are pretty much done for several hours if not for the day (unless you're the "shuffle up, raise your point and shoot, shuffle off" type of tourist). So, we buy these tickets from the woman selling them near the bus stop after hearing her repeat the same safety warnings heard earlier. We ride for a while, maybe 20 minutes. The bumpy road, heat, exhaust, or combination of everything tossed a little case of nausea on me. When we came to the Acropolis, we decided to get off, as the break would help alleviate my condition. After a cold Sprite we decided to stay and visit the site. Getting in was tricky, as you get to the gate to go in but you have to buy a ticket first located elsewhere. With sincere deference to my Greek friends, I began to see why perhaps there are problems in the country. Anyway, we managed to get our tickets and entered. I was back to feeling fine in no time, and we walked around the ruins and really enjoyed the site. By then it was slightly after noon, not the ideal time I want to be making photographs outdoors, but that's when we happened to be there. And fortunately due to the time of year, the sun was not directly overhead. It was cloudless and the sun was relentless. My formed-in-Florida molecules were loving it!! We were at the Acropolis, and then had lunch at The New Acropolis Museum finishing around 5pm. From there we walked to Hadrian's Gate and Zeus's Temple, finishing there around 6pm. We waited for our Hop On- Hop Off bus at the stop right outside Zeus's Temple, but it didn't seem to be running. Seems they go to a reduced schedule after their summer season ends, and that was just a few days ago. So we decided to go to dinner at a place right across the street with a great view, an almost equal quality meal, and good service at Athens Gate. One view offered the Acropolis and the other side afforded a great view of Zeus's Temple! We walked through the tourist-laden streets on our way back to the square where we bought those now infamous bus tickets and caught a €3 cab back to the apartment. The next day we were using the 2nd day of our bus ticket to go to the port where the ferry to Ihdra/Hydra departs. So in the morning we're packed, check the apartment, lock it up, and take our luggage with us. We walk all the way back to the square where we are to catch the bus that goes to the port which is about 20 minutes away. We wait, and then are told by the woman who had sold us the tickets that we should take a bus that just pulled up. It's not going to the port, but is going to the next stop where a bus will leave from to go to the port. She tells us that the bus that goes to the port doesn't always stop at our current location - even though it's supposed to. Okay! So we drag ourselves and our luggage onto this bus for one stop, which plops us back at the stop for Zeus's Temple. A bus eventually arrives and we board, finally going to Piraeus, the port where the ferry will take us to Ihdra. All this time we are flogging ourselves, as we wasted time and money buying those stupid bus tickets! We get to Piraeus, and there's nothing there to see. It doesn't even take us to the port! To get there we need to walk or take a taxi. So we start walking, not knowing the exact distance we have to travel. A taxi pulls up, inquires about us, we tell him where we're going and ask him how much the fare is, we hop in. Three minutes later we're there! One last kick in the ass from those bus tickets! We're early, but there's no place to eat on the dock side, and a group of American's in the waiting area are really annoying us, so we go across the road where there's a small outdoor cafe and we eat a light lunch. Keeping an eye on the time, we finish our meal, pay the check and walk back over. Seems like the ship should be in. They're numbered, and we don't see our number along the dock. I ask the woman at the ticket counter and she said it will be 10 minutes late. That, of course, turned out to be at least 30 minutes before we actually left. The boarding process (I laugh at my use of the term "process") was FUBAR. Our seats were in the front, where the ship's sides taper in, so we're in very closed space and the air circulation is zero. The Neanderthal taking people's bags must be getting paid by Samsonite to test luggage integrity, because he's tossing bags in every direction. Some people don't help the matter, because they behave in a bizarro-world Emily Post way, themselves. People start moving from the front area before we leave the dock, as veal calves have more comfort than we do. I am deciding in my mind whether I want to bother the people next to me and crawl over them to get out. I was tired of eyeballing that barf bag, thinking it was going to be my close friend very soon, so finally I utter an excuse me and move past them, going to the area behind us where there's more room and plenty of seats. In no time I told Radhika I was fine and back to normal. The trip was less than 90 minutes, and pulling into Ihdra was a great sight…small Island, no vehicles, charming buildings, and lush terrain. Yes...this was going to be nice. We asked someone who pointed us in the right direction to find where we were staying the first night. Following the signs the hotel had placed along the way, it wasn't too difficult to find. It was a really nice place in a location not too far from the waterfront. We put our stuff in the room around 3:30pm and went back down the short route and walked along the dock area and up to a place right on the water where we could have an small late lunch while the sun was still out. We found out later that the restaurant was voted the 2nd best view in the world (http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/story?id=8372439). We walked around some more, along a dirt path on the far side of the island, and then turned around as it started to get dark. We found a nice restaurant set in an outside garden to have dinner and then went back to our room for the night. Before going in, we sat outside in the small garden area and had a drink by ourselves. It was so quiet and peaceful. In the morning after breakfast we would be moving to another place higher up in the hills that has a great view over the town to the water. We met a woman down at the port who would walk with us to our new hotel. She picked up some passengers off a ferry and together we walked up the 300+ steps to the hotel. Two mules carried our luggage. The route involved several turns and different alleys, so recognizing landmarks was really important! We checked in, got our room, which was fantastic, put our stuff away, and got to the beach are by 1:30pm. I went walking with my cameras after a while as I can only sit there so long and swim so many times - the swimming was nice, however! Came across a friendly mule who came running up to the fence from across the field, but I didn't have anything in my camera bag for him (no way I'm feeding a Snickers bar to a mule!). Came across another beach that looked nice. The island actually has several beaches, accessible by walking or you can pay for a boat to take you. Made it back to the beach we were at and did some more swimming. The water was great and appeared very clear. The little fish would nip at my feet every now and then. Didn't tell Radhika that. She did pretty good swimming in the water. She's not a big fan of the stuff, and marvels at me when I swim under for a long time and just love it so. But she did quite well. I get a kick out of the sour expressions she makes when the salty water gets on her lips! I could post some funny pictures of her swimming, but would never hear the end of it! We left the beach around 6pm, one of the last people to do so. We walked back slowly, making pictures along the way. We got a recommendation of where to eat some good Greek food from the owner of our hotel, and we eventually made dinner at a place called Christina's at 9pm. We were checking out again in the morning, taking a ferry back to Athens and then on to the airport. Breakfast was not as good as the first place we stayed at, but it was served outside too, which made it nice. We were packed and ready to go. I had gone off early to get a few more shots made, and somewhere along the way my eye extender slide off my camera. I went back down to the area I had visited earlier, tracing my steps, but didn't find it. I consider myself lucky in that regard. I've had a lens cap blown off the deck of a ship in Alaska, a polarizer slipped from my hand, bounced off the deck of a ship once and then went "plunk" into the Li River in China, and now this. I actually glued the piece on just a month or so prior, because it came off my camera in France, but I backtracked and found it. Apparently the glue wasn't strong enough. Already sent an email to Canon complaining and asking for a fix. Anyway, our ferry was late, very late, and people were getting itchy. Some UK vacationers said they would pretty much miss their flight because of the delay. Luckily we had padding and had no such issues this time. But the Greek ferries are notorious for poor service and never being on time! We can vouch for that. Two ferry trips - two delays. Another trip, another great place. We were so down on Athens the first day there. The crumbling streets and buildings, horrible graffiti covering everything, people sleeping on the streets, the traffic congestion, the train experience, and the people...some seemed to be just beaten down while others I sensed were boiling over inside. Our feelings softened on the 2nd day, and we enjoyed it and appreciated it more. It is a place that is unsteady right now, and that's a shame. Athens, the cradle of civilization, should be a shining, prosperous city. Paris and Rome have their areas that the tourist board and chamber of commerce would like to keep hidden, but they have their "shiny" areas that they highlight, tout, and almost stand beside and go "Ta-Da!” Nowhere in Athens did I see an area to really "Ta-Da" about. I hope things turn around soon for Athens and for all of Greece. It's beauty and history needs to be restored. The album for Greece can be found at: http://www.photoshop.com/users/johndp/albums/9eed44026d304bd0940d9f76cacd255a/slideshow or click on the albums button when on the blogs homepage.