Thursday 8 June Athens
Got up about 7 am for breakfast. Dea’s not feeling very well and I’m beginning to think there’s more going on than just her back.
After breakfast asked Stella if she could contact the transfer company and arrange an early pickup as our documents says they’ll be here about 10 am. The captains pretty keen to get us off by 8:30 am. The cars already here waiting for us. We say our goodbyes to Dash’s entourage, the English girls, the Jersey Island couple and Stella who has made this a wonderful adventure.
Arriving at our hotel to find the banks had been true to their word and our replacement credit and travel money cards had arrived. The receptionist remembered us from our previous visit a week ago, she reminded us we weren’t going to get as good a room as last time. Just a standard room this time. Upon reaching the room Dea decides it’s not going to be good enough as there wasn’t a chair, or room to put in a chair. While I waited Dea went and organised a better room and a chair. We were moved to a bigger room and the porter brought in a chair for Dea.
The bed was better than the one on the boat, but only just. We were too tired to care.
We decided that Athens was going to be a rest break before the APT tour from Prague to Paris. But the laundry had to be done. Sort out the dirty from the clean and ended up with a suitcase full of dirty clothes that was going to need to be washed soon. Checked the laundry list provided by the hotel and their prices almost meant we would have to go home after Athens with no money but clean clothes. However the laundry service wasn’t available on the weekends. The concierge told us we could go to a laundry in the ‘burbs only 3 Metro stops from the hotel. Tomorrow morning, today we’re going to sleep.
Dea’s backs been really sore which I understand but the bottom of her ribs are very sore as well and it’s very painful to cough. After some discussion we decide to try the antibiotics Dea had been given in case she got a chest infection. One a day for five days with steroid tablets for a week.
Saturday: Dea’s chest is a lot better, she still has the pain in her back but her sides don’t hurt and her cough is a lot better.
After breakfast and a bit of a tidy up we head off to the laundry. Bought our tickets (€1.40 one way) for the metro and headed off to the station about 200m from the hotel. We got lost in the station as there are two lines passing through here and everything is in Greek. Finally found our platform and we seem to be heading in the right direction.
We get off at the right station and headed up to street level and tried to orientate ourselves with the map I had. Found the street and the laundry and it’s not do it yourself laundromat but a couple of Greek ladies do it for you and you pick it up later. After sorting our load it’s going to cost us €70.00 and we pick it up before 5pm. A bargain I reckon, we’ll be able to continue our holiday with clean clothes.
Decide to have a coffee at the café next door and that’s when I find I no longer have my phone. Maybe I left in the room, but I was sure I’d brought it with me.
After coffee decide to catch a taxi back to the hotel. Check the room no phone. Maybe I’ve left it somewhere. Check my emails and McAfee has sent me an email letting me know that someone has unsuccessfully attempted to unlock my phone and there’s a blurry picture of the lowlife and a link to show me where it was last detected on the network. So it’s been stolen. Great. Ask the Concierge for direction to the police station and where can I buy a new phone. It’s too far away, a little better than Pisa. Too pissed off to bother reporting it today, it’ll wait till tomorrow. Take the Metro to pickup the laundry at 4pm and I’m back by 4:30pm with a suitcase full of clean clothes.
It starts to rain in the early evening which I’m told is unusual for this time of year.
Sunday: Dea chest is even better today and she is tolerating the back pain better now she is not coughing as hard.
Off to the police station this morning to report my loss. It’s about a twenty minute walk. It turns out to be a Tourist Assist Police Station. Fortunately for me they speak Greek and English, not so good for the French couple who turned up later with very limited English. Fill in the forms and get my report for Insurance, By now there are three other older couples of tourist in to report theft of wallets or passports.
It’s still raining, not heavily, but after lunch it seems to clear and we decide to do the CitySiteSeeing Hop On Hop Off bus tour. Two loops which will take about 2 hours if you don’t get off. Four stops in and we’re at the Acropolis and this is where we change to the port loop. About 15mins in and the rain starts to drizzle. It may be just the weather but I’m finding Athens a bit depressing, there’s a lot of history but not much to see unless you go to museums. The housing all looks rundown and dull, there’s a lot of unfinished or partly demolished building. It’s like they started something and ran out of money.
Back to the Acropolis to continue the city loop but decide to have coffee and cake at a fancy café/restaurant at the site. Very nice. Had a look at climbing to the Acropolis but it’s a fair climb and the line to enter was huge by now, so we decided to give it a miss. With the rain we decided that once the bus got close to the hotel we’d get off.
Back to the hotel and the rain really starts to come down with a lot of thunder. We made the right decision.
When the rain stops a couple of hours later we go for a walk around the mall and we find a cake shop with a good range of cakes not just the standard Greek baklava.
Monday: Dea’s even better today and it looks like we are going to complete this adventure.
Off to buy a new phone at the Public store. I’ve already decided I’m getting a Samsung Galaxy S8 that was the easy part. Can I buy one that will work in Australia when I get home? It seems the phones sold here only accept a European sim unless you make a 5-10min call to another phone with a Greek sim whist still in Greece. And because I’m buying an S8 I get €100.00 of credit for free from Wind-Gr but that activates in 24 hours.
I have to buy another sim for Dea’s phone so I can call a Greek number for 10 minutes.
Back to our room to play with my new toy. A lot of sim shuffling and I’ve got an unlocked phone with €100.00 credit to come.
Tonight we decide to go to another restaurant for tea, we’ve been eating at the hotel restaurant all weekend. Found a nice little place behind the hotel that’s a little quieter but they still have people coming up to you trying to sell you something or serenade you and then expect some payment. The meal was nice.
Time to try an pack our suitcases for our next trip tomorrow as we’re off to Prague via Vienna. The zips on the suitcases are under a lot of stress but we manage to get everything in. Someone is going to have to stop buying stuff.
Tuesday: Last breakfast this morning in Athens. Our transfer going to pick us up at 12:00 for a 3pm flight.
Checked my phone, the €100.00 hasn’t appeared yet, well it hasn’t been quite 24 hours yet. Last look around the mall and coffee and cake.
Transfer arrives on time and takes us to the Athens airport for the first leg of our trip to Prague. Finally found the Austrian Air desk and purchase a luggage ticket at the counter. Boarding passes state Gate B5 for our flight. Security was a lot more civilised than Rome and we sit and wait for the boarding time. An announcement, our flight gate has been changed to B32. Gate B31/2 is full of people and we sit a little away from the gate. Those people start boarding but no it’s not our flight that’s been changed to B3. Back to the other end of the terminal. Flight to Vienna pretty uneventful. There is only a 50min turn around in Vienna for our flight to Prague. Hope our luggage makes it. Check my phone still no extra credit.
Very short flight to Prague and the plane is only a third full. 40 minutes and we’re in Prague. But, of course there’s a but. When we get on the Prague to Vienna flight I lift the armrest between Dea and I without realising Dea still had her arm on it. I have seriously jarred her back and she is in a lot of pain with tears this time. I can’t apologise enough.
By the time we get to Prague Dea’s back has settled a little but this has been a setback in her recovery. Hope I haven’t done too much damage.