Day 19 - Athens, Greece

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Disembarkation was sad but went smoothly, except for the fact that our driver was to meet us at Terminal A and we pulled in at Terminal C. The small mix-up was solved and after a short wait our driver found us. The port is actually in Pireus, a “suburb” of Athens. So we had a 30 minute drive along the coast to get to our hotel. Sharon booked us a room in the Electra Palace, Athens. It is in the old part of the city, “Plaka” at the foothills of the Acropolis. I have to say, the daytime view is amazing but the evening view is breathtaking.

We had to wait for our room to be readied so we left our usage with the bellman and headed out to explore. Every street is lined with stores from high-end clothing retailers to souvenir shops. There is an appreciation for fine art here, and many small art galleries mixed in among the shops. There are also LOTS of restaurants and street cafes with all manner of delectables. We enjoyed a pastry at one and wandered for hours before returning to check into our room. Colorful shops lined the streets and colorful characters filled them. Two musicians with crank organs were entertaining crowds, there were the corn and chestnut roasters like we saw in Turkey. There was also the cart with the ringed breads we call bagels, but they are much larger. The most interesting new sight was the coconut vendor. His cart had this interesting water fountain display to keep the coconut moist, but he sold whole coconuts, or flavored shavings and various candies made from coconut. What I find odd is, I don’t think they haver coconut palm trees here. There are plenty of palms, but I think they are date palms.

We were told a really good place for souvlaki was in Monastriakli square, so we headed out to the already familiar streets in search of an early dinner. Arriving at our destination, we enjoyed an outdoor dinner of greek salad and souvlaki. It was very tasty, much like the doner I had in Turkey. We shopped some more as we ambled back then turned in early for the night.

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