Day 1

We left Pensacola on time, after a near catastrophe.. I left my backpack in the Jeep. After failing to contact Tanya to return, Monica got her on her cell phone. She was already returning because she forgot to give us our anniversary card. The flight from Philadelphia was long (9 hours) but smooth. We slept very little on the plane, arriving in Athens at 9am Friday. Upon arrival we discovered that my suitcase hadn't made the trip with us. Saturday morning and w'ere still waiting for it to be delivered! We took the airport express bus, for 3.20 Euros each, to downtown Athens, a very long, so well worth the money, trip. Athens is huge and it was quite a ways before we saw the downtown area. We got off at Syntagma Square and found the metro station. Since it was still early morning, we bought two all day passes for 3 Euros each, a good deal. We found the metro to be very clean and modern. After going from Syntagma Square to Ormonia Square, then transferring to another line, we arrived at Metaxaourgia, our stop for the hostel, Athens International. We had a bit of trouble finding Victor Hugo street where the hostel was, partly because the directions we got from the Greek people was sketchy, partly because the street is short and angled, and partly because it wasn't called Victor Hugo street, but Vitorios Ougo! We checked into the hostel and went up to our room, number 402, five floors up! Manoli doesn't do elevators, so she walked, complaining justifiably about aching legs. I took the elevator with the bag <grin>. The room was Ok, clean and fairly modern, with 2 sets of bunk beds and a private toilet/shower. After a brief nap for jet lag, we decided to find lunch. Around the corner we found a small carry out place serving local... sandwiches. Manoli had a delicious spanakopita (spinach pie) and I had a .. bacon and cheese pie.. yum! Total... under 4 Euros! We ate as we walked and headed to the metro to go to Pireaus port to buy our ferry tickets to Santorini on Sunday. We arrived at the port and were greeted by an awesome sight, a crowded port filled with ferries and montrous cruise ships, all nestled against Athens. We bought two tickets to Santorini for 67 Euros, economy class, which means we are supposed to stay on deck and not use any seats. Returning on the metro, we decided to get off at Monasteraki, one of the market districts near the Acropolis. The whole area is filled with narrow streets lined by little shops selling everything touristy. After shopping for a while, we took the metro back to our hostel to check on my luggage... no luck. Since it was 7pm or so, we headed out to find a super market (Manoli loves to just browse them), then we ate dinner at a self serivce eatery called Joys. Manoli had a gyro pita that was huge, tender and tasty for 1.70 Euros, and I had a souvlaki plate with pita, pork kabobs, onions, tomatoes, fried potatoes, and tsatsaki sauce for 6 Euros. Excellent, inexpensive dinner, eaten at a table while we watched the locals. We returned to the hostel where we signed up for the guided walking tour on Saturday at 13 Euros each, then hit the hay. No memeory card reader on the hostel computer, so pictures are forthcoming. Tomorrow, the Acropolis!

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