Plaka and Dinner

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Today we will enjoy a city tour with the lovely Maria. After a hearty breakfast, served buffet style we met in the lobby to begin the long day of sightseeing, dining and buying. Our small group of four joined another group of 16 as we took our bus to the Acropolis. Since Cathy and I have been to the Acropolis on our last visit, we elected to leave the group and visit the air conditioned Acropolis Museum. Good move on our part since at 9 in the morning it was already 95 degrees heading to high of 107 by 2 pm. The Acropolis Museum is where the real artifacts from the Acropolis are housed. Here we saw the statues and reliefs that once adorned the lintel of the Acropolis and learned how they were restoring the current site. It was facinating. After our visit we joined the rest of the group for a tour of the city. We visited the Temple of Zeus, the stadium where, in 1984, the first modern Olympics were held, andf finally arrived at the Plaka for dining and shopping. We were joined by our travel companion Susie, for a dining experience in an open air restaurant.We enjoyed a club sandwich (Cathy), Greek Salad (Susie) and pork for me. They gave us a plate of fresh watermelon to add something sweet and off we went to to spend money. And spend we did. Cathy had seen a gold and silver bracelet with a design of infinity on the wrist of our guide Anna. She was in love so of course that was our mission. Trafalger, of course, had a deal with a local jewelry store, Zorba, so they led us to their front door. We saw several bracelets and Cathy chose one. Now the tough part. The price. In Europe you buy gold by the gram. So out comes the scale and the calculator. The bad news was the bracelet was 420 euro! Of course there was the Trafalgar discount so now we had 340 euro price tag, still pricy since 1 euro is $1.32. I told her if she wanted the bracelet buy it, a sure way not to have her buy it. Of course she did not disappoint and out we went, the bracelet left behind. On to the next several stores where we bought some small things but no bracelet. Walking around the Plaka we saw a really nice small jewelry store and went in. Here we met the owner, his son and another gentleman not related to the others. We were offered seats, cold water, Ouzo and some other stronger drinks. Yes, they really know how to make a sale! They brought out bracelets, one for Cathy and one for Susie. They were indeed beautiful with gold and silver links. Again the scale, the calculator and the 300 euro price followed by the discount. Final price 250 Euro. Still a little high. So now it is my turn to deal. I offered a price of 400 euro for both. After some haggeling we agreed on 440 euro for both, a good deal until they brought out the matching rings! Susie loved the ring, so the pressure was on to have her buy both the ring and the bracelet. She was able to hold her own but changed from bracelet to ring and soon we were out the door with one ring and one bracelet. The temperature was now 107 and we were getting hot, so we decided to head back to the hotel. We had a short walk to the bus stop where we picked up the free hotel shuttle. I decided to go for a swim, Cathy took a nap and all was well until the optional dinner at 7 PM. Now the dinner was back at the Plaka so we joined another tour group and headed to our bus. After a short drive, we left the bus for a 10 minute walk, up hill, to our dining experience. The restaurant was a small place where we were treated to a wide variety of Greek treats. Grape leaves, cheese pie, salad, red and white wine and of course Ouzo. Our dinner included Greek entertainment consisting of dancers, live music and wonderfull singing. A truly enjoyable evening. After dinner a short walk back to the bus for the ride home and much needed rest. A great day of vacation.

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