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Published: August 8th 2007
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Greek Salad
Or simply a salad--the Greek part is understood here. Just like the "onion soup" in France. Milos, Mykonos, Santorini, Aegina, Patmos??? Our clock is all wrong now. We went to bed at 6am and, although Leroy gets up a little earlier, we’re not ready to face the world until about 2pm. The Acropolis closes at 7:30pm and the Best Western concierge encourages us to walk there. It’ll take an hour, he says, so we must leave enough time. But our need for a bed and our empty stomachs win over. We have to find a place to stay tomorrow night and the night after. Thursday night should not be a problem since most of the soccer fans will have left. We contemplate getting a place in Aegina, an island just 20 km away from the port of Piraeus, which is only 15 km south of Athens. But if we party for the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night, we’ll have to stay out all night because the earliest ferry back to Aegina leaves at 7:30am. Or maybe we’ll just go to a farther island and watch the game on TV and party with the island locals, and not the Liverpool and Milan fans who have descended on the city. Or maybe we’ll go all the way to
Santorini and meet up with LJ who has made her way there but is regretting the poor, cloudy weather. We spend a couple of hours surfing options, then decide we’d better consult an expert. Gallop Travel is just a few blocks from the hotel, and when we get there, he realizes we have no idea which island to go to. He suggests Milos for beach relaxation. We check into a cruise that goes to Santorini. Or Mykonos. Or maybe even the Greek Islands plus a bit of Turkey. Milos would be cheap but the rest cost a pretty penny. And in the end, didn’t we come to Athens for the soccer, and not for the islands? Grumble, grumble. Leroy can’t decide on a very empty tummy, so we promise to be back and head across the street to Sabbas for souvlaki (pork skewers) in a pita with tomatoes, onions, and tzatziki (cucumber and yoghurt sauce) with French fries and Greek salad, all for €12. The hunk of feta cheese on the salad is to die for. The souvlaki pitas hit the spot, especially since Leroy ordered the “giant” version which is twice the size of mine. Maybe now we can decide.
Athens and UEFA or Bust We talk about it and decide that we want to stay in Athens and party in Omonia or Syntagma square with the hooligans. They have “fan” sites set up so that those without tickets can watch the game on a big screen in a couple of squares. We return to Gallop Travel, ask about the game, and find out some prices for the other options. Then we go back to our hotel for what will be six hours of nonstop Internet searching and a decision to leave Athens and get to Spain three days early. The Internet surfing is painful. We even consult the brochure we got from the tourist office and call 30 or so hotels in the area. One has availability just for tomorrow night at €250! Maybe we should go to Milos, but 5-7 hours on a catamaran does not sound like fun. And Milos has nothing but beach on it. We’re not even sure it’ll have a pub to watch the game or Internet access. Mykonos and Santorini are more expensive options. Finally, with nowhere in Athens to stay, Leroy makes the call. It’ll cost time and money to get to a Greek island, and we need a guarantee that we’ll be able to see the Final match. Add that to the perfunctory rip-off that we received from the taxi driver last night and the language barrier issues we’ve had today, and clearly, we’re a bit travel fatigued. We haven’t had a do-nothing day since Egypt, and that was for Leroy, not me. I must see the Acropolis, but we can do that in the morning. Leroy gets on the phone, calling his credit card collect and asking them to connect us to the AAdvantage desk (I love that they do this for us because otherwise we’d have to get an international calling card). A couple of disconnections nearly do him in, especially after how long he’s been on the phone with representatives. But finally, he gets through, and yes, there is availability for reward seats on the Iberia flight out of Athens and into Madrid tomorrow afternoon. Done, we are fleeing Athens. Oh, UEFA - why did you not give us tickets? Oh, Athens - why don’t you have enough lodging for the European soccer final?
The “Let’s Go” Alum Sets Her Eyes on Madrid, Marbella, and Sevilla Leroy hits the pillow, but I need to start thinking about Spain. After all, Leroy took responsibility for France, and now it’s my turn. Having lived in Madrid for six months and written for “Let’s Go: Spain and Portugal” the summer after, I know that I’ll be the one in the driver’s seat, figuratively. But that’s the problem. I have to figure out how we’re going to travel through Spain - by plane, train, or automobile. Most of my adventures through the Iberian Peninsula have been by car, because back in 1997, it was more economical with four people in a car (and gas prices not as high), with the added freedom of changing plans on a whim. Plus, if we ever lacked a hostel, we could always sleep in the car (yes, this happened on more than one occasion). But Leroy won’t enjoy driving a compact stick shift through Spain, and Vueling only flies between Madrid and Málaga (the major city near Marbella). By the time I download bus and train schedules and write Mike Drury at gomarbella.com for advice, it’s almost 3am. I hit bed but have little luck finding sleep.
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