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Ready to Roll
After 15 hours in the air, the troops are ready to hit the metro into Athens! This is a test of the emergency Blog System. Please check your response to receiving the email for this blog. IF there was a sense of annoyance or “oh, no”, press delete and get on with your day. Otherwise, welcome to our Adventure.
The Connor clan left Vancouver with relatively little fanfare. The only glitch was the jackknife that had been left in on of the day packs. With the thought that we may be eco-terrorists looking to hijack a Lufthansa plane to Frankfurt (the plan was obviously not well thought out by Marla), we were required to recheck one of our carry-ons as regular luggage so that the above mentioned jack knife could be used to slice bits of brie watching the sunset on Santorini. The plane ride was pretty uneventful except that we arrived two hours late to Frankfurt meaning that our 2 ½ layover was reduced to running through the airport just in time to see our plane boarding for Athens (Bond could not have made a better connection). The adventure truly began with us trying to make our way to our hotel via the metro (with only 2 hours of sleep in the last 36).
Parthenon
With employees of the Acropolis on strike, this is as close as we will get to the Parthenon. Still and amazing sight! An empty metro car was soon rivaling the jam packed Tokyo subway as we entered the city at 8pm on Friday evening along with the rest of Athens (45 min. ride costing 20 Euros for the family). Squeezing ourselves off of the train and transferring to a different line, we emerged into the bustling Omonia square and walked the 4 blocks to our hotel. Everywhere along the way we have met friendly Grecians willing to stop and point us in the right direction. “Efaristo” (thank you in Greek) soon became mantra as we spouted this new found language of ours (much to the delight of the people we met). The problem is they come back with a whole swack of things we can’t understand so we simply smile and nod (Parakalo - you’re welcome is our getaway).
The troops battled their fatigue and we spent the night getting used to the area surrounding the “Economy hotel” (need to get a plug in for our sponsor - great location, clean rooms, excellent breakie included). The next day, we set out with renewed vigor (well sort of if you include a four hour nap in the middle of the day). Highlights
Roof top view
View of the Acropolis from our roof top was awesome. of the day included: touring the Plaka with its incredible labyrinth of alleys and walkways, shopping to a lady’s delight, and the incredible market with everything from lamb’s heads to olives to every nut known to man. Lowlights include: traveling over 5,000 miles to be told that the Accropolis is closed this weekend due to a strike (this reminds Marla and Trevor of their “Wallyworld” experience on their honeymoon). The troops didn’t let this get them down and as parents, we are truly amazed at the stamina and positive energy of our kids. We have walked much of the area and we love just soaking up the wonderful culture and atmosphere. The kids seem to be able to at least fake the fact that they enjoy it too (actually, they don’t seem to be faking it but ask them). We are heading out tomorrow to Paros so we need to catch the metro at 5:30am if we want to make our 7:20am boat. The weather has been pleasantly tolerable, not the heat wave that we were expecting. The evening and morning temperature are perfect and there is enough of a breeze during the day that we have enjoyed all of
Syntagma Square
We had a great time walking Athens. Feeding pigeons brought many laughs our time outside.
Signing off from the rooftop of our hotel (it is 7:15am Sunday morning for you Vancouverites), we will see you again on Paros.
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Carol & Doug
non-member comment
Great!
Great start to your adventures! Keep those blogs coming! Have a wonderful time. Love C&D