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Published: February 22nd 2006
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After Delphi, it was a quick drive back into Athens.
We decided we better put the hotel Ionis behind us and try a hotel in the Plaka which one of Mau's former students recommended(will explain soon), The Central hotel.
Guess what happened as we were trying to get to the hotel in downtown Athens? Thats right! We got lost again. The damned one-way streets leave little room for error, and after missing the correct turn it took us twenty minutes to get back on track.
We eventually got to the hotel and checked in. The Central hotel was a big step up from the Ionis: better location; newly remodeled; much cleaner; etc...
That night we enjoyed a nice Continental dinner at a nearby chic restaurant, where our server was a German woman who spoke better English than Greek. We even enjoyed a nice bottle of Chateau Julia.
The next day was nice and relaxed. We had the finest free breakfast buffet yet and then everyone went their separate ways for a bit - a little internet, a little shopping, read the paper, etc....
We met for lunch at a Korean/Sushi joint and it was pretty
good as well.
One strange thing was happening around the area. There was quite a police presence, with roads blocked off and traffic diverted past certain government buildings. There was some news of certain small political uprisings here and there, but none of us saw anything happen.
Speaking of police and all, the fugitive story had unraveled further at this point. Heads were rolling over the procedural failures that led to their escape and the deaths of two officers. One fugitive had been caught and another had been found dead.
The latter, had supposedly shot himself with the stolen police officers gun instead of freezing to death in the mountains in a t-shirt(?). Yeah right! The cops probably found him alive and......use your imagination. And that was that.
After lunch we all relaxed for some time. In turn, we all discovered the amazing rooftop view of the Acropolis from our hotel.
Back to Mau's students. He teaches architecture in Rhode Island at Roger Williams University. This university has some type of cirriculum agreement with the Greek education system, and students of Greece come there and earn credentials which the Greeks recognize.
So, two of
Mau's students returned to Greece and started their own practices. Thankfully they had recommended the Central Hotel to us.
Tannassis and Yanni were going to meet us for dinner that night.
Oh yeah, it was the 3rd of January, Holden's birthday.
T. & Y. met us at the hotel and we walked to a restaurant of their choice. On the way we passed through the meat market; closed for the day, but with the perpetual smell of raw meat as strong as a slaughterhouse.
We pushed on and came upon a dark and quiet square. In one corner of the plaza was our destination.
'Guru' is a funky Thai restaurant, decorated with pictures and memorabilia from the country; including pictures of the king and queen. Couldn't have picked a better spot.
While Mau caught up with his old pupils and Meris and Julia talked about life, Holden just zoned out to the jazz-funk music in the background - drinking a gin & tonic, of course.
After a while the food came and it was sooo good. All kinds of Thai dishes with just a bit of metropolitan flair.
By this point Holden
and Yanni were talking about all things Greek and enjoying Czech Budweiser. 'This is the best beer', Holden stated, overthrowing the previous champ, Aussie's Victoria Bitter. More on Czech Bud when we get to Vienna and Prague.
The conversation between Holden and Yanni(who looked like the Greek version of Holden's old boss HAZ) centered around the lack of dish-breaking. It's not a myth, at one time Greeks broke dishes on almost any occasion. Now, though, it is not permitted, by law! Too bad. That was one thing Holden wanted to do on his B-day.
On into the night we all talked and drank. Around 3am it was time to retire. It was a great night and a good B-day dinner. Thanks to T&Y for showing us a good time.
Oh yeah, earlier that day Holden was given some presents: a new pair of sunglasses from Julia and a bottle of Chateau Julia by M&M for old time's sake. What a treat!
M&M departed the next day around 10am, leaving us two more days before heading to Vienna to see Chris and Katja.
If the day before had been lazy, this day was absolutely lethargic. Aside
from reading the paper and watching TV, we didn't do much. We did go to the movies that night for the first time on the trip.
It was a drizzly night and we walked up to the Kolonaki(?) district to catch 'The Family Stone'. The movie stunk, but the area was nice. We had finally found the really nice part of town, with all of the upscale restaurants and nice stores - and ,of course, plenty of lingerie shops.
Don't know what it is, but there are more lingerie stores in Athens than anywhere else - one on every block. It really stands out. Just thought we'd share that fact.
The next day, our last in Athens, we went out in the rain to see the archaeology museum. That was the fateful day that Holden's CBOE umbrella unfortunately broke apart in the wind. Damn!
The museum was, well, what you'd expect: more artifacts and artwork. A quick run-through was sufficient. Then we went to internet for a bit and then went back to enjoy our comfortable hotel.
For lunch we had noodles from a cool shop next to the hotel. We had them for dinner
as well. We spent the night packing and relaxing in the glow of the TV.
We had learned that one of our (at least Holden's) favorite hip-hop artists was performing that night. But at 45 euros a ticket plus cab fare and drinks, it became unreasonable to go; even if it was Method Man. Oh well.
So we reach the end of our visit to Greece. It was a great trip, even if it turned out to be not quite what we'd expected. That's the problem with expectations.
So we checked out of the hotel and cabbed to the airport to catch our flight to Vienna.
Guess who we should see waiting at the gate to our flight? M-E-T-H-O-D Man! He, and three of his buddies, were on our flight. He flew 1st class, while the others sat next to us in coach.
Before boarding the flight Holden had to go say 'Whats up?' to the Wu-Tang Clan members. 'That definitely made my day!,' he said.
Well, we'll see y'all in chilly Vienna with some Czech Budweiser in our hands! Peace.
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