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Published: October 24th 2014
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It was our last day at the Astra Suites hotel; I kept looking out the window so I wouldn’t forget the beautiful view before us. The time went far too quickly in Santorini. At Astra Suites, we were in one of the units closest to the Aegean and to the ever-present Skaros. Because we were so close to the sea, our room would get a bit humid. Deke could never get used to it, but didn’t want to move to a unit higher up on the hill of our hotel because the accommodations were so good; we had a large room. I asked Anne Marie, one of the concierges, if there were units available that were possibly available for my parents—where the guests didn’t have to walk so many stairs. Anne Marie told me that they have units just for seniors which are far up the hill; she showed me where they were, and I believe that most seniors could handle the walk to these units. I will miss Marinos, superb breakfast server in the winds of Santorini and all-round funny guy, the sophisticated and helpful Anne Marie, and George, the director of the hotel who helped Deke to settle in
and feel comfortable.
When we left for Athens, I still felt a bit off; Deke told me that seasickness can linger from the day before (I went on my first catamaran sail). It felt a little dubious boarding the plane to Athens, and indeed I made sure that I was ready in case anything drastic happened.
We arrived in Athens, and our driver picked us up from the airport. He pointed out some places of local interest and talked politics; from what I can glean, there is one particular politician, at whom the Greeks are angry—who filled his pockets with money that belonged to the people. Additionally, the austerity measures have been very difficult for them; many of them have lost more than half of their salaries.
Upon our arrival at the Electra Palace Hotel, we saw numerous Greek Orthodox priests in their black robes in the lobby; someone from the press was there taking pictures. If one has never seen a gathering so large of men in black robes, it is a very impressive sight. When one of the managers, Yanni, was leading us to our room, he told us that the priests were here for
some kind of luncheon. We passed the room where the luncheon was being served, and Yanni pointed out the man who is in charge of the whole Orthodox Church in Greece.
Though I was still a bit off, Deke and I went out into Athens. We had a good lunch, then strolled a bit. I was amazed that one of the streets we were on was made of marble; it’s like the Athenians got together and said, “If we’re going to make a street, let’s do this right and make it beautiful.”
The hotel is very near the Acropolis, and there is a wonderful view on top of the roof. I was able to get some pics, which pleased me.
Regarding my continuing study of Aristotle, I came upon the following in
Ethics, Book IV: “Yet some pause and amusement in life are generally judged to be indispensable.”
It’s good to know that a world-famous philosopher noted for striving for the Chief Good, believes that we all need a little pleasure and amusement now and then.
Yasas,
Monique
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