Three temperature zones, it seemed! Taxi drive, free entertainment

 

We left an unusually rainy Aix for our trip to Greece with a temperature around 75 F.  We stopped at Munich  (see picture from the plane) where the temperature was in the 50’s and we arrived to low 90’s in Greece.  Very challenging packing for an over- packer like me who was on severe space restriction.

The good news is that Niko has fallen in love with our apartment sitter, so he barely noticed when we left.  She apparently had been trying on perfume samples and Niko  was enthralled.  He is in very good hands with some friends of our daughters who came to stay in our flat while we are away.  Happy sniffing,  Niko.

When we arrived in Athens, we attempted to get information and joined a group of people in front of the information booth.  Jeff asked a lady if he was in a line and she responded dryly in a British accent:  “It’s Greece.”  Apparently order is not a strong suit in this Country.  We were then told, there was a transportation strike and the buses will resume in an hour and half.  Taxis, we were told would be expensive.  We bought our tickets and waited with a mob of fellow travelers.  We met a group from Uruguy arriving for a Gnostic conference.  At 20 min. before the announced time a bus arrived and the commotion was great.  We decided to wait for a more orderly bus but none came for a long time.  Time to go for the taxis.  We were able to get a refund for the bus. 

Our taxi driver spoke English as he put it: “so and so.”  He was immensely entertaining as he rattled on about his life and the people he liked and disliked.  We took a picture of him with Jeff.

First of all he was “verrry happy” about the strike, it meant lots of business for him.  Jeff asked if his wife was happy and he said, “of course, she doesn’t work.” His son was very smart going to study dentistry, his daughter not so smart, just liked the beach.

He liked Obama’s speeches.  Besides Obama, Kennedy was the only other American president he liked. He had opinions on all the different nationalities, mostly based on how they tipped.  He liked Americans a lot.  He also like the Dutch and the Italians.   He was definitely not crazy about the French and the English. 

Our hotel in Athens, The Amalia Hotel, was centrally located and had a nice enough room.  We have not had the best experience with customer service.  The Greek (the few we have met, have been interesting and entertaining but a little abrupt and not that helpful.  The French get a bad wrap but they have been nothing but kind and helpful to us.

The first day in Athens we saw a gigantic demonstration that we can clearly see from our hotel window.  See picture, not clear due to the smoke film of the windows.

The first evening we found the glistening remains of ancient Greek buildings outlined in the sky.  It gives you goose pimps.  We went out to restaurant with very bad singers, who nevertheless were entertaining us with the mellow sounds of Greek and English songs.