| Submitted by: Gopal Venkat United States |
| Submission Date: 10 February 2005 |
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On reaching there, I was informed that the Agora would be closing at 3 PM. Rather than taking an abbreviated visit in the 40 minutes I had, I decided to return to the Agora tomorrow. I headed to the Archaeological Museum to see the sections I had missed during my earlier visit. On reaching there, I realized that the museum closes at 3 PM as well.
All sites close at 3 PM on Saturdays and Sundays and are closed for the entire day during Mondays. The exception (to my knowledge) is the Acropolis. All the Shops were closed as well. Except for the Plaka, the City appears dead.
I returned to my Hotel for a short nap and set out at 6 PM to meet a friend of mine at Hotel Christina who was on a Cosmos tour as well. This appears to be a Nice Hotel though not as centrally located as the Golden Age. I got to the Plaka around 9 PM and headed to Eden, the Vegetarian restaurant, for dinner. The food here was filling and delicious especially after the lousy food I had during the Greek Odyssey tour.
I walked back to the hotel after dinner. I am gradually getting my orientation of the City of Athens (the Central part anyway). I am now quite confident of finding my way from the Acropolis to Syndagma Square or the Plaka and vice versa. I only wished that I spoke more (and better) Greek. The streets are quite safe at night. There are too many stray dogs here. The chances of getting bitten are therefore, quite high. I would certainly avoid dark streets with stray dogs! (One never knows what could happen)
Tomorrow I shift to another Hotel that has been highly recommended by the Lonely Planet Guidebook on Greece. I will hopefully get to see the Agora and the remaining sections of the Archaeological Museum as well.
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I had a horrible night. Hotel Carolina is probably the worst budget hotel I have stayed so far during all my travels. Around midnight one of the guests decided to take a shower (or do the laundry in the common bath). The water flowing through the pipes created such a racket that I woke up. Short of rendering myself deaf, there was no way I could keep the noise out. After about 40 minutes, this stopped. Around 4 AM, someone had to use the common toilet and the water being re-filled in the tank created yet another racket. In all, I had 2-3 hours of sleep. The rest of the night was spent trying to compose a symphony from these various sounds. For 10,000 Drs, no air-conditioning, no breakfast and no sleep, this qualifies as a certifiable DUMP. Avoid it at all Costs.
I took a taxi after 8 AM to the Marble House Pension (35 Zinni Street. KouKaki. Phone: 9234058 and 9226461). The ride from Hotel Carolina was around 15 Minutes and it cost me 600 Drs. Since my room was not ready, I left my bag there and headed for some sightseeing. I walked to the Agora and the Theseion from the Hotel. It took me around 20 minutes. The entry fee to the Agora was 1200 Drs. Apart from the Temple of Athina and Hephaistos, the Stoa of Attalos and the Middle Stoa none of the other structures are grand. Stoa refers to a Porch / Portico not attached to a larger building. There is a museum housed inside the Stoa of Attalos. In all I spent about 75 minutes exploring the Agora and the Theseion.
I took the Metro from Monastriki station (it is quite close to the Agora) to Victoria station, which is quite close to the Archaeological Museum. The cost was 120 Drs. The guard at the entrance to the museum objected to my carrying the camera bag inside the museum. He wanted me to take my camera out and deposit the bag in the cloakroom. When I explained (and showed) that all my bag contained were the film cartridges and different lenses, and that I needed to used different lenses depending on the subject I was photographing inside the museum, he reluctantly let me in. I guess they must have made these rules after seeing folks carrying backpacks containing everything to survive a nuclear disaster!
Here is yet another pet peeve of mine. I cannot understand why folks don't exchange equivalents of US$ 100 every time they change money. Or, why they have to carry all their important documents (Passport, Tickets, Travellers' Cheques etc.) with them all the time. Most of these people exchange US$20 every 3 hours! If I were to choose mugging tourists as a profession, I'll always have a great payday. These days the tourist masses don't carry waist packs. They carry cloth waist packs / neck packs that are 'hidden' underneath their dress / trousers / shorts. The fact that it is not so well hidden is because they reveal this hidden 'cache' every time they want to buy something (from a Soda to a Souvenir). Carry the equivalent of US$40 in your pocket so you don't have to reveal your stash every time.
After spending an hour at the museum seeing the sections I missed earlier, I took a bus back to Syndagma square and another bus from Syndagma to the Hotel. My room was ready (on the 3rd floor - no elevators) and it had a small ceiling fan and a mini refrigerator. For 7000 Drs. (US$ 23) this is not a bad place. It is located in a quiet Cul-de-Sac. The room rent does not include breakfast.
I took a nap till 6 PM. I paid my hotel rent and an advance of 7000 Drs towards the remaining 2 days I was to spend here after my cruise. This place (Koukaki) is well connected to the Acropolis / Plaka and Syndagma square. After having dinner at Syndagma (Neon - a nice inexpensive deli) I returned to the hotel. I had the owner arrange a taxi for me tomorrow morning to take me to the Port of Piraeus from where my cruise starts (and ends four days later).
I hope it turns out to be good.
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I woke up early and was ready by 7:30 AM. The owner's wife informed me that my cab was apparently waiting for me at the end of the Street. (Since the Hotel is located in a cul-de-sac most vehicles wait (or) drop-off at the end of the street). The drive to Piraeus was smooth and I was there by 8:30 AM. The cab fare was 1200 Drs and since I had radioed for it, it cost me an additional 600 Drs. A total of 1800 Drs (US$ 6).
The folks at the Royal Olympic counter told me to wait till 9 AM when the boarding would commence. I proceeded through security and Immigration a little after 9 AM. My films were neither x-rayed nor hand inspected. The Passport check is done at the entrance ramp to the cruise ship. On boarding the ship one has to surrender the passport at the hospitality desk. This is for them to note down the various information about you!
My Cabin was located 2 decks below the Main deck. It was a compact one with 2 single beds. The ship was carrying 370 passengers out of a total capacity of 450 passengers. As luck would have it I did not get a cabin mate. Considering the fact that I did not pay a single supplement during all of my travels starting in May, I have been quite lucky to get a cabin / room to myself most of the time.
We departed Piraeus a little after 11 AM. Since the ship would not be able to maneuver out of the port on its own, a tugboat pulls the cruise ship out of the port and on to the seas before the ship cruises on its own. We were herded to the upper deck for a fire drill and were given life jackets and given instructions on which members of the crew to follow in case of an emergency and were assigned a lifeboat number as well. There are 8 lifeboats on the ship and I was assigned to lifeboat 8. The Captain of the ship inspected the entire assembly before we were dispersed.
Lunch was at noon and I did not get any decent vegetarian stuff on the buffet served on the upper deck. I went to the main dining area and had an Ice cream. I met a kid from Dubai and we chatted for a while. Following Lunch the Cruise director (A French lady by the name of Pascale) and Tour Manager gave a brief presentation about life on board and the various optional tours available at the Islands we were visiting. Following this, I had a nap till 4:30 PM.
I picked up a copy of my Passport (the original is retained by the purser of the ship until the end of the cruise) and my disembarkation tag. The photocopy of the passport is required, as a member of the crew will inspect it while we board the ship after visiting any of the islands. On returning to the ship, we will have to surrender the disembarkation tag. This is for the crew to keep track of who has returned to the ship and who has not. Each Disembarkation tag is associated with a single passenger for the entire duration of the cruise.
The Island of Mykonos
We reached the Island of Mykonos around 5 PM. Disembarkation here was by tender. Small motorboats will ferry us to the shore and back. Apart from the narrow streets and while washed houses with colourful doors / windows, Mykonos failed to impress me. I wandered around Mykonos for 3 hours. I took some pictures of an excellent sunset on the Mediterranean. It turned out to be a full moon night and I took some pictures of that as well.
We returned to the ship in time for dinner. While Lunch is seat as you please, dinner is according to assigned tables. The seating is 6 persons per table and each table is assigned a waiter for the duration of the cruise. In addition to myself and the Kid (from Dubai), we were joined by Dutch couple. The remaining 2 members at our table did not turn up for dinner. Dinner was quite lousy for a vegetarian.
Following dinner I headed to my cabin and wrote some diary for a while before turning in. We reach Heraklion tomorrow morning. Since I have not taken the optional tour offered by the cruise ship, I am planning to arrange a taxi to take me to the Palace of Knossos and back hopefully for a decent price. I hope it works out.
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Despite being a large cruise ship we had a rocky sailing last night. After being tossed around in a small 10-passenger boat on the pacific 2 months ago (on a visit to the Galapagos Islands), this did not affect me much. I woke up at 6 AM and was at the breakfast table by 6:45 AM. I was all set to disembark by 7 AM. While disembarking at any of the Islands, the passengers who have taken the optional tour conducted by the cruise ship disembark first followed by the rest of the passengers. Unlike Mykonos, we were able to dock at Heraklion.
I disembarked by 7:15 AM and was soon surrounded by a group of cab drivers. After a bit of haggling, my friend and me got a deal for 10000 Drs (US$ 33). This would include taking the 2 of us to the Palace of Knossos, waiting at the site while we visited the ruins, drive us to the local museum, wait there while we explored the museum and then drop us back at the ship. For US$ 16 per person this was a pretty decent deal.
We reached the Palace of Knossos in 20 minutes and had to wait till the official opening time of 8 AM. The tour buses carrying the passengers from our ship arrived later than we did. We entered the ruins at 8 AM and spent an hour exploring the place. Large sections of the palace are in ruins and restoration work is underway. Some areas of the palace are well preserved. |
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