2022 World Tour – Athens, Greece
Hello from Athens, my 53rd stop on the trip, as usual skipping the summary and history as I already did that in Thessaloniki.
My ultimate goal is to hit some of the Greek islands but I was thwarted by the lack of ferry service from Thessaloniki, so the only path is to head to Athens and then get one of the many ferries from there.
My troublesome host company sent a message in the morning asking for my exact checkout time, no later than 10am so someone will be there to check me out. I replied I will leave at 10am. I shower and pack and it’s 10am and nobody is here, ugh. I left the key on the table and door unlocked, messaged that nobody showed up and I’m leaving. Then he replied 10 minutes later saying leave the key on the bed and lock the door – didn’t he read what I just sent? This management company is complete garbage, except for the kid who brought the right key and replaced the router.
I walked 25 minutes wonderfully downhill this time to the bus/train station. The departures board is broken so I asked at the ticket desk, she said platform 2 *and* 3. Um, what? I walked there to the shared platform and found two trains waiting, one on track 2 and one on track 3, but which one is mine? No signs. A train man opened the doors on #3 and everybody starts going in, I confirmed with a girl that this is the train to Athens. Wow, what a way to run a railroad. I’m in the standard 6-seat compartment with a little old couple. I make nice and put their big duffel bag up on the top shelf for them. Later a big guy gets on, he has the seat across from me but chooses to sit next to me instead – shoulder to shoulder. An old lady boards and stands bewildered outside our door – a train man has to work out where she’s sitting like it’s her first time to find a numbered seat on transport of any kind. We passed the town of Larissa so I got some pictures for Larissa Milne and pulled into the Athens train station, also called Larissa Station, right on time, a great ride once everything settled down.
So I’m booked in Hotel Delfini which I can get to by the metro M2 then M1 and then a 15 minute roll in the sunshine. I get to the front desk a bit tired and sweaty only to find it’s the *wrong* Hotel Delfini. What? There are two with the same name? Mine is apparently 4 km away, closer to the port, which is good I guess as I’m only staying one night and getting a ferry tomorrow. I rolled to a nearby tram and took it to the end which is close to the hotel. Turns out if I had just stayed on the M1 it would have stopped 1 block from the real hotel. Oh well.
Now, I have to explain this hotel. I was in Athens in 1992 on my honeymoon, we saw all of the old stuff and then headed out to Santorini and Naxos. I don’t really need any tourist days here, I just want to get to Mykonos and lie on the beach. I searched for hotels near the Piraeus port where all of the big ferries go from. I found one for, get this, â¬9. Now for this price I’m not expecting much, and I’ve had some very disappointing hotels in my life. If I leave with no new diseases I’ll be pretty happy. I checked in with two happy ladies, a far cry from most of the grumpy service I’ve had in Greece so far and go to the room. It’s small, no doubt, but has a soft mattress, a good size shower stall, a mini fridge and aircon which is great on this unseasonably hot early October day! I get set up in the room and look out the window – I have a patio to myself! I walked onto the patio and I’m looking directly over the ferry pier I’m so close! â¬9? I’d gladly pay â¬10 for this room!
Directed by the ladies to a nearby travel agent, I got a ticket to Mykonos for 7:30am the next morning and the sailing time is 5 hours. The only other choice was 4pm but that gets me there too late. I walked literally across the street to the E7 dock where the ship will be parked to confirm where to go in the morning – it can’t be more than 200 meters from my hotel! I walked back to the room, searched for beaches on Mykonos, found 3 good ones then correlated on Expedia for something under â¬60 per night on this expensive island. Found a perfect one, and then noticed for â¬63 I can have a beach view patio with umbrella and lounge chair – oh yeah! Booked it for 7 nights.
After sunset I walked out just to the left and had a great chicken kebab, tzatziki and local beer. I walked all the way around the port and came back, then got an early sleep for my early morning.
Is it worth a visit? If it’s your first time in the region, you have to come here and see all of the ancient stuff for a couple of days, then hop on a ferry and make your way through the islands. If you’ve already got the t-shirt, then do a one-nighter and hit on the ferries.
Next Stop: Mykonos, Greece
