Monday, September 4, 2023

A PAINTER’S HOUSE IN PLAKA TO ATHENIAN RIVIERA HOTEL & SUITES

WELCOME DINNER

Last night we went to bed at 11pm, slept pretty good getting up at 7:15.

Now Jimmy’s flight has been delayed twice for a total of 3 ½ hours.

Laura got on another flight to Lisbon, then Barcelona, then on to Athens. Today is Laura’s 25^th birthday. What a way to celebrate it, on a long-haul flight to Greece.

Teresa and I found another café for breakfast called Café Plaka just down the road from café Melina where Teresa had an omelette and I had a waffle with caramelized apples.

Checkout was at 11am and someone else would be moving into our room, so we packed everything up and stored it in room #7, which appears to be an apt for the cleaning lady.

A quick look at our rooms:

I had a green iced tea at Melina until 2pm when I had an Uber take us to our hotel, Athenian Riviera Hotel & Suites in Vouliagmeni. We had a light lunch on their outdoor patio.

Laura texted us that she arrived in Athens but her suitcase was still in Barcelona. ☹ When she finally arrived at the hotel she just had a bite to eat in their restaurant and went right to bed.

Laura borrowed one of Teresa’s dresses for tonight. About 7pm we took an Uber to the restaurant Panorama, 4 Lliou, Vouliagmeni, which was right on the Aegean Sea.

Jeannie & Jacob:

Teresa and I:

Me with my daughter Jeannie and son Jimmy:

As we entered, I saw a young man and I thought, “that must be Jacob’s brother” because he looked just like him but with more facial hair. 😊 It was, but Jacob thinks they don’t look anything similar.

I met Jacob’s family, mother, father, brothers and friends. Waiters served traditional Greek food family style. We mixed and mingled and I eventually introduced Teresa to Diane’s caregiver who is from El Salvador so they could converse in Spanish.

We finally left around midnight and got to bed by 12:30.

 

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Sunday, September 3, 2023

Last night we went to bed at 10pm, I woke up at 2:45 and couldn’t fall back asleep because I was replaying my upcoming wedding speech in my head. Teresa finally got up at 7am and then I fell asleep and she woke me up at 9am. We had breakfast again in the same café, Merlina, a short block from our apt. This time we shared the envelope sandwich with lattes.

At 10am I ordered an Uber and the driver dropped us off at the Parliament Building. The changing of the guard started at 10:30

And continued until 11am. We followed the band and Evzones (Greek special infantry) to the side entrance to the National Gardens. We went in through the main entrance and walked fairly deep inside the park. We came out a side entrance, walked across the street and soon caught a taxi back to our apt.

Laura’s texted us that her flight was cancelled; her new flight with a layover in Portugal will get her in Athens about 10pm.

We finally found the store where Teresa bought her purse, Awatara, and she exchanged it for another plus an additional €85.

She checked out more stores on side streets and found a dress and purse for Laura (tomorrow is her birthday) and another dress for herself.

We had a nice lunch in an outside tavern named Karvatis.

We got slightly lost a few times but eventually figured out our way back.

Teresa took her time exchanging her purse at Awatari. Texting with Jeannie it seemed they were in the area. I gave her the name of our store and Jeannie and Jacob soon arrived. That was a cool reunion. They followed us to our “house” where we gave them the ship’s tour. They thought it was neat.

About 6:30 we had coffee at Melina café.

We walked down the street and stumbled on the Roman Agora ruins.

The Roman Agora was the ancient public square raised during the Roman period in Athens. It was one of the main meeting points in the city and it once housed the central market. The Roman Agora is found on the north side of the Acropolis, in the charming neighborhood of Plaka.

A little further we found a nice restaurant for dinner on the side of the hill called Klepsidra Café where Teresa had octopus and I had meatballs with rice in tomato sauce and we both loved our food. A complimentary bottle of water on our table as is customary here in Greece.

We even had an olive tree sitting on our table. 

 

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Saturday, September 2, 2023

Last night we went to bed at 11pm and I was quickly asleep but woke up at 1:30. I made a trip to the bathroom but couldn’t fall back asleep. I finished reading my Nook book, Paul Kix’ The Saboteur. When I returned to bed I quickly fell back asleep and didn’t wake up until 7am.

Teresa got up at 8am, we took our showers and were ready for the day.

I wanted to cable my laptop to the desk but I couldn’t get the padlock to open. ☹ Now it looks like I brought it for nothing.

It was about 10am when we stopped at a small local café called Melina for breakfast where she had a cheese omelet sandwich and I their American breakfast.

There was an ATM across the street so while waiting for our food I made a 600 Euro withdrawal.

My goal was to get her to Monastiraki (flea market) where prices would be cheaper. Walking down the hill we first entered Plaka, the more expensive area, and it seemed Teresa visited every store looking for dresses (and purses and shoes). She found a beautiful blue dress I liked better than any other dress she has and it only cost €85 ($91).

We eventually arrived at Monastiraki where we had lunch in a restaurant named Kylamino.

They had menus in English and Spanish. (Later I looked at their rack and they also had French, German and Russian.) Teresa ordered a “vegetable” salad and I their stuffed pepper and tomato. Delicious! We shared a bottle of water and the total was €27.

On our way to Monastiraki, and coming back, we were “treated” to the same scene, a muscle-bound guy (apparently gay) wearing only a speedo-type swimming suit riding a bicycle quickly down the street. 😊

We walked down a side street and found a Starbucks. We decided to rest there awhile and took a seat on the 1^st floor near the serving area.

Before we left I went up a level looking for the restroom. With my peripheral vision I noticed a group of people apparently helping an old lady sit or get up. Around the corner I asked, “where’s the bathroom?”, and heard, “Uncle Terry, I’d recognize that voice anywhere”. It was my niece Eleni. That’s when I found out the old lady was Auntie Diane and gathered around her were her son Chris and his husband Mark all helping her move into a wheelchair.

We chatted a bit knowing we’d be meeting up again in a few days.

Teresa bought another dress and purse in Donna Del Mare for €159 ($173.05).

Later in the day we were in a store called Awatari where Teresa bought a purse for €46.

Later Teresa decided she didn’t like her purse so she wants to exchange it tomorrow.

We had dinner again at Zorbas.

 

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Friday, September 1, 2023

We had an early breakfast at Dixi café. I ordered scrambled eggs, bacon and potatoes. This is what they brought me:

I sent the bacon back to have it cooked more and still I only ate a little of it. We also had a couple coffees.

Back at the hostel we finished packing and by 9am we were walking down the 2 blocks to the taxi stand I saw yesterday.

It was 30 Euros for our trip to the airport for our 12:30 flight to Athens. I was in 17C and Teresa was in 17D (extra legroom again without reclining seats).

I finished reading Abhimanyu Mishra’s The Youngest Grandmaster in the World on my Nook. It includes a lot of his games so I’ll go over those with his annotations when we return to Medellin and I get caught up on my blog posts.

We landed on time at the Athens airport at 5pm. We had a long wait to pick up our bags but since we’re in the Shengen region (European Union) at least we didn’t have to go through immigration again.

Our driver was waiting for us and took us through downtown Athens to A Painter’s House in Plaka.

I had specific instructions to enter the courtyard by pressing 4 numbers on the outside code box.

Inside we had apt 5 and I entered a specific set of numbers to open the box and retrieve the room key.

The place included a small kitchenette but we only used the fridge to make ice. Down 3 steps to a small bathroom on the left and a large open “living room/bedroom” on the right. There was a large armoire but we basically continued to live out of our suitcases and at least we now had lots of space to open them up. At least it had a desk that I could use for my laptop. We took a short nap.

Back outside and around the corner, less than 100’ from the building entrance, was a Greek (Lol, of course it is) restaurant named Zorba’s where we had a light supper for 25 Euros ($27.35). 

We counted 4 cats underfoot that seemed to be a normal thing there.

Further up the hill is a café and more restaurants. We shared a salad with a bottle of water and a dessert.

We were tired so we set up our phones to be recharged and went to bed at 11pm.

 

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Thursday, August 31, 2023

Last night we went to bed at 8pm but I woke up at 1:30am. After a trip to the bathroom, I couldn’t fall back asleep. I’m sure I was still awake at 2:30 or 3am. Teresa woke me up at 7am.

We left the hotel room by 8:30 and meandered our way (I really need practice with Google Maps) to Chocolateria San Ginés for Spain’s traditional breakfast of churros with hot chocolate. They are open 24 hours.

The Chocolatería San Ginés is a café at Pasadizo de San Ginés, 5, in central Madrid, in a passageway close to San Ginés church, west of the Puerta del Sol. It has served principally chocolate con churros (hot chocolate and churros) since 1894. Coffee and cakes are also available.

The interior is decorated with mirrors and green wood panels, with green velvet seats and marble tables. The hot chocolate is served in Spanish style - thick, dark and strong - and the churros - deep fried batter, similar to a light, crispy, linear doughnut, cut to length by the staff - are served hot and freshly cooked, ready for dunking.

We walked a couple blocks away where Teresa found a dress she liked in a store called La Provenza. Supposedly they were closing after today so this dress was on sale for 29.9 Euros. Teresa didn’t want to carry it with her so she asked the lady to hold it for her.

We walked several blocks (probably like a drunken sailor) to Museo de Prado.

Across the street we stopped at a chocolate store called Vicens where Teresa bought some sugar free “chocolate” covered nuts.

I informed Teresa that Museo de Prado is one of the best art museums in the world. I got a senior discount and I also paid for a museum guide to be picked up at their gift shop. There are 3 main floors, numbered 0-2, go figure! We spent quite a bit of time on floor #2, the smallest of the 3 giving ourselves less time to visit the other floors. For lunch we each had a sandwich and a drink in their cafeteria.

I picked up my guide book, it was huge and heavy

and we walked back to La Provenza where Teresa got her dress. We returned to Dixie Bar where Teresa had their baked chicken again. I wasn’t hungry so I just had a Coke. Teresa said she was tired and I asked her how she could be tired when it’s only 10am in Colombia. 😊

We walked back to the hostel; legs getting pretty tired. 

This is Teresa at a bus stop on our way back from Prado to the hotel.

This photo is outside the museum entrance.

 She tried on the dress again, this time in heels, and walked to the lobby and when she returned she said it was too warm so she’ll gift it to her mother. 😊

We went around the corner to another restaurant where I had a decent skirt steak.

In the evening we walked around Plaza Mayor 

and found an interesting small market place a block away on the other side.

In the plaza there were guys selling these toys that you shoot up in the sky by rubber band and it floats back down like a helicopter. They were 4 for 10€ (Euros) but in the end we decided we had no one of the correct age to gift them too.

We were in bed by 9pm.

 

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Wednesday, August 30, 2023

When we got off the plane, I had already received a couple texts from our driver Jesus that he would be waiting outside the door with a sign with my name.

I sent him texts giving our progress until I noticed in the LONG immigration line that cellphones are not allowed.

I set up my cellphone with the free airport wifi and turned it off. It went quickly as soon as it was our turn. We made a trip to the restroom then went to wait for our bags. They finally came and we headed out the door. A few people in the little crowd held up signs but not with my name. I walked around the area a couple times but didn’t see Jesus. I found this message from Booking.com:

I sent him a text that we would only wait 10 more minutes before taking a taxi. I found an ATM and had no trouble withdrawing 600 Euros.  Ten minutes later we went outside and got in a medium-sized line that moved quickly. Our ride was a flat fare of 30euros compared with the 50 euros I had already paid for Jesus. I finally received messages from Jesus that were sent much earlier. Apparently, he is only contracted to have to wait an hour or 90 minutes and we must have just missed him. (That’s ridiculous since there were about 200 people on our Boeing 787-8 and it takes time to get through immigration and pick up our bags.)

Note to future self, take an airport taxi and save myself the trouble.

Our driver dropped us off about a block from our hostel, the Hostal Inter Plaza Mayor but we had little trouble finding it. It’s less than a block from the huge plaza, Plaza Mayor, which can probably be deduced from the name. Outside the huge doors were about 8 buzzers but one was marked Inter Plaza Mayor and they quickly buzzed us in. No front desk, just stairs and an elevator. I pressed the button to call the elevator and it was barely large enough for 2 people. I had Teresa stay with the bags and I went up to the 5^th floor and nothing. Fourth floor the same. I finally found the entrance to the hostel on the 3^rd floor. We got checked in, were given a TV control and A/C control and 2 cards and moved to our room. It’s about 16’ x 8’ plus a bathroom. There is a free-standing armoire with 1 hanger. Air conditioner that I set but I didn’t know how to turn on.  I went to the front desk and the girl showed me how to turn it on.

We went out and walked around and Teresa was amazed by the shops selling inexpensive dresses. Too much, I can see I’m going to have trouble getting her out of this shopping paradise.

We had supper at a restaurant on our block called Dixie Bar. Teresa had baked chicken and ravioli and the prices were reasonable.

We walked about 4 blocks away where we had new sim cards placed in our cell phones and bought a small plan.

We walked around the plaza, Plaza Mayor.

I realized we forgot to purchase an outlet adaptor so we returned to the same store and bought one for 3 euros.

We went to bed at 8pm.

 

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Tuesday, August 29, 2023

 Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night (it was raining lightly), woke up at 5:15 and got up at 6am.

Today the adventure begins!

Teresa was afraid our bags were too heavy so she removed a couple minor things.

We were packed and ready probably an hour before our 4:30 pickup. Byran arrived on time and we were at the airport in Rionegro by 5:30. When they weighed our bags that were limited to 23kg they both weighed in between 15-16kg. 😊 The Air Europa lady who checked our bags asked to see our marriage certificate and wanted to know where we’re staying in Madrid and Athens. ☹ Anyway, she let us go.

We had a bite to eat upstairs in J&C Delicias.

Going through the ATS checkpoint a policeman wearing one of those Smokey the Bear hats signaled Teresa out and took her into a separate office. I learned it was because she was wearing a faja when they were patting her down. He went into another office and I guess called someone or looked something up on his computer because he soon let us go. Teresa bought a couple of pastries at Juan Valdez. We were at the gate at least an hour before our flight as were hundreds of others already in line. We grabbed two of the last chairs when someone got up right next to us.

We boarded at 6:15 and our seats, 33C & 33D, that I thought would be right across from each other were slightly staggered like I was across from 32D and 33D. We thought Teresa was going to get lucky as no one was sitting in the middle seat next to her but a young lady got on at the last minute. I found out later she asked Teresa if she would swap seats with her boyfriend but happily she refused. The good news is our seats came with extra legroom but the bad news is they don’t recline. The airline giveth (I paid extra for them) and the airline taketh away. One of the last to get on was a young mother with 2 young boys about 2 and 5 years old who shared 2 seats in 32D & 32E. The kids were okay until the end of the flight when the young one got fussy and I heard, “Mama No” repeatedly.

Surprisingly I slept 3 hours after dinner service (which was meat for Teresa and pasta for me and Teresa said she liked her food), woke up and made a trip to the restroom and slept another 2 hours after. I usually can’t sleep on airplanes.

Because of all the time zones we’re travelling through it’s now on to Wednesday…

 

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Well, we're back!

 And i hope to start posting some updates in the next few days. Man, those 10 hour flights are hard to take.