Z’s mum sent us to the airport and we had our dinner at BK T2. Upon getting up the shuttle flight from Spore to BKK, there is another meal. We transited at BKK and upon getting up the flight to Athens, there is yet another meal. Super full by now. The flight is very full. So many Greeks are going home from Bangkok. It is hard to sleep when the Greeks left their stinky feet on the chair arm rest. The moment my head turn, it will invariably smell the stinky feet and I would be woken up by stench. Yet another breakfast was served near landing time. I was full to the brim. One good thing about getting transit flight is you get one extra meal.
The moment we landed, we went straight to queue at the immigration counter. The officers brought us to a room for interrogation. He took out a book and started asking me about questions pertaining to Malaysia. What is the name of the national anthem in Malaysia. What is the name of the indigenous people in Malaysia. What is the. What the f*ck. Asked me how much I brought with me and what was my travel plan like. By the time we are done with the questioning, all our flight people were already long out of the airport. Our backpacks are the only two doo-doo birds left on the baggage carousel. Such was the warm welcome by the Greeks Immigration.
We proceeded to the bus counter and paid 2.93 euro for the airport bus from the airport to the city. Another very long wait. Once we got on the bus, it was jam to the city. Many constructions on going in Athens. The city scape is no different from any third world country actually, for a moment I thought I was still in KL. Bright sunshine, jam, dust covered roads, cement trucks driving in and out of construction site. All gearing up for 2004 Olympics I think. Very much the same scene I see when Malaysia preparing for 1998 Commonwealth Games.
We got down at Syntagma and took the metro to Larissa, that’s where our hostel for the first night is. The email of this hostel said few blocks down the road. The mail appended below for ref:
----- Forwarded Message -----
Note: forwarded message attached.
can print this out??
yizhou
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Shopping - Mother's Day is May 12th!
http://shopping.yahoo.comYiassou Brandon!
Thank you for your reservation in name Brandon Ang Ee Chew. CONFIRMED as
follows:
DATE: 16th May 2002
TYPE OF ROOM: 2 x dorm beds with shared bathroom
PRICE: 17 Euro per person per night
APPROXIMATE TIME OF ARRIVAL: 8am (check in after 11am)
HOW TO GET HERE FROM THE AIRPORT:
Taxi: Tell the driver MICHAIL VODA 65. We are located behind the ATLANTIK
supermarket on the corner with EINARDOU. It should take about 30 minutes and
cost around 20 EURO. Note the tariff is double after midnight and additional
charges for luggage and departing airport apply.
Public Transport: Bus E95 to SYNTAGMA square and then metro to LARISSA
station. Then walk up FILADELFIAS for 2 blocks, turn left onto MICHAIL VODA and
walk down 5 blocks to number 65. In total it should take about 45-60 minutes in
travel time and cost 3 EURO. The same ticket can be used for 24 hours on all
public transport.
If you are coming from the PORT PIRAEUS or the TRAIN STATION please call us and
we will give you directions.
EVERY 2ND DAY WE HAVE A BUS TO THE PINK PALACE IN CORFU!!!
Check www.thepinkpalace.com for the bus schedule and pricing details, go to
ATHENS AND BEYOND in the index.
We look forward to your stay with us.
Miss Doxi Geroyiannis
Hostel Aphrodite
Einardou 12 & Michail Voda 65
Victoria Square (Plateia Victorias)
Athens GR-10440
GREECE
Telephone outside of Greece: +30 10 88 10589 or +30 10 88 39249
Telephone inside of Greece: 010 88 10589 or 010 88 39249
Fax: +30 10 88 16574
hostel-aphrodite@ath.forthnet.gr
PS. TELL SUE IN THE BAR THAT ‘DOXI SENT YOU’ AND YOU SHOULD GET A SPECIAL
WELCOME DRINK!!!
http://messenger.yahoo.com.au - Yahoo! Messenger
- A great way to communicate long-distance for FREE
=====================================================
Few blocks turn out to be 15 minutes brisk walk through many shops that have yet opened. Many car repair garages. No joke when u r carrying a 10kg backpack. And quite scary too when U r the only yellow skin on the street. It was after some turns and a few junctions that we finally landed up at Aphrodite Hostel. Those days we didn’t have maps, GPS or google map so finding out a location could be hard.
In case you are curious how the hostel look like, how far it is from Larissa and the environment, here is the link of Trip Advisor. I must said those comments that they made in 2011 are not very different from comments I made back in 2001 when I first stayed in that hostel for my frightful first night honestly. How time flies!
http://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/Hotel_Review-g189400-d283601-Reviews-The_Hostel_Aphrodite-Athens_Attica.html
There is an antique lift in the hostel that you can take. It is like those u see in the movies.
We put down our stuff since it is not check in time yet and started walking back to Larissa Station and head towards our first destination: the Acropolis!!
We bought the metro one day ticket and started heading to the nearest Metro Station, Acropolis. Walked up a few junctions and there we are: The beautiful Acropolis is right on top of the hill. The marble steps and floors were slippery though so I must be careful. It was simply gorgeous. The temple was magnificent. We then moved on to see the statues. The Greeks do know their human statues carving well. They already knew what a perfect male form should be like so many years ago, and the male forms still look impressive in today’s beauty standard.
The sun is totally relentless but the air is cold though. We then made our way to get the ferry ticket for tomorrow Greek Island’s voyage. According to Z, we were heading to Mykonos and Santorini. When we were taking the train back to town, the metro broke down, so all passengers were chased down the cars. As we surfaced, green peace were having demonstrations on the street. We asked a green peace lady where to have lunch and she just brushed us off quickly. Went to the tourism office for some enquiries but the lady in the office is quite cold. I ended up back in hostel pretty early, partly jet lagged and tired, partly cos we need to wake up very early for the ferry tomorrow. Z was still keen to take night photos of Acropolis but I totally drained out and couldn’t go with him. On hindsight, I should have gone. Acropolis is more beautiful at night with all the lightings.
The next morning, I stupidly used the sink in the room for brushing teeth instead of using the sinks in the toilets outside. I got a yelling from one of the girls in the same room. That was my wake up call for the day. So much about wrong footings.
We took the metro to Piraeus to take the morning 735am ferry to Mykonos. The ferry took 5 hours from Athens to Mykonos. We passed by many islands along the way. Most have stone walls to demarcate farmland boundaries. Usually they have a Greek orthodox church. The lady that I met on the deck told me that they are many Singaporeans who came to Greek Islands for weddings. It is romantic I guess? Weather is sunny but chilly, the sea breeze is really cooling.
Our ferry finally reached the next destination port: Mykonos!
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