athens greece 08 08 2000 (a)

Athens, Greece (a)

08 08 2000

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The flight from the U.S. was very uneventful and that's the way it should be. We flew in Business Class on Delta out of Kennedy Airport in New York. The seats reclined to almost a bed like horizontal, and the attendants were very nice. We were welcomed by name and I've always felt that being called by name on a plane was a nice touch. The food was well prepared and served. Janet and I had the Duck and were very pleased.

Upon arrival, customs took perhaps 15 minutes and we quickly found ourselves at the baggage claim, where our bags arrived without damage and we began our walk to the taxi stand. We passed the line of Limos and were greeted by a person who asked us what hotel we were staying at. When I told him the Athenaeum Inter-Continental, he replied: "...that's the finest hotel in Athens. You really should arrive by Limo." I told him that I was glad to hear that we were staying at a good hotel, and asked what were the rates to take a Mercedes to our hotel. It turned out to be about 40 dollars. I looked over at the line of yellow cabs and one of the drivers smiled and indicated that the line of cabs was the proper decision to make. I asked our new friend how much the cab ride would be and he said that the cab would be much cheaper. He made his final pitch, stating that the Mercedes all had air conditioning, and would get us directly to the Hotel.

I thanked him, but stated that we would be taking a cab. He politely wished us a good day. Our eventual cab did not have air, but when it was moving, the breeze was fine. We did make it to our Hotel without incident and the total cost for a half hour ride with tip was ten dollars.

Check in at the Hotel is by private reception at the Club lounge level. The experience is more like meeting with your banker. Our receptionist sat behind a desk, and we sat in two very comfortable chairs opposite her. She explained the Hotel and it's operation as far as it pertained to our stay. Having just spent nine hours on a trans oceanic aircraft, and half an hour in a non air-conditioned cab, I was in no mood to hear this lengthily discussion, but I graciously listened and nodded and smiled at the appropriate times.

The Hotel was very nice. We stayed on the business floor, the eighth floor, which gave us access to the lounge and free drinks and food, both at breakfast and dinner. The lounge had a beautiful terrace and we spent much time sitting out there overlooking the Acropolis. We were warned about the lack of Air Conditioning in Greece, but this hotel had plenty of it and it worked quite wonderfully.

We also spent some time by the pool, lounging and nodding off.

Room 808 Athenaeum Inter-Continental

view from the room

view from the room. The Acropolis, the destination for today's travel.

We arrive at the base of our goal today. The Acropolis. The temperature is in the 90's and we begin a very leisurely stroll up the hill.

Part way up the hill we notice a "you are here" map and see that tickets are necessary to enter. We descend and search for a ticket office, but find none. Finally we give up and begin our ascent again and realize from the next "you are here" map that we were not properly oriented and the ticket office is in fact up ahead. So back up the hill we go.

We are in no hurry, as we know of nothing else to do for the day, and we are still in that transition state from our normal time zone to our new time zone. It's early afternoon where our bodies are, but our inner clock says we should be sleeping.