Back in Athens

Whew! Almost missed the boat. Woke up at 4:00am…visited the bathroom…back to bed (just to rest until 5:00am) with no intention of sleeping. Woke up again to the iPad playing a very soft tune…not loud enough to waken us!!! It was 5:18am!! Pushed John into high gear and made it to the car at 5:35am! Our other passengers were huddled at the car, trying not look panicked! Drove down to the port, dropped John and the other two and the luggage…drove back to the parking lot to leave the car, ran to the boat and boarded at 5:56am for the 6:00am departure!!

Grabbed some sleep in the cabin until 10:00am when it was time to look for coffee. On deck we watched the ferry approach the island of Paros where about 200-300 passengers boarded. Enjoyed a game of cards and some writing before retiring to the cabin again for another short nap.

Last night was emotional but we kept reassuring everyone that they will see us again in four months. John received a “cool” t-shirt as an early birthday gift. Theo cooked an amazing pasta with a fresh, delicious salad. Matta made a Greek version of lemon cheesecake…yummmhhh!

Yorgos arranged for a friend in Athens, who is a taxi driver, to pick us up at the port in Piraeus for the trip to our hotel. This was very reassuring because we have had problems with taxi drivers in Athens on several occasions. Apparently he will recognize us because we met him once…three years ago!! Just in case…we have his licence plate number. Everyone remembers John with the same beanie hat and unchanging appearance.

We have no plans for our first night in Athens…just a walkabout, a glass of wine at a sidewalk cafe and a light dinner. Tomorrow we are meeting friends in the afternoon for coffee and joining other friends for dinner later at night. Our flight to Amsterdam on Friday is nicely timed…leaving Athens at 5:00pm so we can wander around for the morning and get to the airport around 3:00pm. 

The taxi finally arrived…25 minutes after we arrived in port and Andreas, the driver, talked non-stop all the way to the hotel! We know everything about all of the Greek football teams now and are settled in our very familiar room, with the Acropolis across the street.