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GREECE: Day 2 - Into the Aegean
My favorite district to stay in Athens is Monasteraki, an area at the foot of the Acropolis next to the ancient Plaka neighborhood, near many of the sights and best of all, right on the subway line midway between the airport and Piraeus, the port with ferries to most destinations. And let me say, Athens has some of the best subways I've ever seen, an engineering marvel and an archaeological one too, tunneling through thousands of years of history ... thank you Olympics.
The ferry schedules can be complicated and change daily so reservations are actually not a good idea. With a little help from the front desk at the hotel I figured out the schedule. So with a 10-hour jet lag time lapse, I woke up at 5 a.m. fuzzy to get ready to catch the ferry to the island of Syros. Packed fairly light with my green canvas Dakine man-purse converted to a camera bag over my shoulder (hint: it doesn't look like a camera bag;-) I headed down the street to the subway to catch the first train of the morning to the port. 45 minutes later I arrived and after only a few minutes of fighting down confusion and mild panic, I figured out where to buy tickets. 26 Euro for a five-hour ride ... deck class ... 'cause i'm a deck class kind of guy, out there with the real people ...
A ticket to ride ...
Arriving Syros ... most of the passengers on the ferry were Greek with few tourists in September. To many, the arrival meant visiting family long unseen. It was homecoming. The islands are tough to make a living on and the young people often head to Athens, or further, such as America to make their fortune and certainly in some cases to escape a certain amount of oppression.
The ferry schedules can be complicated and change daily so reservations are actually not a good idea. With a little help from the front desk at the hotel I figured out the schedule. So with a 10-hour jet lag time lapse, I woke up at 5 a.m. fuzzy to get ready to catch the ferry to the island of Syros. Packed fairly light with my green canvas Dakine man-purse converted to a camera bag over my shoulder (hint: it doesn't look like a camera bag;-) I headed down the street to the subway to catch the first train of the morning to the port. 45 minutes later I arrived and after only a few minutes of fighting down confusion and mild panic, I figured out where to buy tickets. 26 Euro for a five-hour ride ... deck class ... 'cause i'm a deck class kind of guy, out there with the real people ...
A ticket to ride ...
Arriving Syros ... most of the passengers on the ferry were Greek with few tourists in September. To many, the arrival meant visiting family long unseen. It was homecoming. The islands are tough to make a living on and the young people often head to Athens, or further, such as America to make their fortune and certainly in some cases to escape a certain amount of oppression.
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