Melting in Athens...off to Corfu!!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010
We arrived in Athens at 5am, bright and early to start our day!!! We had made plans to meet up with my Aunt Dona who is a flight attendant at her hotel as she was in Athens for the morning and we could meet up. So we found a taxi to take us, which again farce, and we had to share it with this Greek girl who was in a moped accident and had a neck collar on. She was limping pretty badly and was quite beat up...I guess I have nothing to complain about! We headed to the Hilton downtown Athens which was quite nice and rung up my Aunt to let her know we were there. So she met us in the lobby and we took our bags up to her room, which was amazing! We were so jealous, especially after sleeping on a ferry all night. Anyhow, we went out for breakfast together and caught up. It was nice to have a little taste of home and cool that we were able to meet up in a different part of the world. After breakfast, we headed back to her room, where she had scored some extra towels so we could use the amazing shower in her room. She also had room in her luggage to take some of our excess home...Auntie’s are the best!!! She had a midday flight though so we only had a short visit together but made plans to meet up in Venice in a weeks’ time. So we had a full day in Athens before we got the pink bus to the Pink Palace so we ventured into the city. Heather and I had planned to see the Parthenon and do the touristy things today but because of my mobility, there was no way or not worth the risk of going up the Acropolis. So, Heather went in the scorching heat up the top while I wandered the streets looking for a new watch (because I drowned mine while doing hand laundry in Santorini) and whatever else I could bargain for. After a few hours in the 40 degree heat, we met back up and went to have some much needed fluids and lunch. We then went back to the markets for some more shopping...there really wasn’t much else to do since it was so hot. The shops are at least shaded and have air conditioning. After a long and tiring day we went to the hostel that was the meeting spot for the pink bus, had some dinner and waited till 10pm. So we wait around for what feels like forever and then all of a sudden someone comes outside and is like “ok, lets go”! He then proceeds to “sprint” down the street and we were so taken aback that we have our bags flying and grabbing stuff and trying to walk as quickly as we can to follow everyone. The picture of us would have been hilarious...Heather loaded down with both our packs and me with all the miscellaneous things hobbling behind. It was crazy! We almost lost them a few times as they weaved through the streets...luckily Heather stayed close behind to see where they went and yelled the directions back to me.  Pretty hilarious! Anyhow, we get to the bus, hop on and are so tired at this point that we are ready to crash. We had lots of space and the bus was dark but we had this one know it all on the bus who liked to hear himself talk...the entire time!!! He was this American who told everyone that he is 30, lives with his mom, no job, lives off of his mom and is therefore broke. We were just like...you are so annoying. Then there was his Canadian hype man. Oy vei! This Alberta dude was hanging on to every single word out of this guys mouth and it was all nonsense. He didn’t know what he was talking about...well neither of them did and it was just embarrassing. The Canadian was telling him that Ottawa is a province when Heather chimes in with “no actually, Ottawa is in Ontario”. It was gold!!! He did eventually stop talking and slept for awhile...but not nearly soon or long enough for our liking! He should have been sleeping earlier since he was on a ferry the night before and didn’t sleep and now on a bus so he deserved the back bench on the bus...we just shook our heads because we were in the same situation only he had a 4 hour nap that afternoon and we didn’t. It wasn’t worth our breath though. Anyhow, the bus stopped a bunch of times and eventually we had to get off so we could take the ferry.